Now here’s a helluva stat ($$).
But at no position may Georgia be more dominant than placekicker: Georgia has had more placekickers drafted (seven) than any other college since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. The SEC kicking record books are replete with Georgia names. There is only one true placekicker in the College Football Hall of Fame, and he’s a Dawg: Kevin Butler.
You should read the whole story, which starts with Allan Leavitt and leaves off with Jared Zirkel. It’s an amazing run of continued excellence (even surviving Jon Fabris’ “challenges”). The other cool thing is how the elders, like Butler, have been there for the newer guys.
Hopefully, the run continues.
Get The Picture 
I will remember Allan Leavitt`s field goal in the rain and mud with 9 seconds remaining to beat Tech in 1976. I was soaked and cold in the stands and Leavitt made my day wonderful.
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Zirkel gonna be a monster!
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Can’t wait for the situation to arise to give him a shot at a 70 yarder.
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Vince let Butler try one from 70 at the whistle against FSU in the Citrus (?) Bowl with the game tied. It was dead center of the uprights and so close the referee had to get directly below the bar and look up. He missed hitting the bar by about 3 inches. That would have been an all-time record then and it would still be standing. Here is the sad part: Vince blew it by not calling a fair catch to kick the FG on 1st down. I was yelling at the TV screen, but he didn’t hear me. As some may know, a try in that situation is uncontested and at the spot of the fair catch. That would have put the kick 7 yards closer and been (almost) as relaxed as a kickoff with no one rushing at all, and height of trajectory no risk at all. Games ended in a tie in those days, think it was 17-17. Three wasted downs for zero yardage, bad call Vince.
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Was that the same play where he tried to throw some pass plays when really 1 decent run for 3 or 4 yd would have made the difference? Because that happened too. The story was vince asked him how much he needed and he said couple of yards.
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Thanks, sure that was right, I just remember an epic fail on those 3 plays when we could have had a 7 yard, uncontested shot so it may have been 3 yards or so. We weren’t much on offense that day, and Butler had a cannon, and was money in the clutch.
Dammit, should have read Seth’s article first, didn’t know he had included this attempt since it was a miss. I do remember it made quite an impression on me, no one kicked it that far in those days. Dempsey’s kick was considered astounding at 63 yards.
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YEAH! HAP HINES, BABY!
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Billy Bennett should have won the Heisman.
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Not based on his output in UF ’02 & LSU ’03….
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“So, we’ll try to kick one a hundred thousand miles…we’re holding it on our own 49 and a half…gonna try to kick it 60 yards, plus a foot and a half…Butler kicked a long one…a long one, oh my Gawd, oh my Gawd”….(Ungodly?…i think not)
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What? No Peter Rajecki, the “Bootin’ Teuton”?
Yeah, the Dawgs have seemingly always had great kickers. And for some reason, Saban can’t get one. Neither could Bowden when it mattered. Strange how that works.
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Celebrating our ability to develop kickers is the most Georgia thing ever.
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In what capacity could Butler contribute to the kicking game this year? IIRC, his time as a grad assistant has run out.
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Private non affiliated camps are legal right? Like the 7 on 7s?
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Bob Etter wasn’t bad either back in the days of straight on kickers. And then there was Peter Rajecki who was the first kicker in the SEC to kick soccer style as I recall.
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