Horst Muhlmann

Who was Horst Muhlmann?

Horst Herbert Erich Muhlmann was a professional American football player. He was a placekicker in the American Football League and the National Football League for nine seasons. He played for the Kansas City Chiefs, the Cincinnati Bengals and the Philadelphia Eagles.

Muhlmann was born in Dortmund, Germany. After high school, he worked as a bricklayer and part-time soccer player. He played as a goalkeeper for Schalke 04 from 1962 to 1966, including the first ever Bundesliga season in 1963–64. In 1968, he played soccer in the North American Soccer League for the Kansas City Spurs.

His professional career in American football began in 1969 with the Kansas City Chiefs when he was 29 years old. Muhlmann quickly established a reputation as one of the longest kickers in the game. On September 4, 1971, in a pre-season encounter with the Green Bay Packers, he launched each of his six kickoffs over the crossbar into the endzone denying the Packers a single kickoff return yard. Muhlmann was the first kicker since the AFL-NFL merger to connect on field goals of 50 yards or more in three consecutive games. This record has only been matched by three other players: Tom Dempsey, Chris Bahr and Jason Elam. Muhlmann held the Bengals team record for consecutive extra points until it was broken by Doug Pelfrey in 1997. Muhlmann still holds or shares several Bengals regular season and post season individual kicking records.