Jim Bakken

Jim Bakken

Bakken c. 2015
No. 25
Position:	Kicker
Personal information
Born:	(1940-11-02) November 2, 1940 Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.
Height:	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:	200 lb (91 kg)
Career information
High school:	Madison West
College:	Wisconsin
NFL draft:	1962 / round: 7 / pick: 88
Career history
Los Angeles Rams (1962)* St. Louis Cardinals (1962–1978)
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
2× First-team All-Pro (1975, 1976) 4× Pro Bowl (1965, 1967, 1975, 1976) NFL scoring leader (1967) NFL 1960s All-Decade Team NFL 1970s All-Decade Team
Career NFL statistics
Field goals attempted: 447 Field goals made: 282 Field goal percentage: 63.1% Longest field goal: 51 Extra points attempted: 553 Extra points made: 534 Extra point percentage: 96.6% Points scored: 1,380 Stats at Pro Football Reference

James LeRoy Bakken (born November 2, 1940) is an American former professional football player who was a kicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals, playing occasionally as a punter as well. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and was named to the NFL 1960s and 1970s All-Decade Team. Bakken is one of 29 individuals to be named to two All-Decade teams.

Early career

Before his NFL career, Bakken played football at Madison West High School in Madison, Wisconsin. He went on to play three seasons at the University of Wisconsin, where he played on the 1960 Rose Bowl team as a sophomore and led the Big Ten in punting average in 1960 and 1961. He was named to the Madison (Wisconsin) Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, and was later inducted into the UW Athletic Department-National W Club Hall of Fame.

Professional career

Bakken was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the seventh round of the 1962 NFL draft. He did not make the team and was instead picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals, where he played his entire NFL career. He played 17 seasons, scoring a total of 1,380 points while never missing a game between 1963 and 1978. He cracked the 100-point threshold in a season three times (1964, 1967, and 1973) and was selected to kick in the Pro Bowl four times. For a time, he was president of the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA).

Bakken was the first NFL kicker to attempt nine field goals and successfully convert seven in a Week 2 28–14 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Pitt Stadium on September 24, 1967. That single-game field goal record was broke by Rob Bironas with eight in a game in 2007.

Honors

Bakken was named by the voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to the Professional Football 1960s All Decade Team, which included both NFL and American Football League players. The voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame also selected Bakken to the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team.

In December 2010, the annual trophy for the Big Ten's best kicker, the "Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year" award, was co-named in his honor.

Career regular season statistics

Career high/best bolded

Regular season statistics
Season	Team (record)	G	FGM	FGA	%	<20	20-29	30-39	40-49	50+	LNG	BLK	XPM	XPA	%	PTS
1962	STL (4–9–1)	8	0	1	0.0	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	0	0	0	0	0.0	0
1963	STL (9–5)	14	11	21	52.4	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	45	0	44	44	100.0	77
1964	STL (9–3–2)	14	25	38	65.8	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	51	0	40	40	100.0	115
1965	STL (5–9)	14	21	31	67.7	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	45	0	33	33	100.0	96
1966	STL (8–5–1)	14	23	40	57.5	8–8	7–8	4–8	4–12	0–4	47	0	27	28	96.4	96
1967	STL (6–7–1)	14	27	39	69.2	8–8	8–9	8–11	3–10	0–1	47	0	36	36	100.0	117
1968	STL (9–4–1)	14	15	24	62.5	2–2	7–7	3–6	3–8	0–1	47	0	40	40	100.0	85
1969	STL (4–9–1)	14	12	24	50.0	2–2	4–8	3–4	3–7	0–3	46	0	38	40	95.0	74
1970	STL (8–5–1)	14	20	32	62.5	4–4	3–6	7–7	6–11	0–4	49	0	37	38	97.4	97
1971	STL (4–9–1)	14	21	32	65.6	5–5	8–13	5–6	3–8	0–0	45	0	24	24	100.0	87
1972	STL (4–9–1)	14	14	22	63.6	4–5	2–5	2–3	6–9	0–0	49	0	19	21	90.5	61
1973	STL (4–9–1)	14	23	32	71.9	4–4	6–7	10–12	3–8	0–1	46	0	31	31	100.0	100
1974	STL (10–4)	14	13	22	59.1	0–0	2–3	5–9	6–10	0–0	47	0	30	36	83.3	69
1975	STL (11–3)	14	19	24	79.2	0–0	10–11	5–7	4–6	0–0	48	0	40	41	97.6	97
1976	STL (10–4)	14	20	27	74.1	0–0	10–11	6–8	4–8	0–0	43	0	33	35	94.3	93
1977	STL (7–7)	14	7	16	43.8	0–0	2–2	3–5	2–8	0–1	49	0	35	36	97.2	56
1978	STL (6–10)	16	11	22	50.0	0–0	4–5	4–7	3–10	0–0	45	0	27	30	90.0	60
Career (17 seasons)		234	282	447	63.1	37–38	73–95	65–93	50–115	0–15	51	0	534	553	96.6	1380

See also

• List of most consecutive starts and games played by National Football League players

External links

• Univ. of Wisconsin–Madison Hall of Fame biography Archived May 18, 2004, at the Wayback Machine