Hayden Epstein

Hayden Scott Epstein (born November 16, 1980) is a former American football placekicker and punter who played college football for the Michigan Wolverines from 1998 to 2001 and played professional football in the National Football League (NFL), NFL Europa, and the Canadian Football League (CFL).

Epstein attended Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, California.

However, on October 9 (in the team's sixth game), Epstein tied Mike Gillette's November 19, 1988, Michigan record for longest field goal with a 56-yard kick against Michigan State in the Michigan–Michigan State football rivalry game.

The kick was the longest ever by a Michigan State opponent at the time.

It was the first successful field goal of Epstein's Michigan career (following two previous misses).

Epstein was the first player to handle placekicking, kickoff and punting responsibilities for Michigan since Mike Gillette in 1988.

He kicked a 58-yard field goal in the 1997 California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) championship game and was rated by various ratings agencies and all-star selection committees as the best kicker in the national high school class of 1998.

In the 1997 CIF Championship game, he kicked a 58-yard field goal.

He participated in the July 25, 1998 47th Annual Shrine All-Star Football Classic of California All-stars against Texas All-stars, but missed two early field goal attempts in a 10–5 victory.

Epstein enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1998 and played college football as a placekicker and punter for head coach Lloyd Carr's Michigan Wolverines football teams from 1998 to 2001.

He was successful on 26 of 42 field goals and 85 of 88 extra point attempts.

Epstein also averaged 39.9 yards on 167 punts (50 of which were downed inside the 20 yard line) at Michigan.

Epstein's freshman season for the 1998 Wolverines was the redshirt 5th year senior season for Michigan placekicker Jay Feely.

His only point of the season was a PAT against Eastern Michigan on September 19.

Of Epstein's 10 career tackles, his only 2-tackle performance came against Minnesota in the October 31 battle for the Little Brown Jug.

He tied a Michigan record with a 56-yard field goal in 1999 and broke it with a 57-yard field goal in 2001, both against Michigan State.

He played for two Michigan teams that won Big Ten Conference championships.

Epstein performed punting duties for the team in its final two games against Hawaii and Arkansas (in the 1999 Florida Citrus Bowl), landing 6 of his 9 punts inside the 20 yard line and averaging 40.1 yards per punt.

Michigan finished the season as Big Ten Co-champions with Ohio State and Wisconsin.

Jeff Del Verne kicked field goals for the 1999 Wolverines early in the season.

In fact, Del Verne led the team in scoring after 5 games.

On October 30, 1999, his 20-yard field goal with 18 seconds remaining clinched a 34–31 victory over Indiana for Michigan.

That day would be Epstein's highest scoring day as a Wolverine (2–2 FGs and 4–4 in PATs).

The game marked the first time that he handled the placekicking, kickoff and punting responsibilities.

Of his seven kickoffs 3 were touchbacks and 3 more were covered inside the 20.

Epstein punted six times, resulting in his first 50-yard punt and 2 punts landing inside the 20 yard line.

For his efforts, he earned his first Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week award.

He was a two-time finalist for both the Lou Groza and Ray Guy Awards at Michigan, according to some sources, but the University of Michigan seems to only recognize him as Guy Award finalist as a junior in 2000.

In overtime in the January 1, 2000 Orange Bowl against Alabama, his PAT provided the margin of victory (after he missed a 36-yard field goal at the end of regulation time).

Epstein finished the season with 36 points (5–8 FGs and 21–22 PATs) and 32 punts for 1282 yards (40.1 average/7 inside 20).

In 2000, Epstein and Del Verne split kicking duties (sometimes in the same game).

On September 16, 2000, Epstein missed a 24-yard field goal for the 2000 team with 3:24 remaining against to UCLA.

Although Michigan got back within field goal range, John Navarre was intercepted on the 15-yard line and the team lost 23–20.

As a senior, Epstein led the 2001 Michigan Wolverines in scoring and was selected by conference coaches as a second-team selection on the All-Big Ten team as a placekicker.

He was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars in the seventh round of the 2002 NFL draft.

He also played for the Minnesota Vikings, Berlin Thunder, Edmonton Eskimos and Rhein Fire.

He played for a Thunder team that won a World Bowl championship.

Epstein, who is Jewish, was born in San Diego, California.

He was a Parade All-American at Torrey Pines High School and honored as the top kicker in the nation by Prep Football Report and PrepStar College Recruiting.

Epstein's 1997 kick was a San Diego section CIF record (tied with Nate Tandberg's 1995 kick) until David Quintero posted a 59-yard kick on September 11, 2015.