Cole Ford has recorded 3 doinked kicks in the NFL — 3 field goals, none of which went through.
Known Stats
Game Stories (1)
It's tempting to write off preseason stats, and history mostly does - exhibition games aren't what the record books remember. There's a cruel irony, then, in how NFL kickers are treated: for a kicker fighting for his job, a handful of those games can be the whole career.
In this early August matchup, Cole Ford was trying to stave off veteran Greg Davis for the starting job, following a shaky 1997 season in which Ford made 13 of 22 field goals. Rookie free agent Phil Dawson was the Raiders' third kicker behind them. On the opening drive, Oakland drove to around the 10-yard line. Ford's chip shot attempt crashed into the upright as the kicker yelled in frustration. Moments before the kick, the broadcast had noted that Ford couldn't afford many mistakes with Davis pushing him for the job. Afterward, analyst Artie Gigantino framed the moment: "you're always remembered by the kicks you miss."
Ford would make a 45-yard kick at the end of the second quarter, but Greg Davis handled every field goal and extra point after this game. That 45-yarder was the last field goal (or extra point) that Ford would ever attempt in the NFL. Both he and Dawson were subsequently waived by the Raiders. Dawson went on to have a long and storied career (and would shape doink history, too).