Age: 24 (Nov. 2)
3rd
season in pro football & with Cardinals
College: Wisconsin
Height: 6’0” Weight: 200
Prelude:
A quarterback
in high school, Bakken played defensive back in addition to placekicking in
college. He was chosen by the Los Angeles Rams in the seventh round of the 1962
NFL draft, was waived prior to the season, and picked up by the Cardinals.
Bakken saw some action in the defensive backfield and missed his only field
goal attempt, but he became the team’s placekicker in ’63 and was successful on
11 of 21 field goal attempts and all 44 of his extra points.
1964 Season Summary
Appeared in
all 14 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Kicking
Field goals –
25 [1]
Most field goals,
game – 5 vs. Philadelphia 12/13
Field goal
attempts – 38 [1, tied with Paul Hornung]
Most field
goal attempts, game – 6 vs. Philadelphia 12/13
Field goal
percentage – 65.8 [3]
PATs – 40 [4,
tied with Fred Cox]
PAT attempts
– 40 [5]
Longest field
goal – 51 yards at Cleveland 9/20
Scoring
Field Goals –
25
PATs – 40
Points – 115
[2, tied with Lou Groza]
Cardinals
went 9-3-2 to finish second in the NFL Eastern Conference.
Aftermath:
Bakken went
on to kick for another 15 seasons, all with the Cardinals. He was chosen to the
Pro Bowl in 1965 after leading the NFL in field goal percentage (67.7) as he
connected on 21 of 31 attempts. Bakken led the league in number of field goals
(a career-high 27), field goal percentage (69.2), and scoring (117 points) in
1967, a year in which he set a single-game record with 7 field goals in 9
attempts against the Steelers, and received first-team All-Eastern Conference
honors from The Sporting News as well as again being selected for the Pro Bowl.
He remained a steady performer, only twice dropping below a field goal
percentage of 60 between 1967 and ’77 and remaining effective in his mid-thirties
after the goal posts were moved to the back of the end zone in 1974. He was a
consensus first-team All-NFL selection in 1975 and ’76, connecting on
career-highs of 79.2 and 74.1 percent of his field goal attempts, respectively.
Bakken’s performance finally dropped off in 1977 and ’78, his last two seasons.
At the time of his retirement, he ranked second in NFL history in scoring (1380
points) and was tied for third in career field goals (282) with his
contemporary, Fred Cox. His overall field goal percentage was 63.1. He also
ranked third all-time in extra points (534, out of 553 attempts). Bakken was
twice a consensus first-team All-NFL selection and was chosen to the Pro Bowl four
times. One of the best of the old-school straight-ahead placekickers, he was
chosen to the All-1960s team by the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was a
second-team selection for the ‘70s.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
