Florida football now “Kicker U”

For those of you Gator fans who follow the NFL, you know that former Florida football kicker, Evan McPherson, has become a Cincinnati legend this season.

McPherson booted the Bengals to the AFC championship game on the final play of the game nine days ago. He followed that up sending Cincinnati to the Super Bowl with his overtime winner yesterday in Kansas City.

Evan was a fifth-round draft pick for the Bengals in 2021, a pick that raised eyebrows as kickers usually are not drafted that early. However, it has paid massive dividends in just year one. The Bengals haven’t played in the super bowl since 1988 and they hadn’t won a playoff game since 1991 before this postseason. Cincinnati likely would not have been able to reverse their fortunes without the young Florida football alumni.

Florida has been in the argument for the title of “DBU” for some time now, seeing many great defensive backs come in and out of their system. Many have gone on to careers in the NFL. But how about the Florida football program’s kickers and punters? The Gators have had some extremely talented legs during the 21st century. The University of Florida AKA “Kicker U”.

Let’s take a look at some of those of the most successful Gator legs in the past 20 years.

Kickers

Jeff Chandler: Florida 97-01, NFL 02-06

Jeff Chandler hit almost 84% of his career field goals in his time with the Florida football program. He ranks second all-time in made field goals with 67. He spent time with four NFL teams, making 19 of 27 career field-goal attempts.

Caleb Sturgis: Florida 08-12, NFL 13-18

Caleb Sturgis is the all-time leader in making field goals for Florida. He also was a national champion there in 2008. Sturgis had a pretty successful six-year NFL career as well, he made 80% of his field goals over that time.

Eddie Pineiro: Florida 16-17, NFL 18-Present

Eddie Pineiro has the highest kicking percentage in Florida football history at 88.4%. Eddie is over 86% on his attempts in the NFL, but has had trouble winning out a full-time job there. He spent 2019 with the Chicago Bears and this past season with the New York Jets.

Evan McPherson: Florida 18-20, NFL 21-Present

The man of the hour. Evan McPherson nailed 85% of his career attempts for Florida football. In his rookie season in 2021, he made 84.8% of his attempts during the regular season. In the playoffs, he is a perfect 12 out of 12, including two game-winning kicks.

Punters

Johnny Townsend: Florida 13-17, NFL 18-Present

My personal punting G.O.A.T. of Florida football. Johnny Townsend is the all-time leader in punting yards in Florida history. This was aided by some horrible offensive years for Florida. However, Johnny is also the all-time average yard’s per punt leader with 46.2. A really key underrated piece of the Will Muschamp/Jim McElwain eras. Townsend was drafted in the fifth round by the Raiders, since then he has been a bit of a journeyman in the NFL.

Tommy Townsend: Florida 18-19, NFL 20-Present

Tommy Townsend -the younger brother of Johnny Townsend- had a very successful few seasons filling his brother’s shoes. He netted an average punt of 44.8 yards and helped the Gators to two NYE 6 bowl wins. Tommy was undrafted but the Chiefs would sign him following the 2020 draft. He has been a key piece for Kansas City and has even been able to show off his arm a few times.

Eric Wilbur: Florida 03-06, NFL 07-09

Eric Wilbur was a solid punter and national champion at Florida. You may remember a bomb of a punt he hit in the 2006 SEC Championship game against Arkansas, the punt was muffed on the goal-line and recovered by Florida for a score. Eric spent just two seasons in the NFL.

Kyle Christy: Florida 11-14, NFL 16-16

Kyle Christy was another good punter for the Gators, he averaged 43.7 yards per punt. He spent time on the practice squad for the Detroit Lions in 2016.

Chas Henry: Florida 07-10, NFL 11-13

Chas Henry is actually remembered best for kicking a field goal in the 2010 season. Henry won the “Cocktail Party” against Georgia with his game-winning overtime kick. And was a pretty productive punter for the Gators as well. He spent two seasons with the Eagles.

I’m just having a little fun here with the “Kicker U” headlines, If you think your school is the real “Kicker U” please show me mercy. Florida football has produced some fine kickers and punters over the years. There have also been some absolutely atrocious kicking years as well.

Congratulations to Evan McPherson for sending the Bengals to the Super Bowl!