Giorgio Tavecchio
![]() Tavecchio with the California Golden Bears in August 2009 | |||||||||||
No. 2 – Oakland Raiders | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Position: | Placekicker | ||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
Born: | Milan, Italy | July 16, 1990||||||||||
Height: | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) | ||||||||||
Weight: | 180 lb (82 kg) | ||||||||||
Career information | |||||||||||
High school: | Moraga (CA) Campolindo | ||||||||||
College: | California | ||||||||||
Undrafted: | 2012 | ||||||||||
Career history | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||||
Roster status: | Active | ||||||||||
Career NFL statistics as of Week 7, 2017 | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Giorgio Tavecchio (born July 16, 1990) is an Italian-born American football placekicker for the Oakland Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He was born in Milan, Italy and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco 49ers in 2012.[1] He played his collegiate career at the University of California-Berkeley.
College career
Tavecchio's original plan was to attend UC Davis after they offered him a soccer scholarship. After finding out that they would not allow him to play football, he searched for other options. He then set up a workout at Cal but was only offered to be a walk-on.[2]
Tavecchio began attending Cal in 2008 and started the season opener against Michigan State just a few months after his workout. Throughout his first three seasons, he posted a 68% field goal percentage and was able to reach 75% after his senior year.[3] During his time at Cal, he was a four-year starter.
Professional career
Pre-draft
Going into the draft, Tavecchio was not invited to the NFL Combine. During the California Golden Bears pro day, it began to rain before he was able to perform any drills. Tavecchio kept running his planned drills but was unable to showcase his talents since every NFL scout had gone into an indoor practice facility.[4] Tavecchio remained unsigned after going undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft. He then attended a tryout for the San Francisco 49ers at which he was the only kicker present.[5]
San Francisco 49ers
On August 29, 2012, Tavecchio signed a three-year, $1.44 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers. At the time, 49ers special teams coach, Brad Seely was looking for an additional kicker to eventually succeed long time veteran David Akers. The left-footed Tavecchio was chosen because Akers was also left-footed and they could both use the same holder, instead of getting another holder for a right-footed kicker.[6]
Green Bay Packers
After being waived by the San Francisco 49ers during the offseason, the Green Bay Packers signed him to a three-year, $1.48 million contract on March 26, 2013.[7]
Tavecchio was waived by the Packers on August 26, 2013.[8]
Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions signed Tavecchio to a reserve/futures contract on January 1, 2014.[9] The Lions waived him on August 25, 2014.[10]
Oakland Raiders
On August 27, 2014, the Oakland Raiders claimed Tavecchio off of waivers.[11] Three days later, he was waived by the team.[12]
On February 23, 2015, Tavecchio signed a contract to return to the Raiders. He was waived by the team on September 5, 2015.[13]
On January 5, 2016, the Raiders signed Tavecchio to a two-year, $990,000 reserve/futures contract.[14] On August 29, 2016, he was released by the Raiders.[15]
On April 19, 2017, Tavecchio again signed with the Raiders.[16] He was waived on September 2, 2017 and was later signed to the practice squad.[17][18] He was promoted to the active roster on September 9, 2017 after longtime Raiders kicker Sebastian Janikowski was placed on the injured reserve list with a back injury.[19]
Tavecchio played his first game on September 10, 2017, where he scored four field goals on four attempts, including two 52-yard attempts, and two extra points on two attempts, providing over half the scoring in a 26–16 victory over the Tennessee Titans. He tied with Los Angeles Rams' kicker Greg Zuerlein for the most points scored by a kicker in Week 1 with 14.[20] He became the first player to hit two 50-plus yard field goals on his debut in NFL history. Tavecchio's performance in Week 1 earned him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.[21][22]
References
- ^ "Former Cal kicker Giorgio Tavecchio signs with Raiders". San Jose Mercury News. February 24, 2015. Retrieved April 16, 2016.
- ^ Della, Luke. "GIORGIO'S JOURNEY". University of California Athletics. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ "Giorgio Tavecchio College Stats". Sports Reference. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ Gehlken, Michael. "Raiders K Giorgio Tavecchio still chasing dream after 6 NFL camps – Las Vegas Review-Journal". Las Vegas Review-Journal. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ Fucillo, David (November 28, 2012). "49ers kicker: Team works out Billy Cundiff, Nate Kaeding, according to reports". SBNation. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ Luke Della. "Giorgio's Journey". CalBears.com. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
- ^ Western, Evan. "Packers Sign Tavecchio, But Is This Kicking Competition Real?". SBNation. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ Silverstein, Tom. "Packers release Tavecchio, keep him on short list". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ Twentyman, Tim. "Lions sign 10 players to futures/reserve contracts, including two kickers". Detroit Lions. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ "Detroit Lions cut Giorgio Tavecchio, settle on Nate Freese". ESPN.com. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ Hjeltness, Nick. "Oakland Raiders Once Again Sign Kicker Giorgio Tavecchio". SBNation. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ "Oakland Raiders Kicker, Punter & Snapper News". Blogger. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
- ^ "Oakland Raiders Announce 53-Man Roster". Raiders.com. September 5, 2015. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
- ^ "Giorgio Tavecchio Contract". Sportrac.com. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
- ^ "Oakland Raiders Announce Transactions". Raiders.com.
- ^ "Raiders Sign K Giorgio Tavecchio". Raiders.com. April 19, 2017.
- ^ "Raiders Announce Transactions". Raiders.com. September 2, 2017.
- ^ "Oakland Raiders Sign Kicker Giorgio Tavecchio To Practice Squad". =Raiders.com. September 8, 2017.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) - ^ "Raiders Sign Giorgio Tavecchio; Place Sebastian Janikowski On IR". Raiders.com. September 9, 2017.
- ^ "Player Game Finder Query". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
- ^ Lam, Quang M. (September 13, 2017). "Alex Smith, Sam Bradford among Players of the Week". NFL.com.
- ^ "Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans - September 10th, 2017". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 26 September 2017.
External links
- 1990 births
- Living people
- Italian players of American football
- Sportspeople from Milan
- American football placekickers
- California Golden Bears football players
- San Francisco 49ers players
- Green Bay Packers players
- Detroit Lions players
- Oakland Raiders players
- Italian expatriate sportspeople in the United States