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Placekicker is the title of the player on an American football team who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points, and, in many cases, kickoffs.
The placekicker usually will only punt when the punter is injured, although sometimes one player handles both jobs (common in the Canadian Football League, which has smaller active rosters than in the U.S.). Because the skills are different enough, on the professional level most teams employ separate players to handle the jobs. Placekickers and punters are frequently the lowest-paid starters on professional teams, although good placekickers sometimes earn over a million dollars per year in salary.
Amateur teams (e.g., college, high school) often do not differentiate between placekickers and punters, have different players assume different placekicking duties (for example, one person handles kicking off, another kicks long field goals, and another kicks from shorter distances), or have regular position players handle kicking duties. The last option is quite common on high school teams, when the best athletes are often the best kickers. Before the modern era of pro football, this was also the case for professional teams, particularly when most place kicks were still made in the "staight on" style outlined below.
Placekickers today are almost all "soccer-style" kickers, approaching the ball from several steps to the left or right of it and several steps behind. Before this method of kicking was popularized in the 1960s, almost every kicker was a "straight on" kicker, a style that does not include coming at the ball from the side at all, but rather from straight back.
Many kickers were former soccer players in their youth; a survey was taken among active kickers in the year 2001 and 80% of kickers responded that they played soccer at one time.
Notable Kickers
"Placekicker"