Billy Cundiff

William Andrew "Billy" Cundiff (born March 30, 1980) is an American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2002. He played college football at Drake University.

Cundiff has suited up for ten different teams in just as many seasons, including the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, Washington Redskins, and the San Francisco 49ers.

Early years
Cundiff attended Harlan Community High School in Harlan, Iowa where he was a three-time All-Iowa quarterback who helped lead the Cyclones to the Class 3A state championship in 1998. He also established state career kicking records for most points (179) and field goals (22), both of which have since been surpassed. He was also a starting point guard in basketball.

College career
Cundiff played college football at Drake University where he broke five Pioneer Football League (PFL) career records including most points (284), field goals (49) and points after touchdown (137). He made eight field goals over 50 yards during his career with the Bulldogs, including a PFL-record 62-yarder as a junior in 2000 against San Diego. He also was part of the Drake University Men's Basketball team during his time at Drake. He played sparingly, partly due to several members of the team being ruled academically ineligible. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology in 2003. He was presented the highest honor for a student-athlete at the university when he received the Drake Double D Award on February 12, 2012.

Dallas Cowboys
Cundiff was brought to the 2002 training camp as a free agent, and won out over incumbent Tim Seder as the team's kicker. He played four seasons with the Dallas Cowboys from 2002 to 2005. He kicked a then-record seven field goals in a game against the New York Giants on Monday Night Football on September 15, 2003.

In 2005, which would have been his fourth season with the team, he was waived/injured during training camp following a quadriceps injury, and briefly replaced by kickoff specialist José Cortéz, who had not been expected to make the team. Cundiff was later re-signed on November 19, 2005 (directly following the mandatory period after an injury waiver) having recovered from his training camp injury. He replaced kicker Shaun Suisham, in the hope of providing greater consistency to the Cowboys' special teams. In his first game back with the Cowboys, Cundiff made a 56-yard field goal at the end of the first half to set a record for longest field goal in franchise history. Cundiff played six games that season before being released by the Cowboys on December 26, 2005 after missing two field goals in a critical game against the Carolina Panthers. The Cowboys re-signed Suisham to replace him for the season finale.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers
On February 15, 2006, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed Cundiff to a contract but released him after kicker Matt Bryant was re-signed.

Green Bay Packers
Cundiff signed with the Green Bay Packers on March 28, 2006 and was expected to compete with Dave Rayner for the starting kicking position before being cut by Green Bay on August 17, 2006.

New Orleans Saints
On November 22, 2006, the New Orleans Saints signed Cundiff as a kickoff specialist, easing the workload of John Carney.

Atlanta Falcons
After being released by the Saints, Cundiff signed with the Atlanta Falcons on May 4, 2007, but was released at the end of the preseason after losing the starting job to Matt Prater.

Kansas City Chiefs
In January 2008, Cundiff was signed by the Kansas City Chiefs to a two-year contract. He was released prior to the regular season.

Detroit Lions
Cundiff was signed by the Detroit Lions on August 26, 2009 after an injury to placekicker Jason Hanson. He was cut on September 5, 2009.

Cleveland Browns
Cundiff was signed by the Cleveland Browns on September 26, 2009 after an injury to placekicker Phil Dawson. Cundiff beat out Matt Bryant in a workout with the Browns and was signed after the Browns first choice of Matt Stover declined to sign with the team. In week 5 of the 2009 NFL season, Cundiff hit the game-winning field goal to help the Browns beat the Buffalo Bills, 6-3. He was waived on November 3, 2009.

Baltimore Ravens
Cundiff was brought in by the Baltimore Ravens for a workout on November 10, 2009 and was signed on November 18, 2009 to replace Steve Hauschka, who was waived on November 17.

Cundiff re-signed with the Ravens to return for the 2010 season. Cundiff was voted to the 2011 Pro Bowl as the AFC placekicker after successfully completing 26 of 29 field goal attempts and a league-high 40 touchbacks. On January 2, 2011, Cundiff recorded his league-leading 40th touchback, which tied the NFL record set by Mitch Berger. Berger performed his feat in 1998 with the Minnesota Vikings, playing at home in the indoor Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome before the NFL instituted the K-ball rule (where a brand new set of footballs had to be used for special teams plays for each game). Cundiff played at home in the outdoor M&T Bank Stadium and set the record after the instatement of the K-ball rule. He averaged 71.1 yards per kickoff to lead the league and had touchbacks on 51.3% of his kickoffs.

Cundiff signed a five-year, $15 million contract to become Baltimore's long-term kicker on January 23, 2011.

Perhaps the most famous kick of Cundiff's career, in the closing seconds of the 2012 AFC Championship Game on January 22 against the New England Patriots, Cundiff missed a 32-yard field goal that would have tied the game, and the Ravens lost the game to the Patriots 23-20.

Cundiff was released by the Ravens on August 26, 2012; he was replaced by rookie kicker Justin Tucker.

Washington Redskins
Cundiff was signed by the Washington Redskins on August 28, 2012. In Week 2 against the St. Louis Rams, he attempted a 62-yard field goal on the last play of the game to put the game into overtime, but missed. Two weeks later against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, after being zero for three in his field goal attempts, which consisted of a 41-yarder, 57-yarder, and 31-yarder, Cundiff made a 41-yard field goal in the last play of the game allowing the Redskins to win 24-22.

On October 9, 2012, Kai Forbath was signed to replace Cundiff, who was subsequently released.

San Francisco 49ers
Cundiff signed with the San Francisco 49ers on January 1, 2013 to compete with struggling veteran David Akers.

Akers preformed well enough to keep the starting job however, and Cundiff was released 17 days later on January 18, 2013.

Personal
Cundiff is married to his college sweetheart, Nicole. They have three children.

In July 2007, Cundiff enrolled in a full-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at Arizona State University's W. P. Carey School of Business. He graduated with his MBA from ASU in May, 2009.

Notes and references

 * 1) Game Recap from Record-Tying Game Retrieved October 21, 2007.
 * 2) Billy Cundiff NFL players profile Retrieved June 23, 2006.
 * 3) Cowboys release Cundiff, re-sign Suisham for finale, ESPN.com Retrieved June 23, 2006.
 * 4) Tampa Bay signs kicker Cundiff as insurance, ESPN.com Retrieved June 23, 2006.
 * 5) Billy Cundiff news on Yahoo! Sports Retrieved August 23, 2006.