Another Record For Blair Walsh

Hat tip to the folks at The Viking Age for pointing this particular record out.

Blair Walsh is probably the National Football League's best kicker. We know that already. Despite his miss on Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he has still connected on 43-of-47 career field goals, including a remarkable 12-of-12 from attempts of greater than 50 yards.

It's that latter figure that has given the second-year player from Georgia another line in the Minnesota record books. Yes, in just 20 career games, Walsh has already set the Minnesota Vikings' record for field goals of longer than 50 yards, as he hit that twelfth one from 54 yards out at Wembley Stadium. Ryan Longwell was the previous record holder with eleven. The difference is that Longwell needed six full seasons to get eleven field goals of 50 yards or longer. Walsh has topped that in less than a quarter of the time.

As the article points out, former Detroit Lions kicker Jason Hanson holds the NFL record for long-distance field goals with 52, but he had the advantage of starting his career during an era when I believe that players were still wearing leather helmets. But Walsh is nearly a quarter of the way to that record already, and he hasn't even got a season and a half under his belt yet.

Congratulations to Blair Walsh, who has really developed into a weapon for the Minnesota Vikings in the short time he's been in the NFL.