Tony Zendejas
.jpg) Zendejas playing for the Oilers in 1985 | |||||||||||||
| No. 11, 7, 10, 2 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Placekicker | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth: | May 15, 1960 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth: | Curimeo, Mexico | ||||||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 165 lb (75 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Chino (CA) | ||||||||||||
| College: | Nevada | ||||||||||||
| Supplemental draft: | 1984 / Round: 1 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||||
Tony Zendejas (born May 15, 1960) is a former Mexican American football placekicker. He was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Los Angeles Express of the United States Football League (USFL). After the USFL folded, he was selected in the first round of the 1984 NFL Supplemental draft by the Washington Redskins.
In his career, Zendejas also played for the Houston Oilers, Los Angeles Rams, Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL).
Early life
Zendejas was born in Curimeo, Michoacán, Mexico, but raised in Chino, California where he attended Chino High School excelling in soccer and football. Zendejas then attended Santa Ana Community College and Mt. San Antonio College and was eventually recruited by the Nevada head coach, Chris Ault. At Nevada, Zendejas broke kicking records which were eventually broken by younger brother Martin Zendejas.
Professional career
Initially, he played in the United States Football League for the Los Angeles Express. He joined the National Football League when he was chosen by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 1984 NFL Supplemental Draft of USFL and CFL Players.[1]
During his eleven seasons in the NFL, Zendejas made 186 field goals in 252 attempts; he also scored 316 extra points for 874 points. He held the record for consecutive field goals made from 50 or more yards with 11 such kicks[2] until 2013 when the record was eclipsed by Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings and Robbie Gould of the Chicago Bears.[3]
In 1991, he became the first kicker in NFL history to convert all of his field goal attempts, going 17-of-17.[4] He fell one missed extra point short of having the first "perfect season" for a kicker, a mark Gary Anderson reached seven years later.[5]
Career statistics
| Season | Team | Games | Overall FGs | PATs | Kickoffs | Points | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GP | Blk | Lng | FG Att | FGM | Pct | XP Att | XPM | Pct | Blk | KO | Avg | TB | Ret | Avg | |||||||
| 1985 | HOU | 14 | 0 | 52 | 27 | 21 | 77.8 | 31 | 29 | 93.5 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 92 | ||||
| 1986 | HOU | 15 | 0 | 51 | 27 | 22 | 81.5 | 29 | 28 | 96.6 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 94 | ||||
| 1987 | HOU | 13 | 0 | 52 | 26 | 20 | 76.9 | 33 | 32 | 97.0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 92 | ||||
| 1988 | HOU | 16 | 0 | 52 | 34 | 22 | 64.7 | 50 | 48 | 96.0 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 114 | ||||
| 1989 | HOU | 16 | 0 | 52 | 37 | 25 | 67.6 | 40 | 40 | 100t | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 115 | ||||
| 1990 | HOU | 7 | 0 | 45 | 12 | 7 | 58.3 | 21 | 20 | 95.2 | 0 | -- | -- | -- | -- | -- | 41 | ||||
| 1991 | LAR | 16 | 0 | 50 | 17 | 17 | 100 | 26 | 25 | 86.2 | 0 | 58 | -- | -- | -- | -- | 76 | ||||
| 1992 | LAR | 16 | 1 | 49 | 20 | 15 | 75.0 | 38 | 38 | 100t | 1 | 69 | 58.6 | 11 | 55 | 20.5 | 83 | ||||
| 1993 | LAR | 16 | 2 | 54 | 23 | 16 | 69.6 | 25 | 23 | 92.0 | 0 | 57 | 60.1 | 10 | 47 | 20.9 | 71 | ||||
| 1994 | LAR | 16 | 2 | 47 | 23 | 18 | 78.3 | 28 | 28 | 100t | 0 | 67 | 58.7 | 1 | 63 | 23.0 | 82 | ||||
| 1995 | ATL | 1 | 0 | 45 | 3 | 2 | 66.7 | 0 | 0 | -- | -- | 4 | 64.5 | 0 | 4 | 24.0 | 6 | ||||
| SF | 3 | 1 | 38 | 3 | 1 | 33.3 | 6 | 5 | 83.3 | 1 | 0 | -- | 0 | 0 | -- | 8 | |||||
| Career | 149 | 6 | 54 | 252 | 186 | 78.3 | 327 | 316 | 96.6 | 2 | 255 | 45.7 | 35 | 169 | 21.6 | 874 | |||||
Personal life
Zendejas was accused of drugging and raping a woman in January 2008, but he was acquitted of all charges in 2009. He owns and operates Zendajas Mexican Restaurant in San Dimas, California.[7] He is also the cousin of former NFL kicker Luis Zendejas and Max Zendejas and former Arena Football League kicker Marty Zendejas.
References
- ↑ "1984 Supplemental Draft". ProFootballHOF.com. June 5, 1984.
- ↑ Mayer, Larry (December 11, 2012). "Gould among three Bears played on injured reserve". Chicago Bears. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014. Retrieved December 11, 2012.
- ↑ Breech, John (December 2, 2013). "Bears kicker Robbie Gould: Loss to Viking falls on me". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on March 27, 2014. Retrieved March 27, 2014.
- 1 2 "Tony Zendejas: Career Stats". NFL.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ↑ "Gay Anderson". ProFootballReference.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ↑ "Tony Zendejas". ProFootballReference.com. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
- ↑ "Zendejas not guilty of raping woman". ESPN. 2009-03-10. Retrieved 2015-07-04.