SAM BAKER
LEGEND... OR CLOWN?
Older Eagles fans may remember Loris Hoskins “Sam” Baker, the 6-2 kicker who played his final 6 NFL seasons with the Eagles from 1964-1969, retiring at age 40. (Back in those days, NFL “kickers” handled both placekicking and punting.)
Although Baker was a talented running back in college at Oregon State, he was a kicker for his entire 15-season, 4-team NFL career. When he retired, Baker was the NFL’s #2 all-time leading scorer, held the NFL record for the longest consecutive point-scoring streak (110 games), and had made it to 4 Pro Bowls. Even today, Baker is #4 on the Eagles’ all-time scoring list.
He is a legend, right?
Well, yes. But the skills of NFL kickers have vastly improved over the past half century. By today’s standards, Sam Baker would be regarded as more of a clown than a legend. Consider his 1968 season with the Eagles:
He went 1 for 10 on FG attempts of 50 or more yards;
He went 19 for 47 on FG attempts of 40-49 yards;
He had a 63.3% season FG percentage (5th best in the NFL), which would put him dead last in today’s game; and
Although PATs were just 10-yard chip shots back then, he missed 3 of 4 PATs in a game against the Giants on a pleasant September afternoon.
Ah, but this was 1968. Baker’s 51-yard FG was the NFL’s longest that season. That, and his 63.3% FG percentage (and possibly his 58-yard TD pass against Dallas on a fake punt), earned him a spot in the Pro Bowl.
