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Ray Wersching
No. 15, 6, 14
Position: Placekicker
Personal information
Born: (1950-08-21) August 21, 1950 (age 73)
Mondsee, Austria
Height:5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight:215 lb (98 kg)
Career information
College: California
Undrafted: 1973
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Field goals made:222
Field goal attempts:329
Field goal %:67.5
Player stats at NFL.com ·  PFR

Raimund "Ray" Wersching (born August 21, 1950) is an Austrian former player of American football who was a placekicker for 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) from 1973 through 1987. He played college football for the California Golden Bears.

Early career

He attended Warren High School in Downey, California.

NFL career

Undrafted after his career at Cerritos College and the University of California, Berkeley, Wersching was signed by the San Diego Chargers, where he played for four years. In 1977, Wersching joined the San Francisco 49ers. In Super Bowl XVI, Wersching tied a Super Bowl record by kicking four field goals, and his field position kick-offs also helped his team win, 26–21. He won another Super Bowl ring with the 49ers in Super Bowl XIX, defeating the Miami Dolphins 38–16. When he retired, Wersching held 49ers records for points, field goals and extra points. He was the 12th player in NFL history to score 1,000 points in a career, and is the most recent player to have scored from a fair catch kick. [1]

Wersching had a unique kicking style. Upon crossing the out of bound line onto the field to kick a field goal or extra point, he always looked down, never raising his head until after he kicked. [2]

Career regular season statistics

Career high/best bold

Season Team G FGM FGA % LNG XPM XPA % PTS
1973 SD 14 11 25 44.0 39 13 15 86.7 46
1974 SD 14 5 11 45.5 42 – – – 15
1975 SD 14 12 24 50.0 45 20 21 95.2 56
1976 SD 9 4 8 50.0 45 14 16 87.5 26
1977 SF 10 10 17 58.8 50 23 23 100.0 53
1978 SF 16 15 23 65.2 45 24 25 96.0 69
1979 SF 16 20 24 83.3 47 32 35 91.4 95
1980 SF 16 15 19 78.9 47 33 39 84.6 78
1981 SF 12 17 23 73.9 48 30 30 100.0 81
1982 SF 9 12 17 70.6 45 23 25 92.0 59
1983 SF 16 25 30 83.3 52 51 51 100.0 126
1984 SF 16 25 35 71.4 53 56 56 100.0 131
1985 SF 16 13 21 61.9 45 52 53 98.1 91
1986 SF 16 25 35 71.4 50 41 42 97.6 116
1987 SF 12 13 17 76.5 45 44 46 95.7 83
Career 206 222 329 67.5 53 456 477 95.6 1,122

Other

Wersching holds an inactive public accountant's license. [3] He was a contestant on the original version of the game show High Rollers in 1975. [4]

In 2006; Wersching along with business partner Mary Ann Locke were indicted on embezzlement charges of $8 million in insurance premiums. [5] Wersching served six months in home confinement and was placed on probation for two years, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. When he pleaded guilty in December 2007 to failing to file a corporate tax return, federal prosecutors dropped charges that he had been involved in an $8 million embezzlement (while Locke served time in prison) but would lose his business as a result. [6]

References

  1. ^ "Quirky Research: NFL fair catch kick attempts™".
  2. ^ "Kicker lined up success in NFL, but life after game proves harder". 21 April 2009.
  3. ^ California, State of. "California Board of Accountancy - License Lookup". www2.dca.ca.gov.
  4. ^ Million Colors of Light (18 August 2016). "High Rollers (July 4, 1975)". Archived from the original on 2021-12-21 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ "SAN FRANCISCO / Former 49er indicted in embezzlement case / Ray Wersching was a placekicker for S.F. from 1977 to '87". 23 March 2006.
  6. ^ "Charges dropped against Ray Wersching". UPI. December 16, 2008. Retrieved August 22, 2021.


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