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Scott Norwood at NFL.com Scott Allan Norwood (born July 17, 1960 in Miami, Florida) is a former National Football League kicker who played his entire career for the Buffalo Bills. While he is the team's all-time leading scorer and was an integral part of its offense during the late 1980s, he is best remembered for a kick he missed, the one that would have given the Bills a Super Bowl victory.

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 holds JMU's records for field goals in a season (15) and in a career (32). In 1992, he was inducted into the JMU Athletics Hall of Fame.

Upon graduating with a degree in business, he was not drafted. However, the Atlanta Falcons invited him to their camp to try out, but cut him. He continued practicing and later played for the United States Football League's Birmingham Stallions for two seasons, but 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.

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.

Super Bowl XXV

That game would cement Norwood's name in football history when he missed a 47-yard field goal attempt at the end of Super Bowl XXV, giving the New York Giants the victory. ABC sportscaster Al Michaels had the call: "No good! Wide right!"

While Norwood will always be blamed by many for "choking" in the clutch, the Bills had many opportunities during the course of the game to put it away on their own. On the opening drive of the third quarter, the Bills defense allowed the Giant offense to chew up 9:29 by converting three third down conversions. One conversion was on a 3rd and 13 play where, after Giant 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 would eventually lead to a Giant touchdown. The problem that ultimately killed the Bills in the end 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 had started, Norwood was kicking balls at the right upright, and seeing them hook left and through. With the 4th quarter kick, Norwood played it just like in warm-ups, only this time the ball did not hook. It kept going straight.

Also, it must be noted that Norwood has successfully kicked a field goal in the first quarter of the 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

Later career and retirement

Norwood lasted one more season with the Bills. He kicked 3 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 1 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. The stigma of having been the kicker who lost a Super Bowl, however undeserved it was, kept other teams from showing any interest, and he left football for good.

Norwood finished his 7 NFL seasons with 133 of 184 field goals (72%) and 271 of 278 extra point attempts, giving him a career total of 670 points.

He returned to Northern Virginia, where he still lives today, and became a Realtor. He is married, has three children and coaches his daughter's soccer team.

While it took him some time to get over having missed the kick, today he has no regrets about how his life has turned out since.

. . . But he should have regrets. For in fact, having booted the very makeable 47-yarder wide right (with no wind to contend with at all), he single-footedly sent the downtrodden Bills to four consecutive Super Bowl losses.

Had Norwood been a real man, he would have taken a hacksaw to his erratic right leg, offering the lifeless limb to the football gods as penance for the great disgrace his errant field-goal attempt wrought upon the hard-working, Winter-bitten Bill's fans. That gesture, and only that, might have turned the tide, and enabled not only the Bills, but the Sabres as well to reach the pinnacles of their respective leagues. But no, Norwood limped away from the sport on two legs, and left the Bills and Sabres to their pitiful Championship game chokes and defeats. The Horror! The Horror!

"You Can't Blame Scott Norwood!"

On February 2, 2006, as part of its ongoing series, ESPN Classic aired The Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame... Scott Norwood for the Bills losing Super Bowl XXV. Their reasons:

• 5. Ottis Anderson. The Giant running back had a spectacular game, earning him the game's Most Valuable Player award.

• 4. Jeff Hostetler. Called upon to substitute for an injured Phil Simms late in the season, the Giant quarterback had the game of his career.

• 3. The Bills' defense. They consistently allowed the Giants to put together sustained drives, allowing them to convert more than half of their third-down plays.

• 2. Coaching. Giant coach Bill Parcells had a defensive game plan that mixed up his formations and shut down the Bills' passing game, and his offensive plan kept the Giant offense on the field for over 40 minutes, leading to the joke that the New Kids on the Block spent more time on the field during the halftime show than the Bills' offense spent on the field during the third quarter. The Giants' coaching staff also included future NFL head coaches Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Romeo Crennel and Ray Handley. The Bills' staff, led by head coach Marv Levy, never adjusted to the Giants' changes.

• 1. The kick was 47 yards, and on real grass. The Bills, then as now, played their home games on artificial turf, and not only was the longest field goal of Norwood's career 48 yards, but he had never attempted one as long as 47 yards on grass, which is often uneven and therefore more difficult.

The program did not, however, blame Bills quarterback Jim Kelly, who continually sent plays up the middle, rather than toward the sideline and out of bounds, which would have stopped the clock and given the Bills more time to get closer. The Bills' final drive began with 2:16 left, and consisted of the following plays:

• 1. 1st and 10 on the Bills' 10: Kelly running up the middle for five yards.
• 2. 2nd and 5 on the Bills' 15: Kelly running up the middle for four yards.
• 3. 3rd and 1 on the Bills' 19: Thurman Thomas running up the middle for 21 yards and a first down.
• 4. 1st and 10 on the Bills' 40: Kelly passing to Andre Reed up the middle for five yards.
• 5. 2nd and 5 on the Bills' 45: Kelly again running up the middle for nine yards and a first down.
• 6. 1st and 10 on the Giants' 46: Kelly passing to Keith McKeller up the middle for six yards.
• 7. 2nd and 4 on the Giants' 40: Thomas running to the right, but not making it out of bounds, for 10 yards and a first down.
• 8. 1st and 10 on the Giants' 30: Kelly throwing the ball into the ground, "spiking" it, in order to stop the clock with 10 seconds left.
• 9. 2nd and 10 on the Giants' 30: Norwood's 47-yard field goal attempt.

It should be noted that the Giants were running a "prevent" defense that focused heavily on keeping the Bills from running sideline routes. Kelly took advantage of what was available, and it should be noted that his playcalling did gain 60 yards in 7 plays and put the Bills in a realistic position to win the game.

To their credit, however, Bills fans cheered Norwood on his return home with the team.

Reference

• Greenberg, Fred Tato, "A Life After Wide Right," Sports Illustrated, July 12, 2004

Source: http://www.superbowl.com/history/recaps/game/sbxxv

• 1960 births
• Living people
• Miamians
• People from Virginia
• American football kickers
• Buffalo Bills players
• James Madison Dukes football players