March 22, 1973
On this day in 1973, Joe Nedney, the 49ers placekicker between 2005-2010, was born in San Jose, CA. Nedney attended Santa Teresa High School where he was a kicker and punter for the Saints football team. He went on to have an illustrious collegiate career nearby at San Jose State University.
In his true freshman year with the Spartans, Nedney set a school record for most kicking points made in a single game when he put 16 points on the board (3 field goals and 7 points after touchdown) against the University of the Pacific on October 19, 1991. That was just the start of his intercollegiate accolades. The following season, Nedney kicked the longest field goal in San Jose State football history when he booted the ball 60 yards during a game against Wyoming on October 3, 1992. Nedney was named first-team All Big West for the 1992 season.
Nedney maintained his role as kicker for the Spartans for the next two seasons and even picked up punting duties during his senior season in 1994, averaging 37.8 yards per punt on 70 punts. He left San Jose State as the Spartans all-time leading scorer with 236 points (now No. 3 on all-time scoring list), going 39-for-70 in field goal attempts and 119-of-132 extra points. The San Jose Mercury News named Nedney to the San Jose State University Football All-Century Team in the newspaper's issue published October 11, 1995. For his efforts on the field, Nedney was inducted into the SJSU Sports Hall of Fame.
In 1995, Nendey entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent and was a member of the Green Bay Packers practice squad before signing with the Miami Dolphins for the 1996 season. He also played for Arizona, Baltimore, Oakland, Denver, Carolina and Tennessee. Nedney returned home to the Bay Area when he signed with the 49ers in March of 2005.
Nedney had one of his best days in San Francisco that season, when he supplied all of the 49ers points in a 15-10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He connected on five field goal attempts, including four of over 40 yards. That season, he went 26-for-28 on field goals and 19-for-19 on PATs. The 49ers coaches voted Nedney co-recipient (along with Derek Smith) of the Bill Walsh Award as the club's Most Valuable Player. Nedney re-signed with the 49ers and assumed kicking duties through the 2010 season, amassing a field goal completion percentage of 86.6% (129 out of 149) and a perfect 100% completion for PATs (154 out of 154).
Nedney retired from the NFL after the 2010 season. He remained in the football world, serving as the special teams coach for Scotts Valley High School, located just on the other side of Highway 17 from San Jose.
