Rookie of the Year: Paul McFadden, 1984

Placekicker, Philadelphia Eagles

Age:  23 (Sept. 24)

College: Youngstown State

Height: 5’11” Weight: 160

Prelude:

McFadden kicked a school-record 54-yard field goal and added another of 52 yards in his first college game. Kicking barefoot, he ended up with 52 field goals out of 90 attempts, with a high of 17 in 1982, and with 78 PATs accumulated a total of 240 points. McFadden was drafted ninth by the USFL’s Chicago Blitz but signed with the Eagles, who chose him in the 12^th round of the ’84 NFL draft.

1984 Season Summary

Appeared in all 16 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Kicking

Field goals – 30 [1]

Most field goals, game - 4 vs. Minnesota 9/9

Field goal attempts – 37 [1]

Most field goal attempts, game – 4 vs. Minnesota 9/9, vs. Washington 11/18, at St. Louis 11/25

Field goal percentage – 81.1 [3]

PATs – 26

PAT attempts – 27

Longest field goal – 52 yards at Detroit 11/4

Scoring

Field Goals – 30

PATs – 26

Points – 116 [5]

Awards & Honors:

NFC Rookie of the Year: UPI

2^nd team All-NFC: UPI

Eagles went 6-9-1 to finish fifth in the NFC East.

Aftermath:

Having set a team season scoring record as a rookie, McFadden followed up in 1985 with another solid year, connecting on 83.3 percent of his field goal attempts (25 of 30), but he dropped off to 20 in 31 attempts (64.5 %) in ’86 and 16 of 26 (61.5 %) in 1987, when he was nearly released during the season. His four-year total of 91 field goals with Philadelphia was the franchise record at the time. Waived during the 1988 preseason, McFadden was picked up by the New York Giants when Raul Allegre was out with a groin injury and kicked 14 field goals in 10 games before moving on to the Atlanta Falcons in ’89, which was his last season. Overall, McFadden kicked 120 field goals in 163 attempts (73.6 %), with his longest measuring 54 yards, and 160 extra points for a total of 520 points. His outstanding rookie year remained his best.

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Rookie of the Year Profiles feature players who were named Rookie of the Year in the NFL (including NFC/AFC), AFL (1960-69), or USFL (1983-85) by a recognized organization (Associated Press – Offense or Defense, Newspaper Enterprise Association, United Press International, The Sporting News, or the league itself – Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year).