Highlighted Year: Jay Feely, 2001

Placekicker, Atlanta Falcons

Age: 25

3^rd season in pro football, 1^st in NFL & with Falcons

College: Michigan

Height: 5’10” Weight: 206

Prelude:

Feely was Michigan’s regular placekicker as a senior in 1998 and was successful on 16 of 20 field goal attempts and 34 of 35 PATs for a total of 82 points. Undrafted by the NFL out of college, Feely spent two seasons playing arena football, with the Florida Bobcats in 1999 and Tampa Bay Storm in 2000. He joined the Falcons in 2001 and beat out Jake Arians for the placekicking job previously held by Morten Andersen.

2001 Season Summary

Appeared in all 16 games

[Bracketed numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]

Kicking

Field goals – 29 [4, 1^st in NFC]

Most field goals, game – 4 vs. Buffalo 12/23

Field goal attempts – 37 [2]

Most field goal attempts, game – 4 vs. St. Louis 12/2, vs. Buffalo 12/23

Field goal percentage – 78.4 [18]

PATs – 28 [20, tied with Martin Gramatica]

PAT attempts – 28 [20, tied with Martin Gramatica & Todd Peterson]

Longest field goal – 55 yards at Arizona 9/30

Scoring

Field Goals – 29

PATs – 28

Points – 115 [6, tied with David Akers & Matt Stover]

Falcons went 7-9 to finish fourth in the NFC West.

Aftermath:

Feely followed up with a bigger season in 2002, leading the NFL with 32 field goals out of 40 attempts and scoring a total of 138 points. He spent two more lesser seasons with the Falcons before moving on to the New York Giants in 2005, where he kicked a career-high 35 field goals out of 42 attempts and, a perfect 43-for-43 in extra points, also had his top scoring total with 148 points. Feely was with the Giants for another year in 2006, one with Miami in ‘07, two as a member of the New York Jets, and four in Arizona before finishing up with the Chicago Bears in 2014 at age 38. Consistent if not spectacular, Feely was successful on 332 of 402 field goal attempts (82.6 %) and, adding 449 PATs (with just three misses), scored a total of 1451 points. Of that, 98 field goals, 142 PATs, and 436 points came with Atlanta.

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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 Percentage, 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