Kansas City Chiefs: Appreciation for Harrison Butker, the kid from out of nowhere

Historical Beginning

Harrison Butker is a 6’3″, 200-pound 22-year-old from Decatur, Ga. At Westminster High School, Butker lettered three years in basketball and football, and four years in soccer.

He attended Georgia Tech University, where he started at placekicker as a true freshman in 2013, and held that spot for all four years of his career.

Butker led the Yellow Jackets in scoring in three of his four seasons at Georgia Tech. He finished his career as Tech’s all-time leading scorer, with 337 career points and 208 career PATs. He led the ACC in field goal percentage in his senior season, converting 15 of his 17 field goals in the season.

With a career field goal percentage of 71.7, he put his name in the Georgia Tech record books with the third-highest mark in program history. These career numbers would garner Butker many looks from pro teams, and eventually he found his way onto an NFL team.

In the seventh round of the 2017 NFL Draft, Butker was selected by the Carolina Panthers as the 233rd overall selection to bring in competition for veteran Graham Gano. However, after Gano won the job in training camp, Butker was waived by the team and signed to the practice squad.

Butker would have to wait his turn for a shot at an NFL job.

That shot came around when Chiefs kicker Cairo Santos aggravated a groin injury in the Week 3 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers. The team was in dire need to replace the veteran, as it is not every day that a kicker gets injured.

With the Week 4 matchup against the Redskins fast approaching, the Chiefs signed Butker off the Pathers’ practice squad.

The wait to be on an NFL roster was over for Harrison, and he made the most of the opportunity.