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| No. 11 | |
| Kicker | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Date of birth: July 17, 1960 | |
| Place of birth: Alexandria, Virginia | |
| High School: Thomas Jefferson (Alexandria, Virginia) | |
| Career information | |
| College: James Madison | |
| Debuted in 1983 for the Birmingham Stallions | |
| Last played in 1991 for the Buffalo Bills | |
| Career history | |
| |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| FG Att | 184 |
| FGM | 133 |
| Pct | 72.3 |
| Stats at NFL.com | |
| Pro Football Hall of Fame | |
Scott Allan Norwood (born July 17, 1960) is a former American football placekicker in the NFL who played for the Buffalo Bills. Norwood was an integral part of its offense during the late 1980s and early 1990s, and kicked in Buffalo's first two Super Bowl appearances. Although achieving a modest career in the NFL, Norwood is remembered for missing a 47-yard field goal at the end of Super Bowl XXV against the New York Giants, which was the first in four consecutive Super Bowl losses for the Bills: the first to the New York Giants, the next year to the Washington Redskins, followed by two consecutive losses to the Dallas Cowboys.[1]
Early life and college[]
Norwood was born in Alexandria, Virginia and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria in 1978.[2] He played both football and soccer at James Madison University and graduated with a business degree in 1982 .[3]
Buffalo Bills career[]
Norwood quickly became an invaluable asset to an offense that was going places as the Bills' general manager, Bill Polian, assembled talent like Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, and Bruce Smith. Within two seasons of Norwood's arrival the Bills had won the AFC East for the first time since 1980 and made it to the conference championship game. He soon overtook O.J. Simpson as the team's all-time leading scorer. In 1990 the Bills advanced to their first-ever Super Bowl.
Super Bowl XXV[]
Super Bowl XXV, which was played on January 27, 1991, would cement Norwood's name in football history when he missed a 47-yard field goal attempt at the end of the game, giving the New York Giants the victory, and started the string of the Bills four consecutive Super Bowl losses ABC sportscaster Al Michaels had the call: "No good! Wide right!" as the Giants poured Gatorade over head coach Bill Parcells' head.
After the 1991 season, the Bills waived Norwood after signing Steve Christie, formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[4]
Post-football career[]
Initially after the Bills waived him, Norwood returned home to northern Virginia and disappeared completely from the public eye for a number of years, eventually becoming an insurance salesman through the 1990s before returning to Buffalo as a real estate agent in 2002.[4][5][6]
Personal life[]
Norwood is married and has three children: twins Carly and Connor (born 1995) and Corey (born 1996).[5].
Popular Culture[]
Scott Norwood's famous Super Bowl field goal miss partly inspired the character "Ray Finkle" in the movie Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
The character "Scott Woods" in the movie Buffalo '66 is a spin off of Norwood. Character Billy Brown (Vincent Gallo) loses a large bet in the 1991 Super Bowl XXV because of the missed field goal kick by the Buffalo Bills team kicker "Scott Woods". The character is played by Bob Wahl.
Norwood's infamous field goal miss is the pretext for Buffalo/upstate New York band Mercury Rev's instrumental tune 'Nocturne for Norwood', from their 2008 album Strange Attractor, in which broadcast commentary is juxtaposed with ambient music.
References[]
- ↑ NFL. "Super Bowl History". http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/history. NFL. http://www.nfl.com/superbowl/history. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
- ↑ *Greenfeld, Karl Taro, "A Life After Wide Right," Sports Illustrated, July 12, 2004
- ↑ Greenfield, Karl Taro (July 12, 2004). "A Life After Wide Right". Sports Illustrated. p. 2. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1032492/2/index.htm.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 A Life After Wide Right, p. 4.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 A Life After Wide Right, p. 5.
- ↑ Lewis, Michael (October 28, 2007). "The Kick Is Up and It’s ... A Career Killer". New York Times Magazine. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/sports/playmagazine/28lewis.html?pagewanted=all.
- Paul Jannace, "Norwood’s life after football is business as usual" www.wellsvilledaily.com, March 29, 2010
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