Scott Norwood

NFLretired
|caption=
width=
position=Kicker
number=11
birthdate=birth date and age|1960|7|17
Alexandria, Virginia
deathdate=
debutyear=1985
finalyear=1991
college=James Madison
teams=
* Birmingham Stallions (1983-1984)
* Buffalo Bills (1985-1991)
stat1label=FG Att
stat1value=184
stat2label=FGM
stat2value=133
stat3label=Pct
stat3value=72.3
nfl=NOR812520
highlights=
* Pro Bowl (x1)
HOF=
CollegeHOF=

Scott Allan Norwood (born July 17, 1960 in Alexandria, Virginia) is a former American football placekicker in the NFL who played predominately 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.

Early career

Norwood grew up in Alexandria, Virginia and attended Thomas Jefferson High School. He had been playing soccer when he was approached by the school's football coach, who wondered if he might like to try kicking for him. After talking it over with his father, he decided to do so.

He attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. He was ranked as the nation's top Division I-AA placekicker in 1980 when he was successful on 15 of 21 field goal attempts, and still shares JMU's record for field goals in a season (15). In 1992, he was inducted into the JMU Athletics Hall of Fame.

Upon graduating with a degree in business, he was not drafted by any football team. The Atlanta Falcons invited him to their camp to try out, but he did not make the team. He continued practicing and later played for the United States Football League's Birmingham Stallions for two seasons, and then was was released after suffering an injury.

Again he was out of football, but continued to rehabilitate and stay in shape. In 1985 the Bills invited him to their camp, and this time he beat out nine other candidates for the starting job.

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 returned to the playoffs and qualified for their first-ever Super Bowl.

uper Bowl XXV

Super Bowl XXV 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. ABC sportscaster Al Michaels had the call: "No good! Wide right!" as the Giants poured Gatorade over head coach Bill Parcells' head.

While Norwood always will be blamed by many for "choking" in the clutch, the other Bills had many opportunities during the course of the game to put it away on their own. Having reached the 30 yard line to set up a 47-yard kick, the Bills' offense did not set the team up for a win, as 47 yards was longer than Norwood's best career kick on a grass field. On the opening drive of the third quarter, the Bills' defense allowed the Giants' offense to chew up 9:29 by converting three third-down conversions. One conversion was on a third-and-13 play on which, after Giants quarterback Jeff Hostetler completed a short pass to receiver Mark Ingram, the Bills missed several easy tackles and allowed Ingram to pick up the first down. This play eventually would lead to a Giants touchdown. The problem that ultimately killed the Bills was the amount of time their defense was on the field. The Giants controlled the ball for a total of 40:33.

Before the game started, Norwood was kicking balls at the right upright, and seeing them hook left and through. With the fourth-quarter kick, Norwood played it just like in warm-ups--only this time the ball did not hook, it kept going straight.

Prior to Super Bowl XXV, Norwood that season was in fact just 1-for-5 from over 40 yards on grass. New York Giants placekicker Matt Bahr -- who himself had hit the winning field goal on the last play of the game one week earlier in the NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers -- informed New York Giants coach Bill Parcells before the kick attempt that Norwood would miss. Bill Belichick, who was then the Giants' defensive coordinator, had banked on what he felt were the average game-management skills of Bills' QB Jim Kelly to force Buffalo into kicking a long attempt because the wind conditions were not favorable to placekickers during the game. Also, it must be noted that Norwood had successfully kicked a field goal in the first quarter of this game. Without that, Buffalo would not have even been able to attempt a last second field goal on their final drive, as they would have been down by 4 points at the time instead of 1.

His missed kick opportunity became part of a plot idea for the 1994 comedy film "" where the "Ray Finkle" character is loosely based on Norwood, although placed more in the context of the Miami Dolphins losing a Super Bowl in the 1984 NFL season. The 1998 film "Buffalo '66" references the incident, as well, with the main character seeking revenge on the man indirectly responsible for his imprisonment, Scott "Wood." The missed kick was also spoofed on an episode of "Robot Chicken".

Later career and retirement

Norwood lasted one more season with the Bills. He kicked three field goals in the Bills' 37-14 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional playoffs, and made a crucial field goal in the Bills 10-7 victory over the Denver Broncos in the AFC title game. He also kicked one field goal in Buffalo's 37-24 loss to the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XXVI. However, his kicking became erratic, and before the 1992 season he was cut, again, and replaced by the younger Steve Christie, who surpassed Norwood as the team's all-time leading scorer in 1998. The stigma of having been the kicker who lost a Super Bowl kept other teams from showing any interest, and he left football for good.

Norwood finished his seven NFL seasons with 133 of 184 field goals (72%) and 271 of 278 extra point attempts, giving him a career total of 670 points.

References

*Greenfeld, Karl Taro, "A Life After Wide Right," "Sports Illustrated", July 12, 2004