Tag: Harrison Butker

WATCH: Chiefs K Harrison Butker casually makes 72-yard field goal in warmups

#Chiefs K Harrison Butker was showing off his leg during pregame warmups, making a 72-yard field goal attempt.

Kansas City Chiefs K Harrison Butker was showing off his range during pregame warmups at Arrowhead Stadium ahead of the preseason Week 2 game against the Washington Commanders.

Butker told reporters earlier this week that he’d worked to improve some things on his leg swing this offseason. As a result, he believed that he’d increased his range and consistency on field goals.

“Oh yeah, definitely,” Butker told reporters on Wednesday. “I feel like I’m hitting 63 yards into the wind. When the wind’s at my back, we’ve gone to 70, 72. In that Chicago game, we made 68 and 74 was a little short. But, I feel like I’ve got a lot of distance now and that will hopefully come up this season.”

Well, it seems that his estimate for his long-range kicking was right on point. Ahead of preseason Week 2, Butker hit a 72-yarder in pregame warmups. Perhaps Butker got a little jealous of all the attention that Justin Reid was receiving for his 65-yard kick at training camp and his PAT last week against the Bears. No matter what, it’s good to know that Butker’s range has increased in the right conditions. His career long is a 58-yarder, so perhaps he’ll beat that record this season.

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Chiefs K Harrison Butker ‘all for’ Justin Reid serving as emergency kicker

#Chiefs K Harrison Butker shared his thoughts on safety Justin Reid’s candidacy to become the team’s emergency kicker. | from @EdEastonJr

The Kansas City Chiefs signed veteran safety Justin Reid to be the heart of a young secondary following the team’s decision to move on from Tyrann Mathieu.

They seem to have received a bit more than they bargained for in Reid. He is showing his worth at camp, serving as a leader on the defensive side of the ball and a mentor to the rookie defensive backs. He’s also taken on a new role in the recent weeks of training camp practice.

After making a 65-yard field goal in practice, Reid’s leg is now being considered for the emergency kicker role. The development comes much to the amusement of Harrison Butker, who spoke to reporters about his new backup on Wednesday.

“It’s crazy because he’s actually not very efficient, but the ball goes so far,” Butker said. “You know what I’m saying? It was probably Phase Two (and) he got a kick in the indoor, he told me, ‘I love the specialists. I kicked a lot with Ka’imi (Fairbairn) with the Texans.’ And I think I had seen some videos of him kicking, but in the indoor, he was just bombing balls with a ton of height, so I knew he had a big leg. I just thought he just wanted to kick some footballs and he just naturally has the technique. I come to find out he played travel soccer all throughout high school, so he got that rhythm and technique from a young age. But he’s got a big leg, and I think it’s just fine-tuning it.

Reid has been attempting field goals in practice throughout camp, making 7-of-9 kicks when Butker missed practice earlier this week. Reid also scored a PAT before the end of the first half in the preseason Week 1 game against the Chicago Bears. Butker believes Reid can get even better at making kicks with some help.

“If I was him, I would take advantage of Tommy (Townsend) and me and learn as much as he can from us because he made an extra point when the pressure was on in (the) preseason,” Butker continued. “I’m all for it. I’m all for evolving the game of kicking and pushing the limits, so to have more people that are enthusiastic about being kickers, I’m all for it.”

The flexibility of Reid as the emergency kicker may seem humorous at this moment, but it could eventually pay off later in the season. The Chiefs will be one of the rare teams prepared for an unexpected absence of their starter without having to roster an extra player at the position.

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Chiefs DB Justin Reid nails PAT against Bears

Chiefs DB stepped into a PAT attempt and it was good

Andy Reid allowed a player with his surname to have some fun against the Chicago Bears as the Kansas City Chiefs opened the preseason on Saturday.

Justin Watson scored a touchdown for KC in the second quarter and Harrison Butker was bumped from the PAT duties by Chiefs DB Justin Reid.

And Justin Reid delivered to make it 14-0.

Andy Reid didn’t send Justin Reid out cold. He had the DB practice on the tough Soldier Field turf prior to the game.

Chiefswire provided background on Reid’s kicking prowess:

A former Soccer player in high school and at Stanford, Reid has already been working on his emergency duties with his new team this offseason. Most safeties have emergency jobs like cornerback or linebacker, but Reid has been doing the emergency kicking duties since his time with the Houston Texans.

During practice this week, Reid connected on a field goal from 60 yards, granted there was no snap leading into the boot.

“We’ve got an excellent guy who is going to leave his mark — and his legacy — on this franchise. I know there’s a lot of chatter — or whatever — about ‘Kicker 1,’ but Harrison is obviously Kicker 1. Let’s put that to bed right now,” Justin Reid said. “But if he ever wants (a) play off — (to) take a break — I’ve got his back.”

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Rating of Ravens K Justin Tucker in Madden NFL 23 revealed

The rating for Ravens kicker Justin Tucker in Madden 23 was revealed

The ratings of players for this year’s edition of EA Sports’ “Madden NFL 23” have been trickling in over the last few days. On Monday, ratings for wide receivers and tight ends were released, and Baltimore Ravens’ tight end Mark Andrews was ranked as the No. 3 tight end with a 93 overall rating. Baltimore had another player make the video game’s top-10 list at a position and he was far ahead of the No. 10 spot.

On Wednesday, the initial ratings were revealed for kickers, and Ravens’ kicker Justin Tucker took the No. 1 spot.

Tucker received a 90 overall ranking, good for the No. 1 spot at his position. Tucker being ranked as the No. 1 kicker should come at no surprise. He holds the title as the most accurate kicker in NFL history, has been selected to numerous Pro Bowls and holds the record for longest field goal made in NFL history, booting a 66-yarder against the Detroit Lions in Week 3 of the 2021 season.

Individual ratings that got Tucker up to a 90 overall included a 99 kick power rating and a 99 kick accuracy rating. The second-best rated kicker in Madden NFL 23 is Harrison Butker, with an 84 overall.

Tucker is the best kicker the NFL, and whenever he lines up for a field goal shows why. Through his 12 NFL seasons, Tucker has been selected to five Pro Bowls, been named as a First-Team AP All-Pro four times and has a 91.1% career field goal percentage.

Chiefs tie Bengals on Harrison Butker field goal at end of regulation

Harrison Butker sends the AFC Championship Game between the Chiefs and Bengals to overtime

The AFC Championship Game — with a ticket to Super Bowl LVI riding on a victory — is going to overtime.

Harrison Butker kicked a 44-yard field goal as time expired Sunday at Arrowhead to push the Kansas City Chiefs into a 24-24 tie with the Cincinnati Bengals.

The game-tying kick, which sent the contest to overtime, came after Patrick Mahomes took a 17-yard loss on a sack — and fumbled the ball — on the previous play.

Mahomes also was errant with the clock at the end of the first half, throwing a completed pass that saw time run out before Butker would have had a chip-shot field goal.

The game goes to overtime and the Bengals called the toss incorrectly, which means the Chiefs get the ball.

The same scenario that played out at Arrowhead a week ago against the Bills in an AFC Divisional Round game.

This was the third AFC Championship Game to go to overtime, and the second at Arrowhead.

 

Chiefs K Harrison Butker went into ‘Robot Mode’ on kick that forced overtime vs. Bills

Harrison Butker explained his mentality ahead of his kick to send the #Chiefs and #Bills to overtime. | from @TheJohnDillon

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When the Kansas City Chiefs had their backs to the wall with just seconds remaining in the divisional round win, kicker Harrison Butker answered the call for greatness, nailing a 49-yard field goal to send the game to overtime.

One of the most clutch kicks of his career, a miss would’ve delivered the Buffalo Bills a second-straight AFC championship berth. Instead, the made three-point play doomed the underdog Bills when Kansas City won the overtime coin toss.

For Butker it was just another feather in his cap, though. He understands the importance of every opportunity he gets to put points on the board. He didn’t want to make the kick any bigger than it was after missing a field and PAT earlier in the game. Butker told reporters on Monday that he gets into a robotic state of mind, especially when the pressure is on.

“I try to be like a robot,” Butker said. “Every kick is a big kick. I have different mental cues that I go through, different things that I do on the sideline to prepare me for each kick. As a kicker, the more you start thinking about the magnitude of the kick, what’s on the line, well then is that going to help you make the kick? Probably not. So, I think ‘what can I do right now in this moment to help improve the chances of me making this kick?’ I can work on my steps, I can go through my mental cues, I can make sure my ball contact is good in the net, I can visualize the ball going through.

“I can do all those things and then go out there, give it my best shot. Thankfully it went through, but it’s not until after the game you’re thinking wow, you know if I had missed that kick our season would be over and obviously, we have aspirations to go to our third Super Bowl in a row and win our second with this Coach Reid coached up team. You can’t think about all those things and I just really try to stay in my zone and focus on what I can control and execute to the best of my ability.”

Whatever helps the fifth-year veteran stay consistent for two more games will work just fine for fans who want the Chiefs to continue their run of dominance in big games this season. Butker has a unique role on a team that prides itself on its ability to put up as many points are needed to secure wins, and if the game against Buffalo was any indication, Kansas City can count on him to hit the kicks that matter most.

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Chiefs activate 4 players from Reserve/COVID-19 list

The #Chiefs have officially activated Harrison Butker, Tommy Townsend, Rashad Fenton and Armani Watts from the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid told reporters that every player from the 53-man roster who was on the Reserve/COVID-19 list returned to practice on Wednesday. Now, we have some confirmation that he wasn’t exaggerating.

According to the NFL’s official personnel notice for Wednesday, the team activated K Harrison Butker, P Tommy Townsend, CB Rashad Fenton and DB Armani Watts from the Reserve/COVID-19 list. The team also restored LB Darius Harris to the practice squad from the practice squad COVID-19 list. A lot of these players were able to be activated with the NFL adopting new COVID isolation rules based on updated CDC guidelines.

By our count, the only remaining Chiefs player on the Reserve/COVID-19 list is Mike Remmers, who is also on injured reserve due to a knee injury. Even with Remmers remaining on the list, they’re now in a much better place than they were just a week ago, with COVID running rampant through the roster.

The team did not need to activate TE Travis Kelce from the Reserve/COVID-19 list today because they already had ahead of the Week 16 game against the Steelers. He did, however, clear COVID protocols and return to practice on Wednesday. Here’s some photographic evidence shared by our friend Harold R. Kuntz at Fox 4 Kansas City:

Kelce and all the other returning players are considered all systems go for Week 17 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

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Chiefs’ Harrison Butker ruled out, Elliott Fry to kick vs. Steelers in Week 16

#Chiefs K Harrison Butker (Reserve/COVID-19) won’t play vs. the #Steelers due to his vaccination status. Newly-signed K Elliott Fry is set to kick according to a new report.

The Kansas City Chiefs will officially be without K Harrison Butker on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

According to a report from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Butker will be ruled out for the Week 16 game due to his vaccination status. Butker was placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list on Monday. He is unvaccinated per Rapoport, which means he’ll spend a mandatory 10 days on the Reserve/COVID-19 list in isolation before he’s allowed to be activated.

Thankfully, the Chiefs had the foresight to sign K Elliott Fry to the practice squad last week. Upon Butker’s placement on the Reserve/COVID-19 list, the team signed Fry to the 53-man roster. That signaled that the team expected to be without Butker, but now we know the exact reason why.

Here’s some history on Fry from our article about him being signed to the 53-man roster:

“Fry most recently spent time with the Atlanta Falcons also as COVID-19 insurance, but he got his professional football start with Alliance of American Football league, playing for the Orlando Apollos, going a perfect 14-for-14 when he was with the now-defunct league. Since 2019, Fry has made stops with the Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but he only first appeared in a professional game in 2020 with the Falcons. He attempted a single 23-yard field goal, which he made, while also going 1-for-2 on extra points.”

Even with a solid replacement in Fry, the Chiefs will miss Butker this week. He’s 22-for-25 on field goals this season and 41-for-43 on extra points. He’s been most impressive at distance on field goals this season, breaking the franchise record for most 50-yard field goals in a single season.

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Chiefs’ Travis Kelce, Harrison Butker, Charvarius Ward placed on Reserve/COVID-19 list

The #Chiefs are placing Travis Kelce, Harrison Butker and Charvarius Ward on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

The Kansas City Chiefs are placing TE Travis Kelce, K Harrison Butker and CB Charvarius Ward on the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

These are just the latest players to enter the COVID protocols for Kansas City in recent weeks, joining Jody Fortson, Josh Gordon, Chris Jones, Willie Gay and Gehrig Dieter. It brings the total of players on the Reserve/COVID-19 list up to eight for Kansas City. Each of Kelce, Butker and Ward tested positive for the virus per reports.

Andy Reid spoke to the media earlier today, expressing optimism that Gordon, Gay and Jones would be available for Week 16 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Expect for there to be a shared optimism for these three players too.

One reason Kelce, Butker and Ward might be able to return ahead of the team’s Week 16 game against the Steelers is because of the NFL’s new return-to-play rules. Previously, vaccinated players needed two negative tests taken 24 hours apart in order to return to play. Now, players are only required to test negative once before they can be activated off the Reserve/COVID-19 list.

Kelce currently has the second-most receiving yards and the second-most touchdowns behind Tyreek Hill. His presence on the field alone is a weapon that makes the Chiefs a better team. Should he be absent from the game it’d be a huge loss for the team.

Just last week, the Chiefs added kicker Elliott Fry to the practice squad in order to prepare for the potential of an absence for Butker amid the latest COVID-19 surge. That is looking like a wise move with Butker’s addition to the list.

Finally, Kansas City is probably best prepared to be without Charvarius Ward. He missed games earlier this season with a quad injury, and the team has generally had a lot of changes in the secondary this season. One thing that will help: The Chiefs are poised to get L’Jarius Sneed back this week after a two-week absence following the death of his oldest brother.

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Harrison Butker sets Chiefs’ single-season record for most 50-yard field goals

With a 56-yard field goal against the #Broncos, #Chiefs K Harrison Butker has set a franchise record for the most 50-yard field goals made in a single season.

Kansas City Chiefs K Harrison Butker stamped his name in the franchise history books on Sunday.

With a 56-yard field goal in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos in Week 13, Butker has five field goals of 50-plus yards on the season. That number is good for the most ever in a single season in Chiefs franchise history.

The field goal had plenty of distance, but he bounced it off the upright. It counted all the same.

Check it out:

Butker already holds franchise records for the longest field goal (58 yards, 2020), most field goals in a single season (38, 2017), and most points by a kicker in a single season (142, 2017) among other franchise records.

This also marked the 25th consecutive field goal that Butker has made against Denver in his career. He’s been with the Chiefs since 2017, and this marks his ninth career game against the Broncos.

Butker also passed Hall of Fame kicker Jan Stenerud and now owns the second-most 50-plus yard field goals in franchise history with 18. He trails only Nick Lowery who has 20 50-plus field goals in his career.

The crazy thing is, Butker still is in the infancy of the season and the infancy of his career. He has five games left to add to his record of 50-plus field goals. He’s just 26 years old and should eventually break Lowery’s record.

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