David Akers
Encyclopedia
David Roy Akers is a left footed American football
placekicker
for the San Francisco 49ers
of the National Football League
. He was signed as an undrafted free agent
by the Atlanta Falcons
in 1997. He played college football
at Louisville
.
Akers has also been a member of the Carolina Panthers
, Washington Redskins
, Berlin Thunder
, and Philadelphia Eagles
. He has made the Pro Bowl
five times in his career.
. During his four-year career, Akers kicked a school-record 36 field goals (with a long of 51 yards against Texas A&M University
), and ranks second in Louisville's all-time scoring list, with 219 points.
and 1998
, as an undrafted free agent, Akers spent time trying to make the team with the Atlanta Falcons
and Carolina Panthers
.
in 1998
and played in one game for them, making two extra point
s but missing two field goal
attempts of 50+ yards each. He was waived during the 1999 season
.
claimed him off waivers and allocated him to NFL Europe. A solid season with the Berlin Thunder
helped him earn the kicking job for the Eagles in 2000
.
Akers proved to be one of the biggest special teams surprises in all of the NFL that season. He made 29 out of 33 field goals (an 87.9% success rate), and had a team-record 121 points. Akers earned the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month award in November 2000. He made the Pro Bowl
for the first time in 2001
as he went 26-for-31, making a team-record seventeen consecutive field goals during the season.
Akers' best statistical season was 2002
when he connected on 30 of 34 field goals (88.2%), scored a team-record 133 points, and made another Pro Bowl. He got fewer chances in 2003
, but still made 24 of 29 field goals. He made the second-longest field goal in Eagles' history on September 14, 2003, a 57-yarder against the New England Patriots
at the new Lincoln Financial Field
(the only longer field goal in Eagles' history was Tony Franklin's 59-yard field goal in 1979.) In 2004
, Akers continued his consistent kicking with an 84.4% field goal percentage.
Injuries finally got to Akers in 2005
when he tore the hamstring in his non-kicking leg during the opening kickoff against the Oakland Raiders
on September 25, 2005. Akers left the game, but returned in the second half with a heavily-taped leg to make two extra points and then kick the game-winning 28-yard field goal before collapsing in pain as his teammates mobbed him. He missed the next four games and finished the season 16 for 22, but still made his third Pro Bowl.
In 2006
, Akers was injury-free, but making 18 of 23 attempts (78.3%), his second worst season statistically.
On December 16, 2007, in a 10-6 win over the Dallas Cowboys
, Akers set the Philadelphia Eagles franchise record for most points and on Thanksgiving
in 2008, Akers passed 1,000 career points during a 48-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals
.
On December 7, 2008, Akers kicked a 51-yard field goal at Giants Stadium
, his longest of the season. In the same game he had two field goals blocked, one of which was returned for a touchdown. At the end of the 2008 regular season
, Akers again set the team single-season scoring record with an NFC best 144 points. He connected on 33 of 40 field goals (82.5 pct), his best percentage since 2004.
On January 11, 2009, Akers kicked three field goals in three attempts during a divisional playoff win over the New York Giants
. The second of these was his seventeenth consecutive field goal without a miss during the postseason, breaking an NFL record held by one-time Eagle Gary Anderson. Akers holds an NFL record 19 consecutive postseason field goal conversions, and ranks third all time in total postseason field goal conversions with twenty-eight. The streak was snapped in the next week against the Arizona Cardinals
.
Akers was selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl
, his fifth. He was also named to the NFL All-Decade Team for the 2000s.
to a three-year contract on July 29, 2011. He kicked a 59-yard field goal just before halftime in a preseason game against New Orleans on August 12, 2011. On September 18, 2011, he kicked a 55-yard field goal against the Dallas Cowboys
, setting a record for the longest field goal made at Candlestick Park.
, with their sons Luke and Sawyer, and daughter Halley. Formerly residents of Medford, New Jersey.
In 2001, the Akers family formed the David Akers Kicks for Kids Foundation, which has established programs with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
to benefit sick children and their families.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
placekicker
Placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...
for the San Francisco 49ers
San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
of the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
. He was signed as an undrafted free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....
by the Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in 1997. He played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
at Louisville
Louisville Cardinals football
The Louisville Cardinals football team represents the University of Louisville in college football as a member of the Big East Conference. Howard Schnellenberger started the program's rise to relevancy after winning the Miami Hurricanes' first national championship...
.
Akers has also been a member of the Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
, Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
, Berlin Thunder
Berlin Thunder
The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe, which was a springtime American football league serving primarily as a developmental league for the National Football League. Most of the players were young American professional players assigned by NFL teams to receive...
, and Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. He has made the Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
five times in his career.
College career
Akers attended college at the University of LouisvilleUniversity of Louisville
The University of Louisville is a public university in Louisville, Kentucky. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of the first universities chartered west of the Allegheny Mountains. The university is mandated by the Kentucky General...
. During his four-year career, Akers kicked a school-record 36 field goals (with a long of 51 yards against Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
), and ranks second in Louisville's all-time scoring list, with 219 points.
Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers
Between 19971997 NFL season
The 1997 NFL season was the 78th regular season of the National Football League. The Oilers relocated from Houston, Texas to Nashville, Tennessee...
and 1998
1998 NFL season
The 1998 NFL season was the 79th regular season of the National Football League.The Tennessee Oilers moved their home games from Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, still awaiting construction on a new stadium in Nashville.This was the first season that CBS...
, as an undrafted free agent, Akers spent time trying to make the team with the Atlanta Falcons
Atlanta Falcons
The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta, Georgia. They are a member of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
and Carolina Panthers
Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They are currently members of the South Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Panthers, along with the Jacksonville Jaguars, joined the NFL as expansion...
.
Washington Redskins
Akers was signed by the Washington RedskinsWashington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...
in 1998
1998 NFL season
The 1998 NFL season was the 79th regular season of the National Football League.The Tennessee Oilers moved their home games from Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium in Memphis to Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, still awaiting construction on a new stadium in Nashville.This was the first season that CBS...
and played in one game for them, making two extra point
Extra Point
Extra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio that covers generic sports-related topical news and opinion. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...
s but missing two field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...
attempts of 50+ yards each. He was waived during the 1999 season
1999 NFL season
The 1999 NFL season was the 80th regular season of the National Football League. The Cleveland Browns returned to the field for the first time since the 1995 season...
.
Philadelphia Eagles
After Washington cut Akers, the Philadelphia EaglesPhiladelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
claimed him off waivers and allocated him to NFL Europe. A solid season with the Berlin Thunder
Berlin Thunder
The Berlin Thunder were a professional American football team in NFL Europe, which was a springtime American football league serving primarily as a developmental league for the National Football League. Most of the players were young American professional players assigned by NFL teams to receive...
helped him earn the kicking job for the Eagles in 2000
2000 NFL season
The 2000 NFL season was the 81st regular season of the National Football League. The season ended with Super Bowl XXXV when the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants.Week 1 of the season reverted to Labor Day weekend in 2000...
.
Akers proved to be one of the biggest special teams surprises in all of the NFL that season. He made 29 out of 33 field goals (an 87.9% success rate), and had a team-record 121 points. Akers earned the NFC Special Teams Player of the Month award in November 2000. He made the Pro Bowl
Pro Bowl
In professional American football, the Pro Bowl is the all-star game of the National Football League . Since the merger with the rival American Football League in 1970, it has been officially called the AFC–NFC Pro Bowl, matching the top players in the American Football Conference against those...
for the first time in 2001
2001 NFL season
The 2001 NFL season was the 82nd regular season of the National Football League.Following a pattern set in 1999, the first week of the season was permanently moved to the weekend following Labor Day...
as he went 26-for-31, making a team-record seventeen consecutive field goals during the season.
Akers' best statistical season was 2002
2002 NFL season
The 2002 NFL season was the 83rd regular season of the National Football League.The league went back to an even number of teams, expanding to 32 teams with the addition of the Houston Texans. The clubs were then realigned into eight divisions, four teams in each...
when he connected on 30 of 34 field goals (88.2%), scored a team-record 133 points, and made another Pro Bowl. He got fewer chances in 2003
2003 NFL season
-Milestones:The following teams and players set all-time NFL records during the season:-Team:-Individual:-Awards:-External Links:**-References:*NFL Record and Fact Book *...
, but still made 24 of 29 field goals. He made the second-longest field goal in Eagles' history on September 14, 2003, a 57-yarder against the New England Patriots
New England Patriots
The New England Patriots, commonly called the "Pats", are a professional football team based in the Greater Boston area, playing their home games in the town of Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium. The team is part of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National...
at the new Lincoln Financial Field
Lincoln Financial Field
Lincoln Financial Field is the home stadium of the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles. It has a seating capacity of 68,532 . It is located in South Philadelphia on Pattison Avenue between 11th and 10th streets, also aside I-95 as part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex...
(the only longer field goal in Eagles' history was Tony Franklin's 59-yard field goal in 1979.) In 2004
2004 NFL season
The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League.With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005...
, Akers continued his consistent kicking with an 84.4% field goal percentage.
Injuries finally got to Akers in 2005
2005 NFL season
The 2005 NFL season was the 86th regular season of the National Football League.With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 8, 2005 to January 1, 2006...
when he tore the hamstring in his non-kicking leg during the opening kickoff against the Oakland Raiders
Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
on September 25, 2005. Akers left the game, but returned in the second half with a heavily-taped leg to make two extra points and then kick the game-winning 28-yard field goal before collapsing in pain as his teammates mobbed him. He missed the next four games and finished the season 16 for 22, but still made his third Pro Bowl.
In 2006
2006 NFL season
The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...
, Akers was injury-free, but making 18 of 23 attempts (78.3%), his second worst season statistically.
On December 16, 2007, in a 10-6 win over the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
, Akers set the Philadelphia Eagles franchise record for most points and on Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is a holiday celebrated primarily in the United States and Canada. Thanksgiving is celebrated each year on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. In Canada, Thanksgiving falls on the same day as Columbus Day in the...
in 2008, Akers passed 1,000 career points during a 48-20 win over the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
On December 7, 2008, Akers kicked a 51-yard field goal at Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium
Giants Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium, located in East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA, in the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Maximum seating capacity was 80,242. The building itself was 230.5 m long, 180.5 m wide and 44 m high from service level to the top of the seating bowl and 54 m high to...
, his longest of the season. In the same game he had two field goals blocked, one of which was returned for a touchdown. At the end of the 2008 regular season
2008 NFL season
The 2008 NFL season was the 89th regular season of the National Football League, themed with the slogan "Believe in Now."Super Bowl XLIII, the league's championship game, was at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida on February 1, 2009, with the Pittsburgh Steelers coming out victorious over the...
, Akers again set the team single-season scoring record with an NFC best 144 points. He connected on 33 of 40 field goals (82.5 pct), his best percentage since 2004.
On January 11, 2009, Akers kicked three field goals in three attempts during a divisional playoff win over the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
. The second of these was his seventeenth consecutive field goal without a miss during the postseason, breaking an NFL record held by one-time Eagle Gary Anderson. Akers holds an NFL record 19 consecutive postseason field goal conversions, and ranks third all time in total postseason field goal conversions with twenty-eight. The streak was snapped in the next week against the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
.
Akers was selected to the 2010 Pro Bowl
2010 Pro Bowl
The 2010 AFC–NFC Pro Bowl was the NFL's all-star game for the 2009 season. It took place at 8:00 PM EST on Sunday, January 31, 2010, at Sun Life Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida, the home stadium of the Miami Dolphins and host site of Super Bowl XLIV...
, his fifth. He was also named to the NFL All-Decade Team for the 2000s.
San Francisco 49ers
Akers was signed by the San Francisco 49ersSan Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...
to a three-year contract on July 29, 2011. He kicked a 59-yard field goal just before halftime in a preseason game against New Orleans on August 12, 2011. On September 18, 2011, he kicked a 55-yard field goal against the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...
, setting a record for the longest field goal made at Candlestick Park.
NFL Records
- Consecutive postseason field goal conversions: 19
- Points in a single decade (2000–2009): 1,114
- Points in Pro Bowl History: 48
Personal
Akers and his wife, Erika, reside in San Francisco, CaliforniaSan Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, with their sons Luke and Sawyer, and daughter Halley. Formerly residents of Medford, New Jersey.
In 2001, the Akers family formed the David Akers Kicks for Kids Foundation, which has established programs with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is one of the largest and oldest children's hospitals in the world. CHOP has been ranked as the best children's hospital in the United States by U.S. News & World Report and Parents Magazine in recent years. As of 2008, it was ranked #1 in the nation for...
to benefit sick children and their families.