Hey Guys:
I've been watching films and games in which Minnesota placekicker Fred Cox played in during the 1970s. It seems that he missed a lot of field goals, both from short and longer distances. Why did he keep making the team? Couldn't the Vikings have found a better, more accurate kicker during the decade? I look forward to hearing your opinions.
Joe Zagorski
Fred Cox
Re: Fred Cox
His overall numbers are comparable with contemporaries Jim Bakken and Jim Turner. He didn't kick well in the Super Bowl. Bud Grant liked old players, so he stayed around for a long time. That's about all I know.
Re: Fred Cox
I took a glance at his stats and noticed his PAT success rate fell off a cliff in 1974. He had only missed three XP's in his first 11 years. His last 4 seasons, he missed 7, 2, 4, and 4. I actually wondered if the seven missed extra points were a record. Alas, David Trout, Tom Dempsey, and Scooter McLean all missed eight in a season. Joe Vetrano also missed seven for the AAFC 49ers.Jay Z wrote:His overall numbers are comparable with contemporaries Jim Bakken and Jim Turner. He didn't kick well in the Super Bowl. Bud Grant liked old players, so he stayed around for a long time. That's about all I know.
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John Grasso
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Re: Fred Cox
Fred Cox trivia -
In 1969 he set an NFL record for kickers by scoring 121 points and raised the record to 125 points in 1970. He also helped lead the Vikings to four Super Bowls - in 1970, 1974, 1975 and 1977. In his NFL career he kicked 282 of 455 field goals and 519 of 539 extra points. In his first 11 years in the league he missed only three extra points (making 385 of 387) but in his last four seasons he missed 18 (making only 134 of 152). He also doubled as a punter in his first NFL season averaging 38.7 yards per punt in 70 punts. In 1970 he was named to the Pro Bowl after leading the league in field goals and field goal attempts.
Cox was a licensed chiropractor even while playing in the NFL. In 1972, while still an active player, he worked with another inventor and developed the Nerf football. His residuals from that invention enabled him to retire at the age of 50. In retirement, Cox is still quite active and is a licensed pilot who rebuilds airplanes.
In 1969 he set an NFL record for kickers by scoring 121 points and raised the record to 125 points in 1970. He also helped lead the Vikings to four Super Bowls - in 1970, 1974, 1975 and 1977. In his NFL career he kicked 282 of 455 field goals and 519 of 539 extra points. In his first 11 years in the league he missed only three extra points (making 385 of 387) but in his last four seasons he missed 18 (making only 134 of 152). He also doubled as a punter in his first NFL season averaging 38.7 yards per punt in 70 punts. In 1970 he was named to the Pro Bowl after leading the league in field goals and field goal attempts.
Cox was a licensed chiropractor even while playing in the NFL. In 1972, while still an active player, he worked with another inventor and developed the Nerf football. His residuals from that invention enabled him to retire at the age of 50. In retirement, Cox is still quite active and is a licensed pilot who rebuilds airplanes.
Re: Fred Cox
This is a real good "Where are they now?" article on Cox, I bet there's some stuff in there that many of you might not have known ... http://www.vikings.com/news/article-1/W ... f12634e915, such as:
"During practices, Cox actually ran the scout team, mimicking the upcoming opponent’s offensive and defensive tendencies.
“I think one of the things that Bud Grant appreciated about me was that I was a football player,” Cox says about the Vikings’ Hall of Fame coach. “He would give me the cards (containing the opponent’s predominant formations and plays) and I would run the scout-team offense and the scout-team defense. Very few kickers even today probably understand defense. If you told them to put everybody in a 5-2 under, they would look at you like you had something to drink. I knew where to put everybody. I played middle linebacker on the scout-team defense. On offense, in the early years, I played running back. Later on, I lined up at center.”
Personally I remember that in the 1976 nationally televised season finale at Miami, Cox had a fit of misses - extra points and possibly a short field goal -- and it was his birthday. The Vikings were blowing out Miami so the announcers were having some fun with Cox over the misses on his birthday, making a big deal when he finally nailed an extra point. It was pretty funny stuff.
When Cox finally did retire, Rick Danmeier replaced him and was basically a poor man's Fred Cox, improving neither distance nor accuracy, though he did have the game of his life in a 12-9 OT MNF win over Denver in 1978.
As the Vikings became the very last team to adopt a soccer-style kicker (I think it was Benny Ricardo being their first), I seem to recall a reporter pressing Grant on his loyalty to straight-on kickers, I think his response had to do with the one-step, straight-on motion was less likely to slip in December Met ice, snow or mud than the sidewinding soccer style motion. When they moved indoors, that straight-on advantage evaporated and soon Ricardo displaced Danmeier and soon after that Grant got the man who gave him nightmares in Super Bowl IV - Stenerud.
"During practices, Cox actually ran the scout team, mimicking the upcoming opponent’s offensive and defensive tendencies.
“I think one of the things that Bud Grant appreciated about me was that I was a football player,” Cox says about the Vikings’ Hall of Fame coach. “He would give me the cards (containing the opponent’s predominant formations and plays) and I would run the scout-team offense and the scout-team defense. Very few kickers even today probably understand defense. If you told them to put everybody in a 5-2 under, they would look at you like you had something to drink. I knew where to put everybody. I played middle linebacker on the scout-team defense. On offense, in the early years, I played running back. Later on, I lined up at center.”
Personally I remember that in the 1976 nationally televised season finale at Miami, Cox had a fit of misses - extra points and possibly a short field goal -- and it was his birthday. The Vikings were blowing out Miami so the announcers were having some fun with Cox over the misses on his birthday, making a big deal when he finally nailed an extra point. It was pretty funny stuff.
When Cox finally did retire, Rick Danmeier replaced him and was basically a poor man's Fred Cox, improving neither distance nor accuracy, though he did have the game of his life in a 12-9 OT MNF win over Denver in 1978.
As the Vikings became the very last team to adopt a soccer-style kicker (I think it was Benny Ricardo being their first), I seem to recall a reporter pressing Grant on his loyalty to straight-on kickers, I think his response had to do with the one-step, straight-on motion was less likely to slip in December Met ice, snow or mud than the sidewinding soccer style motion. When they moved indoors, that straight-on advantage evaporated and soon Ricardo displaced Danmeier and soon after that Grant got the man who gave him nightmares in Super Bowl IV - Stenerud.
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BD Sullivan
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Re: Fred Cox
Sadly, just months after he retired, his 35-year-old wife died in an accidental drowning
Re: Fred Cox
Why did the Steelers give up on Matt Bahr so quickly and replace him with an undrafted David Trout? Bahr wasn't great, but he wasn't terrible and the Steelers did spend a 6th round pick on Bahr in 1979. Trout's 1981 season with the Steelers was odd...as you said he missed 8 XPs, but he also only made 12 FGs. I don't know if Noll didn't trust Trout, but he attempted just 2 FGs between 30-39 yards during the entire 1981 season and had 17 total FG attempts.conace21 wrote:I took a glance at his stats and noticed his PAT success rate fell off a cliff in 1974. He had only missed three XP's in his first 11 years. His last 4 seasons, he missed 7, 2, 4, and 4. I actually wondered if the seven missed extra points were a record. Alas, David Trout, Tom Dempsey, and Scooter McLean all missed eight in a season. Joe Vetrano also missed seven for the AAFC 49ers.
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BD Sullivan
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Re: Fred Cox
The Steelers got sucked into the fact that Trout had a stronger leg. During the '81 preseason, 11 of his 14 kickoffs went into the end zone and only eight of them were returned.Bryan wrote:Why did the Steelers give up on Matt Bahr so quickly and replace him with an undrafted David Trout? Bahr wasn't great, but he wasn't terrible and the Steelers did spend a 6th round pick on Bahr in 1979. Trout's 1981 season with the Steelers was odd...as you said he missed 8 XPs, but he also only made 12 FGs. I don't know if Noll didn't trust Trout, but he attempted just 2 FGs between 30-39 yards during the entire 1981 season and had 17 total FG attempts.conace21 wrote:I took a glance at his stats and noticed his PAT success rate fell off a cliff in 1974. He had only missed three XP's in his first 11 years. His last 4 seasons, he missed 7, 2, 4, and 4. I actually wondered if the seven missed extra points were a record. Alas, David Trout, Tom Dempsey, and Scooter McLean all missed eight in a season. Joe Vetrano also missed seven for the AAFC 49ers.
Re: Fred Cox
[quote="conace21"
I took a glance at his stats and noticed his PAT success rate fell off a cliff in 1974. He had only missed three XP's in his first 11 years. His last 4 seasons, he missed 7, 2, 4, and 4. I actually wondered if the seven missed extra points were a record. Alas, David Trout, Tom Dempsey, and Scooter McLean all missed eight in a season. Joe Vetrano also missed seven for the AAFC 49ers.[/quote]
Cox was getting older and he obviously struggled with the longer PATs that the move of the uprights in 1974 created.
Fred was a good kicker by the standards of the 60s and early 70s but, like every other kicker of the era, he wasn't automatic from any distance.
I took a glance at his stats and noticed his PAT success rate fell off a cliff in 1974. He had only missed three XP's in his first 11 years. His last 4 seasons, he missed 7, 2, 4, and 4. I actually wondered if the seven missed extra points were a record. Alas, David Trout, Tom Dempsey, and Scooter McLean all missed eight in a season. Joe Vetrano also missed seven for the AAFC 49ers.[/quote]
Cox was getting older and he obviously struggled with the longer PATs that the move of the uprights in 1974 created.
Fred was a good kicker by the standards of the 60s and early 70s but, like every other kicker of the era, he wasn't automatic from any distance.
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Retro Rider
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Re: Fred Cox
In 1978 the Vikings broke tradition and drafted Mike Wood, a soccer-style kicker out of S.W. Missouri State in the 8th round. Wood set a Division II record for most career field goals and once kicked a 61 yarder (in 1975). He wound up making the roster as the Vikings punter, but was released after 7 games (replaced by Greg Coleman). He went on to play for the Cardinals, Chargers & Colts from 1978-1982. One article mentions that his brother Tom was a back-up kicker for the Vikings for one season, but I can't seem to find any playing records for him. Mike Wood was a straight-on kicker in high school, but began kicking soccer-style after his ankle was run over by a car during his sophmore year.Evan wrote:As the Vikings became the very last team to adopt a soccer-style kicker (I think it was Benny Ricardo being their first), I seem to recall a reporter pressing Grant on his loyalty to straight-on kickers, I think his response had to do with the one-step, straight-on motion was less likely to slip in December Met ice, snow or mud than the sidewinding soccer style motion. When they moved indoors, that straight-on advantage evaporated and soon Ricardo displaced Danmeier and soon after that Grant got the man who gave him nightmares in Super Bowl IV - Stenerud.
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