Jason Douglas Elam (; born March 8, 1970) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Denver Broncos. He was selected by Denver in the third round of the 1993 NFL draft and played 15 seasons with the Broncos and two with the Atlanta Falcons.
A three-time Pro Bowl selection, Elam won two Super Bowl rings with the Broncos and was tied with Tom Dempsey, Sebastian Janikowski, and David Akers for the longest field goal in NFL history at 63 yards. The record has since been broken.
Early life Elam attended Brookwood High School in Snellville, Georgia where he was the placekicker and punter for the football team. As a junior, he connected on 2 of 4 field goal attempts, hit all five point after attempts and averaged 38 yards per punt. As a senior, Elam went 11-18 on field goal attempts with misses form 57, 62, 63, and 65 yards. His longest successful kick was from 52 yards which set a school record. He was perfect on 26 extra points in his career and averaged 44 yards punting. He was named first team all-county for both place kicker and punter and class AAAA all-state honorable mention as a place kicker.
Elam also lettered in swimming and track and field.
College career In four years (1988–1992) as the placekicker for the University of Hawaii at Mānoa football team, Elam scored the third-most points in NCAA history (397) and tied for the second-most field goals kicked (79). He held the record for all-time leading scorer in the Western Athletic Conference until 2010 and an All-American as well as a three-time All-WAC selection. He is Hawaii's career leader in field goals made and field goal percentage. Elam majored in communications at the University of Hawaii and was awarded Second-team Academic All-American and was the male recipient of the 1992 Stan Bates Award, presented to the WAC's top scholar-athlete .
Professional career
Denver Broncos Elam was drafted by the Broncos in the third round (70th pick overall) of the 1993 NFL draft.
Elam holds NFL records for best extra point conversion percentage (.995), most consecutive seasons with at least 100 points (15), fastest to 300 successful field goals, and fastest to 1,600 and 1,700 points. Elam was also the first player in NFL history to score at least 200 points against three or more teams: the San Diego Chargers (222), Oakland Raiders (215), and Kansas City Chiefs (203). Elam is tied with Steve Christie, Jason Hanson, and Jim Breech for the most overtime field goals with nine. Elam was named to the Denver Broncos 50th Anniversary Team in 2009.A Team for the Ages
1994 Elam scored 119 points throughout his rookie season, placing him fourth in the AFC (seventh in NFL) for points scored, while his 26 field goals tied for the fourth-highest total in team history. Elam was successful on four of six field goal attempts longer than 50 yards. His 54-yarder against San Diego Chargers was the fourth-longest in team history.
1995 In 1995, he finished tied for third in the NFL in scoring with 132 points and tied for second in field goals made with 31 as he was voted to his first Pro Bowl. On the season, he was 31 for 38 (.816) on field-goal attempts and 39 for 39 on extra-point attempts. His breakthrough season also included second-team All-Pro honors from both Associated Press and All-AFC honors from Pro Football Weekly. He set the tone for his stellar season in the opener vs. Buffalo Bills, tying a Broncos single-game record with five successful field goals in six attempts (22, 52, 20, 38 and 37 yards). His 56-yarder at Houston was the longest of his career and the second longest in franchise history behind Steinfort 57-yarder vs. Washington in 1980. Elam made a franchise-record 13 consecutive field goals during the middle of the season, beginning with a 30-yarder at Seattle Seahawks and ending with a 35-yarder vs. the Chargers. On December 24 vs. the Oakland Raiders, Elam scored 11 points, including the game-winning 37-yard field goal with 48 seconds remaining, in Denver's 31–28 victory. It was the second time in 1995 that Elam had kicked a game-winning field goal in the final minute.
1996 In 1996, he converted 21 of 28 field goal attempts with a .750 percentage and all 46 extra-point attempts to lead the Broncos with 109 points. He also tied the team record for most extra points in a game with six against the Baltimore Ravens in a 45–34 Broncos win. He connected on his only 50-yard-plus field goal of the 1996 season at San Diego in the regular-season finale.
1997 In the 1997 season, he converted 26 of 36 field-goal attempts (.722) and tied his own franchise record for extra points in a season by going a perfect 46 of 46. His 124 total points on the season ranked second in the AFC (fourth in the NFL), and his 46 extra points led the AFC and were second in the NFL. During the postseason, he was perfect, converting all 15 extra-point attempts and both field goal attempts of 43 and 51 yards. His 51-yard field goal in Super Bowl XXXII against the Green Bay Packers was the second longest in Super Bowl history since Steve Christie's 54-yarder for the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVIII as well as the longest in Broncos postseason history. He passed the 500-point plateau with his final extra-point attempt at Seattle, becoming only the third Bronco in history to do so and the fastest in terms of games played (66). He also kicked the game-winning 33-yard field goal in overtime at Buffalo, the second time in his career that Elam had won a game for the Broncos in overtime. He tied his own franchise record with five field goals at Kansas City Chiefs, matching the standard achieved previously by himself.
1998 In 1998, Elam was selected to his second Pro Bowl and was named second-team All-NFL by the Associated Press and All-AFC by Pro Football Weekly and Football News. He enjoyed his finest season statistically in 1998, converting 23 of 27 field goal attempts for a career-best and franchise-record percentage of .852. He also made all 58 extra-point attempts for 127 total points.
On October 25, 1998, Elam kicked a 63-yard field goal to end the first half against the Jacksonville Jaguars, tying Tom Dempsey's 28-year-old record for the longest field goal in NFL history. His cleats from the game are currently on display in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Elam also scored the 20,000th televised point on ABC Monday Night Football. He tied for third in the AFC (tied for fifth in the NFL) in scoring by kickers, and his 58 extra-point conversions ranked second in the NFL while also representing a team record for a single season. He also made six of eight field goal attempts and all 11 extra-point attempts for a team-leading 29 points in three postseason contests to move into second place in all-time postseason scoring by a Bronco. Elam converted two of four field goal attempts in Super Bowl XXXIII versus Atlanta Falcons and all four extra points for 10 points in the Broncos 34–19 win, earning his second Super Bowl Ring in his career. Against the Dallas Cowboys, he tied a franchise record that he already shared with four other players by converting six extra-point attempts. He set a franchise record for consecutive field goals made at Kansas City on Monday Night Football, converting his 14th in a row to top Rich Karlis' previous standard of 13 (1984–85), and he ran his streak to 19 consecutive before having a 37-yard attempt blocked vs. the Chiefs.
1999 In 1999, he converted all 29 extra-point attempts and was 29 of 36 (.806) on field-goal attempts to account for 116 points on the season, tied for fifth in the AFC and tied for sixth in the league. He was 5–7 on field-goal attempts between 50 and 59 yards in 1999 to improve his career percentage from that range to 63.7 percent (21–33). He was successful from 50 yards at Kansas City, 51 yards against the New York Jets, 55 yards at San Diego, 53 yards against Oakland and 50 against San Diego again. The 55-yarder at San Diego was the third longest of his career, the effort earned Elam AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors for Week 9 as he made four field goals and scored 15 points in the game, his highest single-game totals for both categories since setting career highs with five field goals and 16 points at Kansas on November 16, 1997. Elam matched the four field goal effort vs. Oakland on Monday Night Football with one of the most pressure-filled conversions of his career from 53 yards with seven seconds remaining to tie the score at 21 and send the game to overtime. It proved to be the eighth game-winning or game-saving field goal of his career as the Broncos went on to win 27–21.
2000 In 2000, Elam was 18 of 24 (.750) on field-goal attempts and 49 of 49 on extra-point attempts to account for 103 points on the season, 10th most in the AFC. With his three PAT attempts at the New York Jets, he passed Jim Turner for most PAT attempts in Denver history and became the first Bronco to make 200 field goals in a career with his successful boot from 26 yards vs. San Diego. His five extra points at New Orleans gave him an NFL record for consecutive extra points, breaking Norm Johnson's standard of 301 (Elam finished the season having made 313 consecutive PATs).
2001 In 2001, he was voted to his third Pro Bowl was also named the NFL 2001 Special Teams Player of the Year by the NFL Alumni and voted second-team All-NFL. He led the NFL in field goals with a franchise record-tying 31 while also tying for third in the league with 124 points. The AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November, Elam converted a franchise-record 86.1 percent of his field goals (31 of 36) and all 31 extra-point attempts to extend his NFL record for consecutive extra points to 344. Elam enjoyed a record-setting night at Oakland, hitting two field goals, including a 39-yarder that gave him his 1,000th career point to make him the 30th NFL player to reach that plateau as well as extend his franchise scoring record. He scored 14 points against San Diego with a season-high four field goals, hitting from 25, 29, 26 and 33 yards, as well as two PATs.
For the second time in three games, he scored a season-high 14 points at Dallas, hitting four field goals (24, 50, 46 and 28 yds.) and both extra-point opportunities. He was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November when he led all NFL kickers with 38 points and 11 field goals. He converted 11 of 12 field-goal attempts (.917) during the month, including two from beyond 45 yards, tied his career single-season high with his 31st field goal of the year in the season finale vs. the Indianapolis Colts, matching his mark from 1995.
2002 In the 2002 season, he converted 26 of 36 field-goal attempts (.722) and 42 of 43 (.977) extra-point attempts to account for a team-leading 120 points, marking his 10th consecutive season with 100 or more points. Also in 2002, he tied his career-high with five field goals (on five attempts) vs. the Miami Dolphins, including a 55-yard kick. He also tied a career-high by scoring 16 points in the contest, he made all three field-goal attempts at Kansas City, including the game-winner from 25 yards in overtime. It was his 11th career game-winning or game-saving field goal and his third in an overtime situation, Elam, who at the time owned the NFL record for consecutive extra points (371, later broken by Matt Stover), saw the streak end against Indianapolis Colts.
2003