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Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings misses a 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter against the Seattle Seahawks during the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at TCFBank Stadium on January 10, 2016 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Seattle Seahawks defeat the Minnesota Vikings with a score of 10 to 9.
Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings misses a 27-yard field goal in the fourth quarter against the Seattle Seahawks during the NFC Wild Card Playoff game at TCFBank Stadium on January 10, 2016 in Minneapolis,
Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh gets ready to kick a field goal during the second half of an NFL wild-card football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Minnesota Vikings kicker Blair Walsh gets ready to kick a field goal during the second half of an NFL wild-card football game against the Seattle Seahawks, Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Nam
Kicker Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings celebrates after hitting a field goal at the end of the first half of their game against the Green Bay Packers on September 18, 2016 at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
Kicker Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings celebrates after hitting a field goal at the end of the first half of their game against the Green Bay Packers on September 18, 2016 at US Bank Stadium in
Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings kicks off during an NFL game against the Green Bay Packers at US Bank Stadium September 18, 2016 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Dahlin/Getty Images)
Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings kicks off during an NFL game against the Green Bay Packers at US Bank Stadium September 18, 2016 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Dahlin/Getty Images)
Kicker Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings kicks a field goal against the Seattle Seahawks in the second quarter at CenturyLink Field on August 18, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
Kicker Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings kicks a field goal against the Seattle Seahawks in the second quarter at CenturyLink Field on August 18, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty
Kicker Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings misses a field goal in the second half against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on August 18, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)
Kicker Blair Walsh of the Minnesota Vikings misses a field goal in the second half against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on August 18, 2016 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty
Fee agent kicker Blair Walsh, who famously missed a chip-shot field goal versus the Seahawks in the playoffs last year, signed with Seattle on Thursday.
Considered one of the most accurate kickers in the NFL heading into the 2016 season, the 27-year-old Walsh was released by the Minnesota Vikings on Nov. 15 after successfully converting just 12 of 16 field goal attempts and 15 of 19 extra points on the season. He originally joined the Vikings as a sixth-round pick out of Georgia in 2012, earning a Pro Bowl berth and first-team All-Pro honors as a rookie, when he hit on 25 of 38 field goal attempts and all 36 of his extra point tries.
In one of the coldest games in NFL history, Walsh famously shanked a 27-yard field goal attempt with left with just 26 seconds remaining in the Seahawks’ 10-9 win over the Vikings in the NFC wild card round last season. The miss seemed to stay with him through the early part of the 2016 season, when he missed two field goals and an extra point in Minnesota’s season-opening win over Tennessee, as well as extra points in consecutive games versus Detroit and Washington prior to his release.
Thursday’s signing doesn’t bode well for Stephen Hauschka, Seattle’s starting kicker since 2011, who is an unrestricted free agent in March. Hauschka had perhaps his strangest season in Seattle in 2016, hitting on 33 of 37 field goal attempts, but missing a whopping six of his 35 extra point tries, five of which were blocked.
“Unfortunately he had gotten in a little stink with kicking the extra points and it added up on him,” head coach Pete Carroll said during his final press conference of the season in January. “I was really, really excited that he finished the season on a good note and he hit everything he had a chance to hit because he knew he was up against it, he knew he needed to show that. I wish it would have happened a few weeks earlier just so he could have had more weeks to bank on that.”
Despite his struggles in 2016, Hauschka is the third most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history, successfully converting 191 of 219 career attempts.
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