Shaun Suisham

Infobox NFLactive


currentteam=Washington Redskins
currentnumber=6
currentposition=Placekicker
birthdate=birth date and age|1981|12|29
birthplace=Wallaceburg, Ontario
country=Canada
heightft=6
heightin=0
weight=205
debutyear=2005
debutteam=Dallas Cowboys
college=Bowling Green
undraftedyear=2005
pastteams=
* Pittsburgh Steelers (2005)*
* Dallas Cowboys (2005-2006)
* San Francisco 49ers (2006)*
* Washington Redskins (2006-present):*Offseason and/or practice squad member only
status=Active
statweek=17
statseason=2007
statlabel1=Field Goals Made
statvalue1=41
statlabel2=Field Goals Attempted
statvalue2=50
statlabel3=Field Goals %
statvalue3=82.0
nfl=SUI593274

Shaun Christopher Suisham (born December 29, 1981 in Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada) is an American football placekicker for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League. He was originally signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football at Bowling Green.

Suisham has also been a member of the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers in his career.

Early years

Prior to college, Suisham helped Wallaceburg District Secondary School win a Kent County championship in 1999 by kicking a 58-yard field goal in the final against Ursuline College (Chatham) in a mud bowl.

College career

He then attended Bowling Green State University and attended training camp with the Pittsburgh Steelers. His nickname is "Swisher Sweet".

Professional career

Dallas Cowboys

After being cut by the Steelers, he joined the Dallas Cowboys practice squad, and signed with the team on October 24 2005. After only 2 weeks on the team, in which he went 2 for 2 on field goals, he was released so the Cowboys could sign Billy Cundiff. However, Cundiff struggled, and they re-signed Suisham for the last game of the regular season and ended the year 3 for 4 on field goals.

During the 2006 off-season he was re-signed by the Dallas Cowboys. Originally, he was supposed to be second on the depth chart behind the NFL's all-time most accurate kicker, Mike Vanderjagt. After Vanderjagt missed two potentially game-winning field goal attempts in a preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings, Suisham was named the starter for the Cowboys' season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on . He attempted two kicks during the game, the first of which was good from a then career-long 32 yards. The second attempt, which would have given the Cowboys the lead, hit the right upright of the goalpost, causing a lot of uproar in Dallas. (The Cowboys had bad experiences with kickers the previous season, and most fans believed that the problem was solved by signing Vanderjagt). He went on to kick for 5 more weeks as a kick off specialist.

On October 12, 2006, the Cowboys officially released Suisham.

Washington Redskins

He was signed a month later on November 22 to the Washington Redskins' practice squad. The Redskins promoted him to the active roster on December 2 to their kicking duties. The move became official on December 4 when the Redskins released Nick Novak. He missed his first attempt from 50 yards and later went on to make 8 consecutive field goals to finish out the year. He kicked his first game-winning field goal from 39 yards in an overtime victory over the Miami Dolphins in the Redskins' season-opener on . On November 4, Suisham went 5 for 5 in field goals in a 23-20 come from behind victory over the New York Jets, including the game-winner in overtime. Suisham connected from 40, 22, 40, 46, and 46 yards out. The five field goals in a game tied a Redskins franchise record also becoming the special teams player for November 4, 2007 Unfortunately in the 2007 NFL Playoffs Suisham missed a 30-yarder against the Seattle Seahawks, his closest miss in his career so far.

External links

* [http://bgsufalcons.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/suisham_shaun01.html Bowling Green Falcons bio]
* [http://www.redskins.com/team/profile.jsp?id=245 Washington Redskins bio]