Rohn Stark

Last updated

Rohn Stark
No. 3
Position: Punter
Personal information
Born: (1959-05-04) May 4, 1959 (age 65)
Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Height:6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight:203 lb (92 kg)
Career information
High school: Mr. Pine River
College: Florida State
NFL draft: 1982  / Round: 2 / Pick: 34
Career history
Career highlights and awards
NFL record
  • Highest net average punting yards in a game: 59.50 (1992) [1]
Career NFL statistics
Punts:1,141
Yards:49,471
Average:43.4

Rohn Taylor Stark (born May 4, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a punter for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), 13 of those with the Baltimore / Indianapolis Colts. Stark was selected to four Pro Bowls in his stay with the Colts and then played in Super Bowl XXX as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Contents

Stark was the last player who played for the Colts prior to their relocation to Indianapolis to retire from the NFL. [2] (Not counting John Elway, who spurned the Colts after they selected him number one overall in the 1983 NFL Draft before being traded to the Denver Broncos a week later.) Stark is also the only player who has played for the Baltimore Colts to ever play against the Baltimore Ravens.[ citation needed ]

High school

In Pine River, Minnesota, Rohn attended Mr. Pine River High, starring in football, basketball and track (and even taking time out from track practice to pinch-hit for the baseball team). [3] In football, he played both defense and offense and handled the punting and place kicking duties.

Air Force Academy

After high school graduation, Stark headed for the Air Force Academy Preparatory School in Colorado Springs. He had always been interested in flying—his father, Bud Stark, is a TWA pilot—and had received a conditional appointment to the academy. Eventually, Air Force doctors discovered that Stark has a slight curvature of the spine and could not fly in the US Air Force; it would be too dangerous for him to use an ejection seat. So, he returned home in January 1978. What Stark didn't know was that his prep-school trigonometry professor and football coach, John Crowe, had sent game films of him to Florida State, where Crowe had been an All-America defensive back in 1958. Stark got a call from a Seminole coach in February. "I had barely heard of Florida State", he says, "but I went down and liked what I saw." He enrolled for the spring semester and competed in the high jump for FSU. [3]

College career

From the official Florida State Seminoles website: "One of the greatest all-around athletes ever to wear the garnet and gold of Florida State, Stark starred as a punter and decathlete for the Seminoles. After his four-year career as FSU's punter was over, Stark had virtually every record including most career punts, highest season average (46.0) and highest career average (42.7). He earned first-team All-America honors in 1980 and 1981 and was a team captain as a senior." [4] At the end of his college football career, Stark was probably the best college punter since Ray Guy played for Southern Mississippi in the early '70s. [3] "The spring of his senior year, he cemented his spot as one of FSU's all-time greats, winning All-America honors as a decathlete as well. In 1986, he was inducted into the Florida State Hall of Fame, in Football and Track/Field." [4] He seriously considered participation in the 1984 Olympics. [3]

Stark kicked left-footed. To returners, that means the ball is spinning the "wrong" way and is a little harder to handle; FSU opponents had fumbled about one of Stark's punts per game in his three-year career. And there was one more thing that scouts drooled over: Stark had never had a punt blocked. [3] In his 16 seasons in the NFL, he only had 7 blocked punts. [5]

Retirement

After retiring from the NFL, Stark and his family made their home in Maui, where he works in real estate. [6]

NFL career statistics

Legend
Led the league
BoldCareer high
Regular season
GeneralPunting
SeasonTeamGPPuntsYardsY/PNetIn20TB
1982 BAL 9462,04444.434.3812
1983 BAL 16914,12445.336.3199
1984 IND 16984,38344.737.2217
1985 IND 16783,58445.934.21214
1986 IND 16763,43245.237.2225
1987 IND 12612,44040.030.9127
1988 IND 16642,78443.534.5158
1989 IND 16793,39242.932.91410
1990 IND 16713,08443.437.4233
1991 IND 16823,49242.634.8146
1992 IND 16833,71644.839.3227
1993 IND 16833,59543.335.91813
1994 IND 16733,09242.434.12210
1995 PIT 16592,36840.133.32011
1996 CAR 16773,12840.636.0219
1997 SEA 42081340.726.972
Career2331,14149,47143.435.2270133

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References

  1. ↑ Minimum 4 punts
  2. ↑ "Former Colt Stark faces team he fled Familiar foe: Punter Rohn Stark, the last active Baltimore Colt, left the team after 13 years to play with a winner in Pittsburgh. Now those teams meet Sunday for the AFC championship". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2022-11-17.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 N. Brooks Clark (1981-09-14). "FSU Punter Rohn Stark has set his-sights on the NFL and – 09.14.81 – SI Vault". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  4. 1 2 "Rohn Stark Bio – Florida State University Official Athletic Site". Seminoles.com. Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  5. ↑ "Rohn Stark". Nolefan.org. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  6. ↑ "Broker Information for Rohn Stark". Luxury Homes. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
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