Former Brookwood kicker Elam joining Falcons

By STEVE WYCHE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 03/21/08

Placekicker Jason Elam has spent 15 seasons with the Denver Broncos, but Friday he agreed to return home to Atlanta, where he'll likely finish his stellar — and historic — NFL career with the Falcons.

Elam, 38, signed a four-year, $9 million contract ($3.3 million guaranteed) to take over from highly respected 47-year-old Morten Andersen.

The Falcons hope to gain stability at his position, which has been problematic in the early stages of the past two seasons until Andersen, the NFL's all-time leading scorer, was summoned off the golf course to bail out failed gambles on inexperienced kickers.

Punter Michael Koenen, a restricted free agent whose rights have been retained by the Falcons, is projected to handle kickoff duties again.

Elam's departure from Denver will be a sentimental loss. He won his share of games for the Broncos, tied Tom Dempsey for the NFL's longest field goal made (63 yards) and became part of the fabric of the franchise. Elam has 1,786 career points and has scored at least 100 points in every season.

His arrival in Atlanta will be a sentimental return.

Elam grew up in Snellville and played at Brookwood High. His mother still lives in the area, and he has other family in the region. The devout and civically active kicker spent his offseasons in metro Atlanta before moving to Denver full time in 2003.

The locale, kicking in a dome, the new coaching staff and a franchise excited to compensate him handsomely were the selling points for Elam not to return to Denver or take a trip to Seattle, which also wanted him to visit. Elam met with Falcons officials Wednesday and Thursday.

Though Elam has lost some of his deep punch on his kicks, he still has a strong leg and has been incredibly accurate (80.6 percent) in his career. The past two seasons, he averaged a 90 percent conversion rate on field goals.

Jason Elam of the Denver Broncos tied the 28-year-old NFL record of Tom Dempsey on Oct. 25, 1998 with a 63 yard field goal. The kick came at the end of the first half of a game with the Jacksonville Jaguars at Denver's Mile High Stadium. With a 37-24 victory, the Broncos became 7-0 for the first time in club history. Originally only a 58-yard attempt, the Broncos were issued a 5 yard penalty for delaying the game and the ball was placed on the Jaguars 47 yard line with only a few seconds on the clock. Elam's kick delighted the Denver fans that were present to witness the history making effort.

When asked why he didn't back up a yard and go for the record-breaker at 64 yards, Elam said, "Well, that gets kind of scary when you do that. Everything is so precise with the snapper and holder. My snapper (David Diaz-Infante) is usually so good that he can snap to where (holder) Tom (Rouen) doesn't even have to move the laces at all. I never like to mess with that."

Elam said he knew his record kick would have the distance. It was just a matter of physics. "I just tried to do all the fundamentals correctly and keep the ball going straight because I really did feel I could get the ball there," he said. "But those goal posts looked really skinny from where I was standing." Elam said he is just happy to tie Dempsey, who kicked with a shoe specially fitted to his clubbed foot. "I am perfectly happy with being in his company," said Elam.