Russell Erxleben

Russell Erxleben (born January 13, 1957) is a former American football player and currency investor. He shares the record for the longest field goal in NCAA history, originally set in 1977 while playing for the University of Texas. Erxleben was a three-time All-America punter (1976, 1977, and 1978). He was drafted in the first round of the NFL Draft, an extremely rare occurrence for a kicker. After an NFL career lasting six years, he became a currency investor but was convicted of securities fraud in 1999. He was released from federal prison in 2005.

Early years
Erxleben was raised in the small city of Seguin, Texas, located about 35 miles east of San Antonio, Texas, where he was a stand-out as a high school kicker. He had a conventional straight-on kicking style, using a two-step approach. Highly recruited, he entered the University of Texas as a top prospect in 1975.

University of Texas
He quickly earned a reputation as a reliable kicker for the Longhorns. In December of his freshman year, he played in the Bluebonnet Bowl against the University of Colorado. Despite early troubles in the game, including a missed field goal and a blocked extra point, Erxleben kicked a field goal late in the game, breaking the tie and securing the win for Texas.

In 1977, in a game against Rice University, he set the record for the longest field goal in NCAA history with a 67 yard kick. UT head coach Fred Akers said of the kick, "It was like a gunshot. We couldn't believe a ball was going that far. It had another eight yards on it." The record was tied two weeks later by Steve Little of the University of Arkansas. Erxleben kicked two other field goals over sixty yards that season. Rule changes in NCAA football since 1977, specifically the prohibition of kicking tees for field goals, as well as changes to the placement of the ball following a failed kick, have discouraged such long attempts, and thus attempts to break the record are now rare. The longest field goal since the rule changes came in 1998 when Martin Gramatica of Kansas State made a 65-yard attempt.

Erxleben is the only three-time All-America punter in NCAA history, being a consensus choice in 1976, 1977, and 1978.

Professional playing career
In 1979, he was unexpectedly drafted in the first round (eleventh pick overall) by the New Orleans Saints. At the time, this was the second highest selection of a kicker in the draft, with the highest drafted kicker being Charlie Gogolak. Erxleben's agent was Michael Trope. The Saints hoped to save a roster spot by having him perform both the place-kicking and punting duties. He played six seasons in the NFL, primarily as a punter. Despite his stellar college career, he did not make the Pro Bowl during his NFL career.

In Erxleben's first NFL game, on September 2, 1979, the Saints and the archrival Atlanta Falcons went into overtime with the score 34-34. Midway through overtime, a snap went over Erxleben's head and rolled to the goal line. Erxleben picked the ball up and made a hurried chest pass. The pass was intercepted by Atlanta's James Mayberry at the 6-yard line, and he trotted into the end zone for a touchdown and a 40-34 Falcon victory. New Orleans finished the year at 8-8, one game behind the Los Angeles Rams, who won the division and played in Super Bowl XIV.

In the 1980 season opener, Erxleben missed a game-tying field goal attempt in a 26-23 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, a team that had won four games over the previous two seasons. The loss was the first of 14 consecutive defeats for the Saints, who ended the year 1-15.

The Saints released him in 1983. After four years out of football, he attempted a comeback with the Detroit Lions, but retired for good in 1988.

Legal issues
After retiring from the NFL, he became a financial investor in foreign exchange trading, founding Austin Forex International in Austin, Texas. In 1999, following an investigation by the Texas State Securities Board and the Internal Revenue Service, Erxleben pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, mail fraud and money laundering, and a second count for securities fraud, in connection with misleading statements regarding the past performance of Austin Forex. On September 18, 2000, Erxleben was sentenced by United States District Court Judge James R. Nowlin to 84 months in prison, and ordered to pay a total of $28 million in restitution and a one million dollar fine. Erxleben's lawyers, the law firm of Locke, Liddell & Sapp, settled a related lawsuit for $22m in 2000.

On January 24, 2013, Erxleben was arrested again on various Federal charges related to an alleged Ponzi scheme.

Family
Erxleben's son, Ryan Erxleben, is a punter for the Texas Tech University football team.