# John Kidd (American football)

Max John Kidd (born August 22, 1961) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL). He played 15 seasons for the Buffalo Bills, San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions and New York Jets.
Kidd played college football for the Northwestern Wildcats before Buffalo selected him in the fifth round of the 1984 NFL draft, the highest-selected punter in Bills history. He was the starting quarterback and punter at Findlay High School in Findlay, Ohio, from which he graduated in 1980.
Kidd was a first-team All-Big Ten and first-team All American in college and won the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor. He continues to hold the career punting average record for his college alma mater, Northwestern (41.8), where he also holds the single-season average (45.6).
During his 1994–97 tenure with the NFL's Dolphins, he established the career punting average record (44.2) for the franchise that stood until Brandon Fields joined the team in 2007 and surpassed Kidd in 2010. In 1996, Kidd led the NFL with a 46.3 punting average.

## NFL career statistics

Legend :
| | Led the league |
| Bold | Career high |

### Regular season

| Year | Team | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting |
| Year | Team | GP | Punts | Yds | Net Yds | Lng | Avg | Net Avg | Blk | Ins20 | TB |
| 1984 | BUF | 16 | 88 | 3,696 | 2,939 | 63 | 42.0 | 32.7 | 2 | 16 | 8 |
| 1985 | BUF | 16 | 92 | 3,818 | 3,320 | 67 | 41.5 | 36.1 | 0 | 33 | 3 |
| 1986 | BUF | 16 | 75 | 3,031 | 2,591 | 57 | 40.4 | 34.5 | 0 | 14 | 9 |
| 1987 | BUF | 12 | 64 | 2,495 | 2,207 | 67 | 39.0 | 34.5 | 0 | 20 | 7 |
| 1988 | BUF | 16 | 62 | 2,451 | 2,189 | 60 | 39.5 | 35.3 | 0 | 13 | 2 |
| 1989 | BUF | 16 | 65 | 2,564 | 2,137 | 60 | 39.4 | 31.9 | 2 | 15 | 10 |
| 1990 | SDG | 16 | 61 | 2,442 | 2,271 | 59 | 40.0 | 36.6 | 1 | 14 | 2 |
| 1991 | SDG | 16 | 76 | 3,064 | 2,677 | 60 | 40.3 | 34.8 | 1 | 22 | 6 |
| 1992 | SDG | 16 | 68 | 2,899 | 2,475 | 65 | 42.6 | 36.4 | 0 | 22 | 9 |
| 1993 | SDG | 14 | 57 | 2,431 | 2,048 | 67 | 42.6 | 35.9 | 0 | 16 | 7 |
| 1994 | SDG | 2 | 7 | 246 | 226 | 53 | 35.1 | 32.3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 1994 | MIA | 4 | 14 | 602 | 407 | 58 | 43.0 | 29.1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 1995 | MIA | 16 | 57 | 2,433 | 2,068 | 56 | 42.7 | 36.3 | 0 | 15 | 5 |
| 1996 | MIA | 16 | 78 | 3,611 | 3,023 | 63 | 46.3 | 38.8 | 0 | 26 | 11 |
| 1997 | MIA | 13 | 52 | 2,247 | 1,924 | 58 | 43.2 | 37.0 | 0 | 13 | 4 |
| 1998 | DET | 2 | 13 | 520 | 454 | 54 | 40.0 | 34.9 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1998 | NYJ | 8 | 28 | 1,166 | 1,033 | 57 | 41.6 | 36.9 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| Career | Career | 215 | 957 | 39,716 | 33,989 | 67 | 41.5 | 35.3 | 6 | 251 | 89 |

### Playoffs

| Year | Team | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting | Punting |
| Year | Team | GP | Punts | Yds | Net Yds | Lng | Avg | Net Avg | Blk | Ins20 | TB |
| 1988 | BUF | 2 | 10 | 428 | 398 | 50 | 42.8 | 39.8 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1989 | BUF | 1 | 3 | 124 | 124 | 46 | 41.3 | 41.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1992 | SDG | 2 | 13 | 587 | 497 | 55 | 45.2 | 38.2 | 0 | 5 | 2 |
| 1994 | MIA | 2 | 8 | 356 | 275 | 59 | 44.5 | 34.4 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 1995 | MIA | 1 | 3 | 115 | 115 | 49 | 38.3 | 38.3 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1997 | MIA | 1 | 7 | 262 | 252 | 47 | 37.4 | 36.0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1998 | NYJ | 2 | 9 | 404 | 328 | 53 | 44.9 | 36.4 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Career | Career | 11 | 53 | 2,276 | 1,989 | 59 | 42.9 | 37.5 | 0 | 14 | 5 |