Mike Scifres

Michael T. Scifres (born October 8, 1980) is a punter for the San Diego Chargers of the National Football League.

High school
Scifres attended Destrehan High School in Destrehan, Louisiana and lettered in football, soccer, and baseball. In football, he was an All-District selection. Scifres graduated from Destrehan High School in 1998.

College years
While playing for Western Illinois, Scifres was the only punter from NCAA Div 1-AA (now called the Football Championship Division) to become a 2002 finalist of the Ray Guy Award, given to the nation's top punter. He set a school and conference record with an 89-yard punt against Southwest Missouri State in 2000. Scifres also kicked a game-winning 56-yard field goal in his first career attempt in 1999. Two-time First-team All-American selection by Football Gazette, Three-time All-conference selection, Seven-time National player of the week, and Five-time Conference player of the week. His college nickname was Scabies. He graduated from Western Illinois University with a degree in Communications & Broadcasting.

Professional career
He was selected with the 14th pick of the fifth round of the 2003 NFL Draft out of Western Illinois University. He has thrice been an alternate for the Pro Bowl, most recently as a 1st Alternate for the 2009 Pro Bowl. In the Chargers' 2009 Wild Card Playoff versus the Colts, Scifres kicked a 67-yard punt and averaged 51.7 yards with six punts. Also, all his punts during the game were inside the Chargers' own 20-yard line, with 4 inside their 10-yard line. Perhap Scifres's best punt of the game was the last, a 52-yard kick launched from the San Diego 47 yard line that bounced out of bounds at the Colts' 1, pinning Indianapolis deep and allowing the Chargers' defense to force the Colts to punt the ball away from the back of their own end zone. Scifres said after the game, "I don't know if you can dream a game like this." Scifres also made some clutch punts near the end of the 2007 Charger's AFC Divisional Playoff Game that pinned the Colts back deep in their own territory and ultimately helped thwart the Colts' QB Peyton Manning's come back attempts. In week 11 vs the Denver Broncos Scifres completed his first NFL completion to Mike Tolbert for 28 yards.

On September 11, 2011, Scifres made his first NFL field goal, a 40-yard kick against the Minnesota Vikings. He replaced injured kicker Nate Kaeding during the game, and also added three PATs.