Jim Bakken


James LeRoy Bakken is a former American football punter and placekicker for the National Football League’s St. Louis Cardinals. He was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and was named to the NFL’s All-Decade Team for both the 1960s and 1970s.

Early career

Before his NFL career, Bakken played football at Madison West High School in Madison, Wisconsin. He went on to play three seasons at the University of Wisconsin, where he played on the 1960 Rose Bowl team as a sophomore and led the Big Ten in punting average in 1960 and 1961. He was named to the Madison Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, and was later inducted into the UW Athletic Department-National W Club Hall of Fame.

NFL career

Bakken was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 7th round in 1962. He did not make the team and was instead picked up by the St. Louis Cardinals, where played for his entire NFL career. He played 17 seasons, scoring a total of 1380 points while never missing a game between 1963 and 1978. He cracked the 100-point threshold in a season three times and was selected to kick in the Pro Bowl four times. For a time, he was president of the NFL Players Association.
In 1967, Bakken set the record for most field goals in a game with 7. The single-game record for field goals was later tied by Rich Karlis in 1989, Chris Boniol in 1996, and Billy Cundiff in 2003 before Rob Bironas broke it with 8 in a game in 2007.

Honors

Bakken was named by the voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame to the Professional Football 1960s All Decade Team, which included both NFL and American Football League players. The voters of the Pro Football Hall of Fame also selected Bakken to the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team.
In December 2010, the annual trophy for the Big Ten's best kicker, the "Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year" award, was co-named in his honor.

Career regular season statistics