Steve Little ( American football ) Steven Richard Little ( February 19 , 1956September 6 , 1999 ) was an American football kicker and punter in the National Football League for the St . Louis Cardinals . He is the third - highest drafted kicker in NFL history , with first highest pick being Charlie Gogolak of Princeton University and second being Russell Erxleben . Little was drafted higher than future NFL greats Ozzie Newsome and Dennis Thurman . Little was an All - American placekicker and punter during his years at the University of Arkansas . He kicked an NCAA record - tying 67 - yard field goal in 1977 . That record has yet to be broken ; Little shares the record with Joe Williams of Wichita State University and Russell Erxleben of the University of Texas . High school and college career . Little played high school football for Shawnee Mission South High School in Overland Park , Kansas where he was an All - State quarterback and defensive back . He was recruited to play football for the University of Arkansas by legendary Arkansas head coach Frank Broyles . Broyles later said that he initially recruited Little to play quarterback since Joe Ferguson had recently graduated and entered the NFL . However Little ' s kicking abilities so impressed Broyles that they utilized him in that position . Also coach Bo Rein had recently accepted an assistant coaching position with Arkansas , and was bringing with him high school standout quarterback Ron Calcagni . In 1976 behind the passing skills of quarterback Ron Calcagni and the rushing of eventual NFL running back Ben Cowins , Little helped Arkansas in its defeat of the University of Georgia in the Cotton Bowl . In 1978 he helped the Razorbacks to a 1978 Orange Bowl victory over the University of Oklahoma . In that Orange Bowl game Arkansas running back Roland Sales rushed for 205 yards , an Orange Bowl record that stood until 1998 when Ahman Green rushed for 206 yards in the Orange Bowl . Defensively future Chicago Bears star Dan Hampton shut down the Oklahoma running game . In both those bowl games Little set team PAT records for bowl games , kicking 4 in each . He also set a team record for points with 280 . During Little ' s career with Arkansas the Razorbacks went 10 - 2 in 1975 , 5 - 5 - 1 in 1976 , 11 - 1 in 1977 and 9 - 2 - 1 in 1978 . In the latter Arkansas ' 1 tie game was against UCLA during the Fiesta Bowl . During his final year at Arkansas Little played under head coach Lou Holtz . Dismal professional career , tragedy . Despite the anticipation surrounding his kicking skills demonstrated in college , Little performed at a dismal level while he was with the Cardinals . He served as both punter and placekicker . In his brief NFL career he punted for a total of 4 , 809 yards while placekicking with a disappointing overall percentage of 48 . 1 % over three professional seasons . He did kick 51 - yard field goal , the fifth longest in Cardinals history . However , Little ' s problems off the field also caused him issues with the team , and on October 16 , 1980 he was replaced six games into the 1980 season by kicker Neil O ' Donoghue . Just hours after he had been released by the Cardinals , Little was involved in a single car accident which broke his neck and left him a quadraplegic . Little died at the age of 43 having spent years as a quadraplegic in hospice in Little Rock , Arkansas , where he lived with and was cared for by his brother Gene Little . Little is on the All - Century team at Arkansas , and is also listed as # 11 on the list of greatest Arkansas football players of all time .