KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Harrison Butker set a Chiefs' franchise record with 38 field goals last season, and while he owns just a single field goal of 46 yards this season, he's on pace to shatter the team-record of 58 successful extra point kicks, and that's just fine by him.
“Extra points are fine,” Butker said with a grin in the locker room Thursday ahead of this Sunday's home opener against the San Francisco 49ers. “But I'm happy for the offense. Winning games is the most important.”
The dearth of opportunities is nothing new for Butker. If anything, the 43 field goal tries he attempted in his first 15 NFL games over the past two season matches the number of field goals he made over the course of 52 college games. He attempted just 60 field goals, over barely more than one per game, for a Georgia Tech offense that frequently favored going for it on fourth down within field goal range.
“It's definitely like Georgia Tech,” Butker said. “I guess that's why it's not that weird in my head because in college I would go like four games without a field goal. I guess I'm somewhat used to it.”
Assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Dave Toub said the lack of work won't affect his
“He's perfectly fine with that,” Toub said. “If we call on him, he'll do his job. And his a pretty level headed second-year player. He's got a good head on his shoulder.”
Two kickers share the franchise record for successful extra point kicks in a season. Morten Anderson connected on 58 during the 2003 campaign, and Lawrence Tynes matched that total in 2004. But NFL rules changes have adjusted the yardage on point after touchdown tries since those days. Extra point tries then ranged just under 20 yards. Butker's kicks are from 33 yards away.
“Really with the extra point being a 33-yard field goal now, I treat it like a field goal,” Butker explained. “And we get a lot of reps with the team in practice so I feel like I'm handling it well right now.”
Toub said Butker prepares for a busy week each and every game, and if it doesn't manifest, that's OK.
“We get him prepared to make seven field goals every game, and if doesn't kick we just go on to the next week,” Toub said.
