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Who is the worst kicker in Broncos history?

When bad is bad, how do you define the worst?

In the Something Something Broncos podcast last week, Laurie, Tim, and I briefly touched upon how strange it was that so few Broncos, in their almost 60-year history, wore #5. You can blame future Broncos quarterback Joe Flacco and his odd number choice for giving life to this strange conversation.

Since, one of the Broncos who wore #5 was kicker (kickoff specialist) Brad Daluiso, I began to to wonder... With epic kickers in Broncos history like Elam, Prater, Karlis, Turner, and others, forget the best kickers in franchise history, who is the worst?

Diving into the stats, three names surfaced as excellent prospects. Without further ado, here are the candidates for worst kicker in Denver Broncos Franchise History.

BRAD DALUISO

In 1992, the Denver Broncos employed a kickoff specialist and his name was Brad Daluiso. Unfortunately, the stats don’t tell the story of how a specialist of his ilk came to attempt a field goal, but on his one attempt, he missed, giving him the unique distinction of being the only Denver Bronco kicker to have a 0.0% kicking percentage. While it’s not fair to judge a kickoff specialist as a placekicker, the 0/1 stat jumps off at you when compared to others on the list of kickers in Denver Broncos history.

To his credit, Daluiso did have 10 punts during his single season with Denver averaging 46.7 yards per kick. With three kickers on the 1992 Broncos, one wonder just what the heck they were doing. It’s not surprising that was Dan Reeves’ last season as head coach for the Broncos.

ROGER LECLERC

In 2011, I noted in this article how the first ever draft pick for the Denver Broncos was none other than Roger LeClerc.

The first overall pick (in the history of time) for the Broncos was Roger LeClerc, a center out of Trinity. Instead of coming to Denver, LeClerc chose to sign with the NFL’s Chicago Bears where he would be a placekicker and defensive tackle until 1966. He was the Bears fifteenth round selection, #117 overall. The Broncos began their first draft with one of the biggest reaches in team history. On an interesting note, LeClerc would play the final year of his career, 1967, as a Denver Bronco.

While in Denver, LeClerc wore number 53, never fully embracing his placekicker status. At 1/6 on his field goal attempts for a 16.7%, he comes in right behind Daluiso as the worst kicker percentage-wise. He did, however, make both of his extra point attempts.

DICK GUESMAN

Dick is kind of an enigma. He was one of those rate defensive tackle-kicker hybrids that... let’s be honest, just never happens. Probably for good reason. In 1964, Guesman attempted 22 field goals and made only 6 of them. While his average, 27.3% isn’t as low as the other two on this list, his sample size is much greater. Extra points were kinder to Dick, making 13/15, coming in at 86.7%.

So how bad is bad? How many kicks are enough to qualify? Does percentage matter? I can think of more than a few kicking attempts gone awry that defined games, seasons, and post seasons. What do you think? Who is the worst kicker in Broncos history? Are they on this list or are you thinking of someone else?

Psssst.... Don’t think we haven’t forgotten about these:

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