Continuing down our rabbit hole of obscure and fun stats, I noticed one about Chris Boswell ahead of this season. He’s about to set Pittsburgh Steelers records for most field goals and points in franchise history, but there’s a league-wide club he can join as early as Week One.
Boswell enters the season with 299 field goals. My algorithmic calculations tell me his next will make for 300.
When Boswell achieves that, he’ll be part of a club with only three other current members — kickers who made 300-plus career field goals without ever putting up points for another team.
Below is the list of the top names and Boswell’s standing.
Most Career Field Goals For Kickers Who Kicked With Just One Team
Kicker/Team
Career Field Goals
Jason Hanson/DET
495
Justin Tucker/BAL
417
Pat Leahy/NYJ
304
Chris Boswell/PIT
299
Jim Bakken/STL
282
Fred Cox/MIN
282
Lou Groza/CLE
264
The obvious caveat: it’s a club a kicker can join and later exit. Morten Anderson, for example, made 302 field goals to begin his career with the New Orleans Saints before leaving for the Atlanta Falcons ahead of the 1995 season. Phil Dawson connected on 305 for the Cleveland Browns before playing elsewhere. I’m being a little narrow with the definition, and this scratches the “Stats of the Weird” itch. Should Boswell eventually kick for another team, he would leave this group.
Hanson is one of the best kickers of his era, even if he spent most of it toiling for poor Detroit teams. Tucker was elite at his job from distance, even if his career is now shrouded in scandal. Leahy spent 18 years with the Jets spanning the 70s, 80s and 90s. In 1978, he earned All-Pro honors.
After signing a long-term extension earlier in the offseason, Boswell should remain in Pittsburgh for a while. Maybe the rest of his career. For right now, or for his next kick, he’ll join the 300 club.
Boswell is ahead of all active players. Next closest behind Boswell’s 299 sits the Houston Texans’ Ka’imi Fairbairn with 255 and the Kansas City Chiefs’ Harrison Butker at 251.
Boswell can’t be described as a “one-helmet” player after brief stints with the Texans and Giants before becoming a Steeler. But all of his production has come with the Steelers, and he has a good chance to produce all his NFL points with Pittsburgh.