Jeff Wilkins

Jeffrey Allen Wilkins (born April 19, 1972), nicknamed "Money", is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker for the San Francisco 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles and St. Louis Rams of the National Football League (NFL). With the Rams, he won Super Bowl XXXIV. He played college football for the Youngstown State Penguins. Wilkins is currently tied for second place all-time in most consecutive PATs without a miss at 371.

Early life Wilkins played for Austintown Fitch High School in the Austintown, Ohio suburb of Youngstown.

College career At Youngstown State University, Wilkins made a school record 66 field goals, with a long of 54 (a school record). While at Youngstown State, the Penguins won the 1991 and 1993 Division I-AA National Championships under head coach Jim Tressel. Wilkins was inducted in the YSU Sports Hall of Fame in 2003. He also kicked a 50-yard field goal in the Rams 20–17 loss in Super Bowl XXXVI.

Some consider Wilkins to be the last player to kick barefoot in the NFL, doing so for the first seven games of the 2002 season. However, many years later, Wilkins told ESPN writer Sam Borden that he did not consider himself to have been a barefoot kicker because his kicking foot was heavily taped as a short-lived attempt to fix his kicking woes.

In 2003, Wilkins kicked an NFL record-tying 39 field goals (then shared with former Miami Dolphins, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears kicker Olindo Mare), which stood until surpassed by Neil Rackers' 40 field goals in 2005.

In St. Louis' opening game of the 2006 season, Wilkins set a franchise record by kicking six field goals in their 18–10 win over the Denver Broncos. He also became the first Rams player ever to score over 1,000 points.

On November 11, 2007, Wilkins kicked his 300th career field goal against the New Orleans Saints. Wilkins announced his retirement from the NFL on February 29, 2008.

NFL career statistics

Year Team GP Field goals Extra points Points FGA FGM Lng Pct XPA XPM Pct 1994 PHI 6 0 0 — — 0 0 — 0 1995 SF 7 13 12 40 92.3 29 27 93.1 63 1996 SF 16 34 30 49 88.2 40 40 100.0 130 1997 STL 16 37 25 52 67.6 32 32 100.0 107 1998 STL 16 26 20 57 76.9 26 25 96.2 85 1999 STL 16 28 20 51 71.4 64 64 100.0 124 2000 STL 11 17 17 51 100.0 38 38 100.0 89 2001 STL 16 29 23 54 79.3 58 58 100.0 127 2002 STL 16 25 19 47 76.0 37 37 100.0 94 2003 STL 16 42 39 53 92.9 46 46 100.0 163 2004 STL 16 24 19 53 79.2 32 32 100.0 89 2005 STL 16 31 27 53 87.1 36 36 100.0 117 2006 STL 16 37 32 53 86.5 35 35 100.0 131 2007 STL 16 32 24 53 75.0 25 25 100.0 97 Career 200 375 307 57 81.9 498 495 99.4 1,416