Rian Lindell
 Lindell with the Buffalo Bills in 2010. |
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| No. 9 Buffalo Bills | |
| Placekicker | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: January 20, 1977 | |
| Place of birth: Portland, Oregon | |
| Height: 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | Weight: 227 lb (103 kg) |
| Career information | |
| College: Washington State | |
| Undrafted in 2000 | |
| Debuted in 2000 for the Seattle Seahawks | |
| Career history | |
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| Career highlights and awards | |
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| Career NFL statistics as of Week 13, 2011 | |
| Field Goals Made | 262 |
| Field Goals Attempted | 324 |
| Field Goals % | 80.9 |
| Career Long FG | 56 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
Rian Lindell (born January 20, 1977) is an American football placekicker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2000. He played college football at Washington State where he was a part of Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity.
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[edit] Early years
Lindell attended Pacific Junior High School (now Pacific Middle School) in Vancouver, Washington, Mountain View High School in Vancouver.
[edit] College career
At Washington State, Lindell played with quarterback Ryan Leaf and made an appearance in the 1998 Rose Bowl as a freshman. The Cougars lost to a Michigan Wolverines team that included future NFL players Brian Griese, Tom Brady (who was Griese's backup for the game) and Charles Woodson.
[edit] Professional career
Lindell was with the Seattle Seahawks for three seasons before joining the Buffalo Bills in 2003; Lindell replaced Mike Hollis, who was allowed to leave as a free agent. He was generally regarded as having a stronger but slightly less accurate leg than Hollis. One of his most notorious missed field goals came at the end of the 2004 season; with Buffalo at 9-6, and leading against the backups of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo had a chance to make the playoffs for the first time in the Tom Donahoe era with a win. However, Lindell missed a field goal in the third quarter, which ended up turning momentum to Pittsburgh. On the running game led by future breakout star running back Willie Parker, Pittsburgh rallied to win the game and knocked Buffalo out of the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.
In the 2006 season, Lindell converted 23 out of 25 field goal attempts, at 92%, tied for the league. However, one of his missed field goals came during a game against the Indianapolis Colts, where Indianapolis went on to win 17-16, costing Buffalo a possible upset. But on November 26, 2006, Lindell kicked the game winning field goal against the Jacksonville Jaguars to complete Buffalo's upset over Jacksonville.
On November 11, 2007, Lindell kicked a game winning field goal to allow Buffalo to win 13-10 over the Miami Dolphins. On Sunday, December 2, 2007, Lindell kicked a game winning field goal against the Washington Redskins. Lindell was 5/5 in field goal attempts on that day. When kicking the game winning field goal, Lindell was "iced" twice by Washington head coach Joe Gibbs, which drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against Washington, making the field goal 15 yards shorter.
In week 3 of the 2008 season, Lindell had a game winning field goal on the final play of the game vs. the Oakland Raiders, which allowed Buffalo to move to 3-0. Later, in week 11 of the season, Lindell missed a 47 yard field goal with 38 seconds left. As a result, the Cleveland Browns ran the clock out to secure a 29-27 victory.
In week 13 of the 2008 season, Lindell went 1 for 3 on field goals, missing from 20 yards in the second quarter and from 40 yards late in the fourth quarter. Both missed kicks bounced off of the left upright, ultimately leading to a 10-3 victory for the San Francisco 49ers.
On December 9, 2007, Rian Lindell set the record for the most consecutive field goals made in Buffalo Bills history. He has played in all 64 games for the Bills since 2003 and holds a Bills record with 83.04 field goal percentage.
On November 29, 2009, Lindell successfully made a 56-yard field goal against rivals Miami Dolphins. This was not only Lindell's longest field goal of his career but also tied Houston Texans' kicker Kris Brown for longest successful field goal in the league for the 2009 season, until Sebastian Janikowski made a 61-yarder in week 17.
On November 7, 2010 Lindell had an extra point blocked against the Chicago Bears, ending his streak at 321 successful extra points, an NFL record for most consecutive extra points to start a career.[1]
On September 25, 2011 Lindell booted two field goals against the Patriots, including a 28 yard game winner to give the Bills their first win in 15 games vs. the Patriots.
[edit] Personal life
Lindell is married to his wife Johna. He is an avid fan of baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals.[2]
[edit] References
[edit] External links
| Current starting placekickers in the National Football League (as of Week 17 of the 2011 NFL season) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| American Football Conference | |||
| AFC East
Brandon Coutu (Buffalo Bills) |
AFC North
Billy Cundiff (Baltimore Ravens) |
AFC South
Neil Rackers (Houston Texans) |
AFC West
Matt Prater (Denver Broncos) |
| National Football Conference | |||
| NFC East
Dan Bailey (Dallas Cowboys) |
NFC North
Robbie Gould (Chicago Bears) |
NFC South
Matt Bryant (Atlanta Falcons) |
NFC West
Jay Feely (Arizona Cardinals) |
