Highlighted Year: Grant Guthrie, 1974

Placekicker, Jacksonville Sharks/Birmingham Americans

Age: 26

3^rd season in pro football, 1^st with WFL

College: Florida State

Height: 6’1”   Weight: 225

Prelude:

Guthrie set or tied seven school records at Florida State and scored a total of 156 points. He was chosen by the Buffalo Bills in the sixth round of the 1970 NFL draft and was successful on 10 of 19 field goal attempts, including one from 52 yards that was a club record at the time, and 24 of 25 PATs as a rookie. But after connecting on just three of ten field goal tries in ’71, Guthrie failed to last beyond six games. He unsuccessfully attempted to catch on with the Jets in 1972 and joined the Sharks of the new WFL in ’74. When the franchise folded after 14 games, he moved on to Birmingham.

1974 Season Summary

Appeared in 14 games with Jacksonville, NA with Birmingham

[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Kicking

Field goals – 18 [1] (Sharks: 16, Americans: 2)

Most field goals, game – 4 vs. Southern California 7/24

Field goal attempts – NA (Sharks: 21, Americans: NA)

Field goal percentage – NA (Sharks: 76.2, Americans: NA)

Longest field goal – 51 yards vs. Birmingham 8/21

Scoring

Field Goals – 18

Points – 54 (Sharks: 48, Americans: 6)

Postseason: 2 G

Field goals – 0

Field goal attempts – 0

Awards & Honors:

1^st team All-WFL: League, Sporting News

Sharks went 4-10, failing to last the season, to finish fourth in the WFL Eastern Division.

Americans went 15-5 to finish second in the WFL Central Division and qualified for the postseason. Won Second Round playoff over The Hawaiians (22-19) & WFL Championship, aka World Bowl, over Florida Blazers (22-21).  

Aftermath:

Guthrie was signed by the Los Angeles Rams in 1975 but didn’t make it to the regular season. In his stints in the NFL and WFL, he kicked a total of 31 field goals and 34 extra points (all with the Bills as the WFL’s equivalent, the action point, could not be kicked) for a total of 125 points. Guthrie was inducted into the Delaware Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.

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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