Can it be anyone other than Franklin?

stephen mcgee has the lowest kick/punt return average of all the aggie kickers. Contribute this to his beautiful hangtime

no

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Tony had a storied college career at Texas A&M University where he set the record for the longest collegiate field goal of 64 yards on October 16, 1976 against Baylor University. This record was short-lived when Ove Johansson, on the same day, kicked a 69 yard field goal. Tony finished his collegiate career with 18 NCAA records, including most career field goals (56), career kick scoring (291 points); most field goals, 50 yards or longer in a career (16); most field goals made in a three year career (45); and longest average for field goals made in a career (39.5 yards). Tony was a consensus All-American pick as a sophomore in 1976 and earned All-American honors again as a senior in 1978.

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He could hit a golf ball the same way he kicked a football.

I saw him win a long drive competition at the annual Labor Day tournament in Orange. This was about 12 years ago. The locals were packed around the first tee and you could hear "Is that the guy who kicked for A&M"? buzzing around. He beat a guy who had won the event 3 times before.

He didn't look like a golfer and he played decent but not good. But he could smoke it off the tee.




[This message has been edited by AgDotCom (edited 5/14/2007 7:51a).]

Isn't he the only Aggie kicker to make it in the pros?

MallalieuAg,

Mike Clark had a long and successful NFL career. Started with the Steelers and ended up with "America's Team".

Tony "The Foot" Franklin got all of the pub started. He did much to put kicking on the front burner.

We have had some great kickers who all have made some long field goals. Haddox, Tony Franklin, David Hardy, Lane Talbot, Kyle Bryant, Scot Slater, Tony Venetoulias, and Alan Smith to name a few.

I'd say,
1st place: Tony Franklin
2nd place: Mike Clark

I don't know about Ove Johansson's kick, but I believe Tony's was kicked in a light rain and would have cleared at a much longer distance.

Franklin had both a 64 and a 66 yarder in that game.

Anyone who single-handedly causes a major rule change in the game of football must be put at the top of some list!

Grant Teaff forced the change on missed FG attempts to put the ball back to the point of the kick rather than a touchback was a major rulle change. It also virtually eliminated the most exciting return in the game, i.e. returning a missed FG. They usually were pretty long returns because there was no coverage so you could take them from deep in the end zone.

I can't remember Mike Clark, I do remember Tony Franklin being a badazz. Alan Smith had a leg on him, too. Wasn't he the one that made like 6 or 7 FG's in some blowout game at Kyle, and the Ags got a celebration penalty when he broke a record?

FWIW, Eric Franklin wasn't that great of a kicker, but he made the most memorable kick I ever personally saw against smu in '85 for a 19-17 win.

That Eric Franklin kick against SMU in '85 was indeed money. The implications for not only that game but for the entire season and the next several seasons to come were huge.

It wasn't a gimme either if memory serves. How long was it?

I believe Smith's FG's were against Arkansas St. and Eric Franklin's game winner against SMU was from 47 yards.

I was at the Baylor game when Tony Frankin kicked those 2 long FG's. It was very cold and overcast with the wind about 30-35 MPH from the North. Made both with a couple of extra yards to spare.

Darrow Hooper should be getting more attention. Kicked from 1950 to 1952.

Glad to see this thread hasn't been hi-jacked by the "Todd Pegram was money on 15-25 yard field goals" crowed.

Ove was a pretty good guy. Tony Franklin and the sip (Russel Erleblexen?) had a great battle going all through their careers, and Ove slipped in and took the record. He later coached rec soccer in Amarillo.

Ove article

Right, Eric's kick was 47 yards, shortly after he'd shanked a PAT attempt. I believe he'd also missed one from 40-something earlier in the game.

Not meant to detract from the records of Franklin, Erxleben and Johansson but maybe comparing those fellows to kickers in the past 15 years may not be exactly fair.

In 1959, for the purpose of getting more place kicking into the game, college rules changed to extend the distance between uprights on the goal posts from 18 feet 6 inches to 23 feet 4 inches. The 23' 4" width remained until 1991 when the distance between the uprights was returned to 18' 6".

That extra 5 feet made a BIG difference.

A grad student in the late 70's did a kinesiology study of Ove, Franklin and Erxleben. It was really interesting.

Turns our Erxleben kicked in the traditional straight on style.

Ove was a pure soccer style kicker.

Franklin apparently did not kick soccer style, at least in the conventional sense. More precisely he literally punted the ball off the tee!

Franklin's kicks against Baylor were kicked into the South end zone with a strong tailwind. They were 64 and 65 yards. (No wonder Teaff got mad, we got six points off those drives and we hadn't even made it to the 50!!!)

No brainer, Tony all the way.

that's a funny anecdote cecil

i wish i had had the chance to see those dudes kick

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i wish i had had the chance to see those dudes kick

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What was strange was watching pre-game warm ups during Ag/sip games. Franklin and Erxleben would be on their respective teams side of the 50 and gradually work their way to the 50. Then they would cross over into the opposition side of the field and still drill the balls thru the goal. It was weird listening to the crowd "ooooing and ahhhhing" every time they kicked it thru from that far away.

Perhaps the best three field goal kickers in SWC history were Franklin, Erxleben, and Steve Little of Arkansas. They played at roughly the same time. All three could make 50 yarders with regularity and 55+ yarders often enough that the coaches would be content to settle for them rather than go for it on fourth and one. Fans would show up early just to see them kick, especially when two of these teams were playing each other. And they would eventually be kicking from the other team's side of the 50 in pre-game warmups, much to the delight of the crowd.