Björn Nittmo

Björn Nittmo
No. 3, 5
Position: Kicker
Personal information
Date of birth: June 26, 1966
Place of birth: Lomma, Sweden
Career information
College: Appalachian State
Career history
*Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
  • All-World League (1991)
Career NFL statistics
Stats at NFL.com
Career Arena football statistics
FG Made: 60
FG Att: 162
PAT Made: 273
PAT Att: 298
Tackles: 17
Stats at ArenaFan.com

Björn Arne Nittmo (born June 26, 1966 in Lomma, Sweden) is a retired American football placekicker, being the second Swedish-born player ever in the National Football League (behind only Ove Johansson, who briefly played in the NFL in 1977.

Football career

The left-footed Nittmo, famous for his very long kickoffs, came to the U.S. as a foreign exchange student at Enterprise High School in Enterprise, Alabama.[1] After playing High School ball he played college football at Appalachian State University. He was the first Swedish-born player to play a full season in the NFL, when he played for the New York Giants in 1989. He also tried to make the Kansas City Chiefs' roster the following year but was cut. Other teams of his career include the Montreal Machine of the World League of American Football (this league later became the NFL Europe). He has also played for the Cleveland Thunderbolts, Arizona Rattlers and the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League, as well as the Shreveport Pirates of the Canadian Football League. In 2005, Nittmo was invited to the Ottawa Renegades' training camp, but was cut prior to the start of the season.

Miscellaneous

Nittmo appeared on Late Night with David Letterman a few times during his stint with the New York Giants. Letterman seemed to be obsessed with the kicker's name and even coined a new catchphrase to both celebrate and mock him: "Who do you think you are, Bjorn Nittmo?"[2] (season 8, episode 162). Nittmo's celebrity continued briefly when in 1999, he appeared as a kicker in the football flick Any Given Sunday.

References

External links