# NFL Field Goal Kickers **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 26, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702 "2011-09-26T21:34:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SanDiegoTim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@SanDiegoTim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanDiegoTim)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702/1 "2011-09-26T21:34:41Z")
While maybe there are some, but I can’t name a single black field goal kicker. Why are there none or so few? ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702/2 "2011-09-26T21:39:40Z")
Reggie Roby, Greg Coleman, Rodney Williams,Obed Ariri, Herb Travenio, and Donald Igewbuck. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702/3 "2011-09-26T21:44:19Z")
There are only two whom I can think of off the top of my head – Donald Igwebuike and Obed Ariri, both of whom kicked for Tampa Bay in the 1980s, both of whom attended Clemson, and both of whom were from Nigeria. There haven’t been many black punters, either (Reggie Roby and Greg Coleman are the only two I can easily think of). I can’t think of any compelling reason why there haven’t been more, but it certainly does look like being a kicking specialist isn’t something which attracts a lot of young black athletes (compared to other positions in the game). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702/4 "2011-09-26T21:46:00Z")
> [@Enderw24](#): > > Reggie Roby, Greg Coleman, Rodney Williams,Obed Ariri, Herb Travenio, and Donald Igewbuck. Roby, Coleman, and Williams were punters, not kickers (but I’ve already noted that black punters seem to be equally rare). ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702/5 "2011-09-26T21:49:18Z")
Roby was a punter, and a very good one, but not a place kicker. The Tampa Bay Bucs’ Nigerian place kicker Donald Igwebuike is one of the few I’ve seen. There haven’t been many black punters OR place kickers in the NFL, and there’s no complelling reason for that. PERHAPS it’s because, for a long time, a lot of place kickers were converted soccer players. In the Seventies, that meant a lot of imported European place kickers (Jan Stenerud, Toni Fritsch, Garo Yepremian, Horst Muhlmann, Pete and Charlie Gogolak, John Smith, Nick Mike-Mayer, etc.). Today, of course, there are plenty of American soccer players and we no longer have to import European place kickers… but most American soccer players are white kids from the suburbs. It’s worth noting that Donald Igwebuike himself was a converted soccer player. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702/6 "2011-09-26T21:50:36Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Roby, Coleman, and Williams were punters, not kickers (but I’ve already noted that black punters seem to be equally rare). Very well could be. I don’t know any of them, actually. I just Googled up “black field goal…” and Google filled in the rest and I had my answer. [sub]Sorta.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2011, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702/7 "2011-09-26T21:59:41Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > but most American soccer players are white kids from the suburbs. That’s undoubtedly true, but: a) High schools which have predominantly black student bodies play football, too (where do all the other black NFL players come from? 😉 ), and undoubtedly have _someone_ who kicks (and punts). b) I bet you that most NFL kickers who grew up in the U.S. were playing football in high school (though many of them were probably also playing soccer). It’s possible, I suppose, that playing both soccer _and_ football as a youngster correlates strongly with making it to the NFL as a kicker, compared to playing football alone. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702/8 "2011-09-27T14:01:27Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > That’s undoubtedly true, but: > a) High schools which have predominantly black student bodies play football, too (where do all the other black NFL players come from? 😉 ), and undoubtedly have _someone_ who kicks (and punts). > b) I bet you that most NFL kickers who grew up in the U.S. were playing football in high school (though many of them were probably also playing soccer). > > It’s possible, I suppose, that playing both soccer _and_ football as a youngster correlates strongly with making it to the NFL as a kicker, compared to playing football alone. You do raise a fair point… and I admit, it’s surprising we haven’t seen any good kickers from all-black or mostly-black schools like Grambling in the NFL. Strangely enough, I recall hearing a few years ago that even Grambling had brought in an Israeli soccer player as their kicker! ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702/9 "2011-09-27T14:22:59Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > That’s undoubtedly true, but: > a) High schools which have predominantly black student bodies play football, too, and undoubtedly have _someone_ who kicks (and punts). Yes, and typically badly. The kicking stats at HBCUs are pretty bad. > **[Southwestern Athletic Conference -2010 - Leaders](https://swac.org/sports/2018/7/6/161281.html.aspx)** > > Southwestern Athletic Conference -2010 - Leaders > > > Southwestern Athletic Conference -2010 > Leaders > > > > > Team Leaders > Individual Leaders > > > > > > > > > > > > > >   > Team > **[MEAC FOOTBALL STATISTICAL REPORT - Leaders](https://static.meacsports.com/custompages/stats/football/2010/confldrs.htm)** IMO, it’s partly the soccer thing, and partly that black athletes are resistant to being pigeonholed into a niche, “non-athlete” position. ---
**Author:** ![Fact\_of\_the\_Matter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Fact\_of\_the\_Matter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fact_of_the_Matter)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702/10 "2011-09-27T17:27:57Z")
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYBhMqTmYsQ&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYBhMqTmYsQ&feature=related) Couldn’t resist posting this. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702/11 "2011-09-27T19:58:07Z")
> [@Fact\_of\_the\_Matter](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYBhMqTmYsQ&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYBhMqTmYsQ&feature=related) > > Couldn’t resist posting this. From what I’ve read (and seen, in that clip), he’s actually pretty good at it. Walter Payton was the Bears’ backup kicker, and he was, allegedly, often better than the Bears’ regular kicker. The story goes that the Bears didn’t like the idea of exposing their MVP to getting injured by someone running into his leg as he was kicking, and so, they never let him kick in a regular-season game (though he did punt once during his rookie season). ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Sensitive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/58956e/32.png) [@Darth\_Sensitive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Sensitive)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nfl-field-goal-kickers/597702/12 "2011-09-27T20:35:50Z")
> [@Fact\_of\_the\_Matter](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYBhMqTmYsQ&feature=related](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYBhMqTmYsQ&feature=related) > > Couldn’t resist posting this. The sad thing is that he’s probably now the 3rd string kicker on the Patriots after Wes Welker, who was probably the best kicker in the state of Oklahoma when he was in high school.