Age: 31 (Nov.
13)
9th
season in pro football, 7th with Bills
College: William
& Mary
Height: 6’0” Weight: 185
Prelude:
A native of
Canada, Christie was a highly-sought soccer prospect coming out of high school
but was recruited by William & Mary to be a kicker. He set school records
for field goals (57), field goal percentage (68.7), and points (279) and was
also an accomplished punter. For his efforts, he was a three-time All-ECAC
selection. Undrafted out of college, Christie joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
in 1990 and was successful on 23 of 27 field goal attempts. He received
first-team All-NFC honors from UPI and Pro Football Weekly. After a second
season with the Bucs, he signed with the Bills as a free agent in 1992. Christie
connected on 24 of 30 field goal attempts in 1992 and was 9-of-10 in his first
postseason, which included the game-winning kick in the dramatic
come-from-behind win over the Oilers in the Wild Card round and five in the AFC
Championship against Miami. A lesser year in ’93 was followed by his career
high for field goal percentage (85.7) in 1994 as he made good on 24 of 28 attempts
and kicked a Super Bowl-record 54-yard field goal in the postseason. He
remained consistent and in 1997 was 24-of-30 on field goals (80 %) and was
successful all 21 of his extra point attempts.
1998 Season Summary
Appeared in
all 16 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Kicking
Field goals –
33 [3]
Most field
goals, game – 4 vs. San Francisco 10/4, at NY Jets 11/8, at Cincinnati 12/6
Field goal
attempts – 41 [1]
Most field
goal attempts, game – 5 vs. San Francisco 10/4
Field goal
percentage – 80.5 [16]
PATs – 41 [7,
tied with Ryan Longwell & Todd Peterson]
PAT attempts
– 41 [8, tied with Todd Peterson]
Longest field
goal – 52 yards at Cincinnati 12/6
Scoring
Field Goals –
33
PATs – 41
Points – 140
[2, 1st in AFC]
Postseason: 1
G (AFC Wild Card playoff at Miami)
Field goals –
1
Field goal
attempts – 1
PATs – 2
PAT attempts
– 2
Longest field
goal – 33 yards
Bills went 10-6
to finish third in the AFC East and qualified for the postseason as a Wild
Card. Lost AFC Wild Card playoff to Miami Dolphins (24-17).
Aftermath:
Christie
spent two more seasons with Buffalo for a total of nine before a preseason
groin injury in 2001 led to his being placed on injured-reserve and then
released. He departed the Bills having achieved franchise records with 234
field goals out of 299 attempts (78.3 %) and 309 extra points, with four
misses, for a total of 1011 points. Christie joined the San Diego Chargers during
the 2001season and stayed on for another two years before finishing his career
with the Giants in 2004. Overall, Christie was successful on 336 of 431 field
goal attempts (78.0 %) and 468 of 473 PATs for a total of 1476 points.
--
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
