Rian Lindell

Infobox NFLactive


name=Rian Lindell
|width=
caption=
currentteam=Buffalo Bills
currentnumber=9
currentpositionplain=Placekicker
birthdate=birth date and age|1977|1|20
birthplace=Portland, Oregon
country=USA
heightft=6
heightin=3
weight=233
debutyear=2000
debutteam=Seattle Seahawks
college=Washington State
undraftedyear=2000
pastteams=
* Dallas Cowboys (2000)*
* Seattle Seahawks (2000-2002)
* Buffalo Bills (2003-present):*Offseason and/or practice squad member only
statweek=17
statseason=2007
statlabel1=Field Goals Made
statvalue1=175
statlabel2=Field Goals Attempted
statvalue2=217
statlabel3=Field Goals %
statvalue3=80.6
nfl=LIN159090

Rian Lindell (born January 20, 1977 in Portland, Oregon) is an American football placekicker who currently plays for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League. He was originally signed by the Dallas Cowboys as an undrafted free agent in 2000. He played collegiately at Washington State where he was a part of Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity.

College career

At Washington State, Lindell played with quarterback Ryan Leaf and made an appearance in the 1998 Rose Bowl as a freshman. The Cougars lost to a Michigan Wolverines team that featured future NFL stars Brian Griese, Tom Brady and Charles Woodson.

High School

Rian Lindell went to Mountain View High School in Vancouver, Washington.

Professional career

Lindell was with the Seattle Seahawks for three seasons before joining the Buffalo Bills in 2003; Lindell replaced Mike Hollis, who was allowed to leave as a free agent. He was generally regarded as having a stronger but slightly less accurate leg than Hollis. One of his most notorious missed field goals came at the end of the 2004 season; with Buffalo at 9-6, and leading against the backups of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Buffalo had a chance to make the playoffs for the first time in the Tom Donahoe era with a win. However, Lindell missed a field goal in the third quarter, which ended up turning momentum to Pittsburgh. On the running game led by future breakout star running back Willie Parker, Pittsburgh rallied to win the game and knocked Buffalo out of the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year.

In the 2006 season, Lindell converted 23 out of 25 field goal attempts, at 92%, tied for the league. However, one of his missed field goals came during a game against the Indianapolis Colts, where Indianapolis went on to win 17-16, costing Buffalo a possible upset. But on November 26, 2006, Lindell kicked the game winning field goal against the Jacksonville Jaguars to complete Buffalo's upset over Jacksonville. As of Dec. 2, 2007, Rian Lindell holds the NFL record for the most consecutive extra points to start an NFL career with 240. On December 9, 2007, Rian Lindell set the record for the most consecutive field goals made in Buffalo Bills history. He has played in all 64 games for the Bills since 2003 and holds a Bills record with 83.04 field goal percentage.