Tonya Butler

Tonya Lynn Butler (born October 20, 1980) is an American athlete who is the first woman ever to score a field goal in a college football game. She accomplished this feat on September 13, 2003, as a placekicker for the University of West Alabama Tigers, who were competing in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II.

Playing career

High school Butler was raised in Fayetteville, Georgia, where she played the placekicker position for Riverdale High School. She won the starting kicking job when she was in tenth grade after serving as the junior varsity kicker for her freshman year. As a sophomore, Butler converted seven of eight field goal attempts and 28 of 31 extra points and became the first female to both make the all-area team for Clayton and Henry Counties and honorable mention for Class AAA all-state team as picked by the Georgia Sportswriters Association.

Butler converted five of ten field goal attempts and 20 of 23 extra points as a junior; and seven of thirteen field goals and 64-of-65 extra points as a senior. She completed her Riverdale career with 165 total points, for second place all-time in points scored at Riverdale. The signing made Butler the first female to earn a football scholarship at a state school. After earning her associates degree at Middle Georgia, she did not receive any scholarship offers to compete as a placekicker elsewhere.

After graduating from Georgia Southern, former Georgia College head coach Randy Pippin, who was now the head coach at West Alabama, offered Butler a scholarship to serve as placekicker for the Tigers. With two years of eligibility remaining, she enrolled as a graduate student and won the starting placekicker position for the Tigers 2003 season.

Butler served as placekicker for both the 2003 and 2004 seasons playing for West Alabama. For her career she made 13 of 19 field goal attempts with a long kick of 39 yards, and 48 of 53 in extra point attempts.