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Scott Norwood

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Scott Norwood
Norwood with the Bills in 1989
No. 4, 11
PositionPlacekicker
Personal information
Born (1960-07-17) July 17, 1960 (age 66)
Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight207 lb (94 kg)
Career information
High schoolJefferson (Alexandria)
CollegeJames Madison (1978–1981)
NFL draft1982 (undrafted)
Career history
* Offseason or practice squad member only
Awards and highlights
Career NFL statistics
Field goal attempts184
Field goals made133
Field goal %72.28
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Scott Allan Norwood (born July 17, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a placekicker for seven seasons with the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He also played for the Birmingham Stallions in the United States Football League (USFL) for two seasons. As Buffalo's placekicker, Norwood led the league in scoring for the 1988 season and played in their first two Super Bowl appearances. Despite his accomplishments, he is best known for missing a game-winning field goal attempt at the end of Super Bowl XXV.

Early life and college

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Norwood was born in Alexandria, Virginia and graduated from Thomas Jefferson High School in Alexandria in 1978.[1] He played both football and soccer at James Madison University and graduated with a business degree in 1982.[2]

Professional career

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Birmingham Stallions

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Norwood began his professional career with the Birmingham Stallions of the United States Football League, playing two seasons before the Stallions signed Danny Miller to replace him.

Buffalo Bills

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Norwood was one of many players the Bills picked up as the USFL contracted and ultimately collapsed; he eventually beat out Todd Schlopy (who would later come back when Norwood went on strike in 1987) for the Bills' starting kicker position. He quickly became an asset to an offense that was going places as the Bills' general manager, Bill Polian, assembled talent like Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, and Bruce Smith. Within two seasons of Norwood's arrival, the Bills had won the AFC East for the first time since 1980 and made it to the conference championship game. He soon overtook O. J. Simpson as the team's all-time leading scorer. Following the 1990 season, the Bills advanced to their first-ever Super Bowl.

Super Bowl XXV

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Norwood's field goal range was unusually short for a professional kicker[citation needed] and he had difficulties in converting field goals over 40 yards throughout his career, especially on natural grass (the Bills' home stadium used AstroTurf, which mitigated this issue). Super Bowl XXV, which was played on January 27, 1991, cemented Norwood's name in football history when he missed a 47-yard field goal attempt with 8 seconds left in the game, giving the New York Giants their second Super Bowl victory, and started the Bills' string of four consecutive Super Bowl losses. This kick was made famous by the "wide right" call by ABC announcer Al Michaels. Later video analysis revealed the holder mistakenly aligned the laces to the right, thereby positioning the kicked ball to fade right once in the air. Norwood said his mind went blank as he watched the ball sail, followed by an "empty feeling" upon realizing he missed.[3]

Despite his miss, Norwood was greeted positively by Bills fans when the team returned to Buffalo. He tearfully addressed the fans at the accompanying ceremony, telling them that "we're struggling with this right now. I know I've never felt more loved than this right now."[4] Norwood also received letters of support and praise from coaches and teachers about life lessons amid defeat; he recalled in 2020 that "it's not always fun, but you can't just soak up the sunshine in life. Sometimes, you got to soak up a little rain, too."[5]

Although the Bills signed Björn Nittmo as Norwood's potential replacement in the 1991 offseason, Norwood remained with the Bills through that season. The Bills returned to the Super Bowl and Norwood was perfect throughout the postseason, including a 44-yard field goal that served as the decisive margin in the AFC Championship Game against the Denver Broncos.[6]

Norwood was waived in the first roster move of the 1992 offseason after the Bills signed Steve Christie, formerly of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.[7]

Post-football career

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After the Bills waived him, Norwood initially returned home to Northern Virginia and disappeared completely from the public eye for several years, eventually becoming an insurance salesman during the 1990s then moving back to Buffalo as a real estate agent in 2002.[7][8][9]

Norwood has publicly reflected on his career's positives, including his Pro Bowl nod and Super Bowl appearances. While acknowledging that Wide Right remains the most prominent part of his career, he said in 2010 that he had "moved on and [had] it in its proper place and perspective."[10]

NFL career statistics

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Legend
Led the league
Bold Career high
Year Team GP FGM FGA FG% XPM XPA XP% PTS
1985 BUF 16 13 17 76.5 23 23 100.0 62
1986 BUF 16 17 27 63.0 32 34 94.1 83
1987 BUF 12 10 15 66.7 31 31 100.0 61
1988 BUF 16 32 37 86.5 33 33 100.0 129
1989 BUF 16 23 30 76.7 46 47 97.9 115
1990 BUF 16 20 29 69.0 50 52 96.2 110
1991 BUF 16 18 29 62.1 56 58 96.6 110
Total 108 133 184 72.3 271 278 97.5 670

Playoffs

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Year Team GP FGM FGA FG% XPM XPA XP% PTS
1988 BUF 2 2 5 40.0 3 3 100.0 9
1989 BUF 1 1 1 100.0 3 4 75.0 6
1990 BUF 3 5 7 71.4 13 14 92.9 28
1991 BUF 3 5 5 100.0 8 8 100.0 23
Total 9 13 18 72.2 27 29 93.1 66

Personal life

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Norwood lives with his wife Kimberly in the Washington, D.C. suburb of Centreville, Virginia. They have three children: twins Carly and Connor (born 1995) and Corey (born 1996).

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In the 1994 film Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, a key plot point involves a kicker for the 1984 Miami Dolphins named Ray Finkle; in the story, Finkle misses a field goal attempt in the closing moments of Super Bowl XVII, causing the Dolphins to lose the game to the San Francisco 49ers by a single point–an obvious reference to Norwood's infamous kick in Super Bowl XXV.[11][12] (In reality, while the Dolphins did advance to Super Bowl XVII, the game was held at the end of the 1982 season; the Dolphins and 49ers met at Super Bowl XIX at the end of the 1984 season. The Dolphins were defeated in both contests by multiple scores.)

In the 1998 film Buffalo '66, the main character, Billy Brown, desires to murder a former Buffalo kicker named "Scott Wood," whose missed field goal led to Brown losing a large bet, which Brown blames for ruining his life.

References

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  1. ↑
  2. ↑ Greenfield, Karl Taro (July 12, 2004). "A Life After Wide Right". Sports Illustrated. p. 2. Archived from the original on September 9, 2010.
  3. ↑ "Bills' Scott Norwood missed boot of his life". Welland Tribune. AP. January 28, 1991. Retrieved July 30, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ "Bills go home to heroes' welcome". Independent Record. AP. January 29, 1991. Retrieved July 30, 2026 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ↑ Pitoniak, Scott (February 19, 2020). "Scott Norwood still handling his sports nightmare with class". Rochester Business Journal. Retrieved July 30, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Scott Norwood 1991 Game Log". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved June 2, 2025.
  7. 1 2 A Life After Wide Right[link removed], p. 4.
  8. ↑ A Life After Wide Right, p. 5.
  9. ↑ Lewis, Michael (October 28, 2007). "The Kick Is Up and It's ... A Career Killer". New York Times Magazine.
  10. ↑ Jannace, Paul (March 30, 2010). "Scott Norwood's life after football is business as usual". The Record Herald. Retrieved July 30, 2026.
  11. ↑ "30 years ago today: An unforgettable moment in Buffalo Bills history". www.syracuse.com. The Post-Standard. January 27, 2021. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
  12. ↑ "The Untold Truth Of Ace Ventura". looper.com. Static Media. June 8, 2022. Archived from the original on May 4, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.
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