Steve Little (American football)

Steve Little
No. 12
Position:Kicker, Punter
Personal information
Born:(1956-02-19)February 19, 1956
Springfield, Illinois, U.S
Died:September 6, 1999(1999-09-06) (aged 43)
Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:180 lb (82 kg)
Career information
High school:Shawnee Mission South
(Overland Park, Kansas)
College:Arkansas
NFL draft:1978 / round: 1 / pick: 15
Career history
Career highlights and awards
NCAA record
Career NFL statistics
Field goals attempted:27
Field goals made:13
Field goals percentage:48.1%
Extra points attempted:51
Extra points made:41
Extra points percentage:80.4%
Punts:125
Punting yards:4,809
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Steven Richard Little (February 19, 1956 – September 6, 1999) was an American professional football player who was a kicker and punter in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals.[2][3] He is the third-highest drafted kicker in NFL history, behind Charlie Gogolak (6th, 1966) of Princeton and Russell Erxleben (11th, 1979) of Texas.[4] Little was drafted higher than future NFL greats Ozzie Newsome and Todd Christensen.

Little was an All-American placekicker and punter during his years at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He kicked an NCAA record-tying 67-yard field goal on October 15, 1977.[5][6][7] That record has yet to be broken; it was set by Erxleben two weeks earlier on October 1, 1977,[8] and is shared with Joe Williams of Wichita State (October 21, 1978).[9]


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  1. ^ Individual and Team Collegiate Records. NCAA. Retrieved 2016-10-18.
  2. ^ Hochman, Benjamin (December 6, 2015). "Big Red's Steve Little lived, and died, in the fast lane". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  3. ^ "Former Arkansas football star Steve Little dies at 43". Nevada Daily Mail. (Missouri). Associated Press. September 7, 1999. p. 10.
  4. ^ Mark. "The Highest Drafted Kickers in NFL History". IQFB. Archived from the original on February 16, 2019. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  5. ^ Wojciechowski, Gene (October 18, 1985). "No small comeback". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  6. ^ Jares, Joe (November 7, 1977). "They're kicking up a real storm". Sports Illustrated. p. 26.
  7. ^ Weiskopf, Herman (October 24, 1977). "College football: The week, Southwest". Sports Illustrated. p. 60.
  8. ^ "Texas bowls over Rice". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. October 2, 1977. p. 7B.
  9. ^ "October 24 – Welcome Home Joe". Official Website of Wichita State Athletics. October 24, 2008. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved March 28, 2014.