 Prefontaine in 2023 | |
| No. 1 | |
|---|---|
| Positions | Placekicker,punter |
| Personal information | |
| Born | (1973-12-23)December 23, 1973 (age 51) Camp Pendleton, California, U.S. |
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) |
| Weight | 205 lb (93 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | El Camino |
| College | San Diego State |
| CFL draft | 1998: Supplemental 6th round |
| Career history | |
| 1998–2007 | Toronto Argonauts |
| 2001 | Los Angeles Xtreme |
| 2001 | Baltimore Ravens* |
| 2003 | Kansas City Chiefs* |
| 2008–2010 | Edmonton Eskimos |
| 2010–2013 | Toronto Argonauts |
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |
| Awards and highlights | |
| Stats at CFL.ca (archive) | |
Noel Michael Prefontaine (born December 23, 1973) is an American former professionalfootballpunter andplacekicker in theCanadian Football League (CFL).
Prefontaine was born to aFrench Canadian father and aVietnamese mother at theMarine Corps Base Camp Pendleton inCalifornia. His father was born and raised inVerdun, Quebec and Noel lived with his grandmother in Verdun as a child, which enabled him to be considered a non-import for CFL purposes. He returned to the United States and attendedEl Camino High School inSan Diego County, California.[1]
Prefontaine playedbaseball,soccer, and playedoffensive tackle inAmerican football as a child and continually trained himself to improve as an athlete and at high school, he played quarterback as well as punting and placekicking.[1] He was named San Diego Tribune Athlete of the Year for North County as asenior and led El Camino High School to a 22–2 record and a CIF Championship as their starting quarterback.[2]
Prefontaine hoped to play quarterback incollege football but could only obtain a scholarship as a punter atCalifornia State University, Fullerton. His punting average his first year led the state but the football program folded at the end of the season. Prefontaine received offers to play for multiple college football teams including Michigan, Michigan State, Georgia, LSU, and Texas but chose to go toArizona State University because it was close to his family and friends. He was unhappy there, however, and left to go toSan Diego State University. After a requiredredshirt year because of his transfer, he was named All-Conference as a punter in his junior year and first-team All-American as a punter in his senior year.[1]
In 2001, Prefontaine also played in theXFL with theLos Angeles Xtreme as their punter. He was officially listed as the team's third-string quarterback (behindTommy Maddox andScott Milanovich, the latter of whom would eventually become Prefontaine's coach in Toronto) in order to collect a higher salary and because the XFL did not reserve separate roster spots for punters (on the other XFL teams, placekickers doubled as punters). He went on to play in the one and only XFL championship game on April 21, 2001, with the Xtreme, with his team ultimately winning the championship.
Prefontaine began his CFL career in 1998 with theToronto Argonauts and spent the next ten seasons with them before getting traded to theEdmonton Eskimos on May 31, 2008, for a first round pick in the2009 CFL draft and a conditional draft pick in 2010.[3][4] On October 12, 2010, Prefontaine was traded back to the Argonauts in exchange for defensive tackleÉtienne Légaré and the negotiation rights to defensive backDamaso Munoz.[5] On February 12, 2014, Prefontaine was released by the Argonauts. In his CFL career Prefontaine won the Grey Cup twice, both with the Argonauts, in2004 and2012. On August 14, 2014, Prefontaine announced that he will sign a 1-day contract with the Toronto Argonauts on August 17, with the purpose of retiring as an Argonaut. The decision to retire as an Argonaut came despite initial remarks he made in 2008 shortly following his trade to the Eskimos team that he had no desire to retire as an Argonaut, citing bitterness he had toward the organization concerning the trade.[6]