Ken Willis

Ken Willis
No. 1, 3
Position:	Kicker
Personal information
Born:	October 6, 1966 (age 57); Owensboro, Kentucky, U.S.
Height:	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:	190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High school:	Owensboro (KY)
College:	Kentucky
Undrafted:	1990
Career history
	Dallas Cowboys (1990–1991); Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1992); New York Giants (1992);
Career NFL statistics
Games played:
Games played:	47
	Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Robert Kenneth Willis II (born October 6, 1966) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and New York Giants. He played college football at the University of Kentucky.

Early years

Willis attended

NFL player Mark Higgs

. He received All-region honors as a senior.

He also

soccer. He was named All-conference in baseball

as a senior.

College career

Willis moved on to play for

punter. He transferred to the University of Kentucky

at the end of his first year.

In 1986, he was redshirted. As a sophomore, he handled all of the team's kickoffs. The next season, he earned the placekicker starting job.

As a senior, he registered a 77.3% average (17 of 22) on field goal attempts, good for third in school history. He also set the school mark for points in a game (15) and tied the school record for field goals in a game (4).

He left as the school's most accurate kicker with a 70.8% average (29 of 41) on field goals. He also made 29 field goals (second in school history) and had an 89% average (34 of 38) on extra points.

A Math major, he received Academic

All-SEC

honors three years in a row.

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

Willis was signed as an

NFL

with an 86% average (18-of-21) on field goals.

In

field goals, 27 field goals made and set one with four 50-yarders (including a 54-yard field goal). He also finished as the NFC's second-leading kicker

with 118 points and had a team record 39 attempts.

He was left unprotected in

Plan B free agency after accepting a $25,000 advance on his salary and agreeing verbally with the Cowboys that he would not sign with any other team. After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost Steve Christie in a similar situation, they targeted Willis as their replacement and convinced him to sign a two-year deal potentially worth more than $800,000 (including a $100,000 signing bonus),^[1] leaving the Cowboys scrambling for a kicker

.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In 1992, after struggling (8 of 14 field goals made) and missing 3 critical attempts during a 7 games span, he was replaced with Eddie Murray and released on November 10.^[2]

New York Giants

On November 21,

extra point. The next year, he suffered a career-ending stress fracture in his left leg during training camp and was waived injured on July 27, 1993.^[4]