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 12th 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
2nd
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.
--
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).
