1961 Profile: Pat Summerall

Place Kicker
No. 88
Arkansas
"Still among the most solvent among placement kickers is Pat Summerall, whose 71 points led the club in scoring.
Starting his career with the Lions, he went to the Cardinals, who dealt him to the Giants in '58.
A great pass-catching college end, Pat teaches high school between seasons in Lake City, Florida."

-1961 Pro Football Handbook

"Sam Huff, the Giants' ebullient defensive star, gave the foot in football quite an accolade. Ruminating on his team's near miss last season, he said, 'I think we've come to depend too much on Summerall's field goal kicking. We're too inclined to feel, 'Well, if worst comes to worst, we'll let Pat do it.''
That wasn't empty talk. In mid-season the Giants had one streak of 144 minutes and 33 seconds without scoring a touchdown yet lost only once. This was the team that won the Eastern Division title. In the playoff it led the Colts into the fourth quarter, and every New York point (9) scored had come on Summerall field goals. Over the season Pat's toe was the actual difference between first and second place.
The year before, the Giants would never have topped their division if Summerall hadn't kicked a prodigious 49-yard field goal through the driving snow in the final minute to beat Cleveland, 13-10.
Once the art of placing began and ended with Lou ('The Toe') Groza of the Browns, but the years have taken their toll, and during the winter Cleveland took the radical step of securing Sam Baker, a combination punter-place kicker, from Washington. Lou's pre-eminence has been usurped by Summerall.
In the pro game, kicking is a specialized art. Groza tempted fate by doubling as an offensive tackle; when he was with Chicago, Summerall did his share as a defensive end. Since coming to the Giants in a trade two years ago, however, Pat has saved almost all his foot for point making and agrees he's better off not playing. 'You get tired,' he nods. 'The old leg loses its zip late in the game and the goal posts look 100 yards away when you're standing on the 30.'
In '59 a fresh Summerall booted three field goals from 49 yards out. Altogether he had 20 three-pointers in 29 attempts, three in the playoff, and kicked 31 conversions without a miss, giving him a grand total of 100 points for the season."

-Murray Olderman, Sports All-Stars 1961 Pro Football

"No team can hope to function effectively in the NFL without a top-flight place-kicker. The Giants are well-fixed in this department, thanks to Pat Summerall (88). The big Arkansan, acquired from the Cardinals in a 1958 trade, has split the uprights with 46 of 79 field goal tries and booted 91 of 93 extra points in three seasons as a Giant.

Previously, he played with the Lions and Cardinals."

-1961 Official New York Giants Program