Kansas City Chiefs rookie kicker Harrison Butker has won another AFC Special Teams Player of the Week award for his standout performance on Sunday.
The Kansas City Chiefs two biggest impact rookies in 2017 both had to fail on their first showing at the professional level. Then they never turned back.
Kareem Hunt has a very good chance of winning the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year Award with nearly 1,300 rushing yards and nearly 1,800 yards from scrimmage. Yet on his very first professional carry, he fumbled the ball. Head coach Andy Reid told him to forget him and maintained his confidence in the freshman back and Hunt rewarded him with a full year of incredible production.
The same can be said of rookie kicker Harrison Butker. The former seventh round pick of the Carolina Panthers was plucked from the team’s practice squad by general manager Brett Veach when Cairo Santos was lost for several weeks due to a recurring groin injury. Butker missed his very first attempt. From there, he’s gone on to set rookie records for the Chiefs despite missing the first fifth of the season.
Most recently Butker was honored once again with another AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 16’s games. He made an incredible five field goals against the Miami Dolphins in the team’s 29-13 win at Arrowhead to clinch the AFC West title, their second in a row.
Butker now has set a franchise record with 36 made field goals on the season in only 40 attempts, and he’s averaging 3 makes per game—an incredible figure that lets Andy Reid know he can score easy points if the offense stalls on a drive.
Next: Jamaal Charles wants out of Denver
Butker entered the NFL with the Panthers after graduating as Georgia Tech’s all-time leading scorer.