Sven Chris Gartner (born July 12, 1950) is a Swedish former American football kicker who played one season for the Cleveland Browns of the National Football League (NFL). He went to college at Indiana.[1]

Chris Gartner
No. 10
Position:Placekicker
Personal information
Born: (1950-07-12) July 12, 1950 (age 73)
Gothenburg, Sweden
Height:6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight:170 lb (77 kg)
Career information
High school:Princeton (NJ)
College:Indiana
Undrafted:1973
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career NFL statistics
Games played:11
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early life and education edit

Chris Gartner was born on July 12, 1950, in Gothenburg, Sweden. He is one of only 9 Swedish NFL players.[2] He went to high school in Princeton, New Jersey, and attended college at the University of Indiana.[3] He played for their football team, the Hoosiers, and was inducted into the school's Hall of Fame in 2019.[4] In his senior year, 1972, he was named first-team All-America and first-team All-Big Ten after setting school records for single-season scores (14), field goals in a game (4), and longest field goal (52 yards).[4] In a 34 to 35 win against Kentucky, he became the only IU player to ever have two 50+ yard field goals in a game.[4]

Professional career edit

He was first signed as an undrafted free agent by the Dallas Cowboys in 1973, but was released in July.

In 1974, he was signed by the Cleveland Browns as a second kicker to handle kickoff duties.[5] He played there for 11 games.[6] Gartner was released shortly before the start of the '75 season.

References edit

  1. ^ "Chris Gartner Stats, News and Video - K". NFL.com. Retrieved 26 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Players Born in Sweden". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
  3. ^ "Chris Gartner Stats - Pro Football Archives". www.profootballarchives.com.
  4. ^ a b c "Chris Gartner (2019) - Indiana University Athletics Hall of Fame". Indiana University Athletics.
  5. ^ "Cleveland's Brownies To Use Second Kicker". News-Journal. October 4, 1974 – via Newspapers.com.  
  6. ^ "Chris Gartner Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.

Further reading edit