Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Also, for some reason, Topps did not have the rights to use team logos during the
1970s. Any helmet pictured had the logo air brushed out. This was the case until
the 1982.
On the back of these cards were the players statistics from the 1976 season. 1976
was a subpar year for kickers. The success rate on field goals that season was a
measly 59.5%. There were a grand total of 8 successful kicks of 50+ yards.
Below is a representation of the NFL kickers from the 1976 season:
Cypress own Garo Yepremian and Jan Stenerud of Norway. Garo was 16 of
23(69.6%) in 1976 and 1-1 in 50+ yard attempts. Hall of Famer Stenerud was 21
for 38 (only 55.3%). He led the league in field goal attempts and connected on one
50+ yarder. Yepremian led the league in field goal percentage three times (70, 75
& 78), ending his career at 67.1%. Stenerud was the most accurate kicker four
times (68, 69, 81 & 84) with a career mark was 66.8%.
Steve and Nick Mike-Mayer..of the kicking Mike-Mayers (pronounced Mick-A-MyEr) Steve was born in Budapest. Nick was born in Italy. The brothers went 26-49 on
the year (53.1%) and Steve missed the only 50+ yard attempt between the two of
them.
Behold the one true kicker of his day - Don Cockroft. Don had that rare and
special ability to punt and kick. Don saved his team a valuable roster spot and
gave Topps an extra spot to give a card to an actual football player. Todays
specialist environment would never allow for such versatility. Don was 15 for 28
(53.6%). He managed to hit on 1 of 3 50+ yard attempts. Don had led the NFL in
field goal percentage three times previously (1968, 1972 & 1974).
Moseley went 22 for 34 for Washington (64.7%) and totaled 97 points for the year to
lead the NFC. Linhart more specifically, Anton Hans Jorg Linhart out of Austria
Technical - was 20 of 27 for a sparkling success rate of 74.1%. He accounted for
109 points that season to lead the AFC.
Actually the most accurate kickers of 1976 were these two guys Rich Szaro of
Poland and Efren Herrera from Guadalajara. Both hit on 18 of 23 attempts (78.3%).
Herrera went on to be named All-Pro for the Cowboys in 1977, but he missed three
field goal attempts in Super Bowl XII and went from All-Pro to All-Gone in Dallas.
One of the few teams that did not have a kicker represented in the 1977 Topps set
was the defending champion Oakland Raiders. Hmmm. That seems odd.
I guess Ill have to investigate that story now..stay tuned.