Blair Walsh Blair Richard Walsh ( born January 8 , 1990 ) is an American football placekicker for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League ( NFL ) . He was drafted by the Vikings in the sixth round of the 2012 NFL Draft from the University of Georgia . Due to his penchant for converting long field goal attempts at the University of Georgia , he was nicknamed the Athens Assassin . High school career . Blair Walsh attended Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort Lauderdale , Florida , and played football for coach Michael Morill . Twice he hit field goals from 59 yards as a senior . For his efforts , Walsh was named to USA Today ' s All - USA First Team Offense and noted as a top - 5 kicker in the nation by ESPN . com . College career . Walsh was a placekicker with the Georgia Bulldogs 2008 - 2011 . He was a standout player who amassed a number of significant kicking stats . During his time at Georgia , he thrice made 4 field goals in a game . Twice he attempted a field goal from , his long , 56 yards and converted it once in a game against Coastal Carolina in his senior year . In all , Walsh made 184 of 185 PATs and 76 of 103 field goals . However , in his senior year he made just 21 of 35 field goal attempts . He also had two tackles and one fumble recovery to his credit . Professional career . Minnesota Vikings . 2012 season . Walsh was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings with the fifth pick of the sixth round . A priority acquisition for the Vikings , Walsh would take over kicking duties for the released Ryan Longwell . Through the first 11 weeks of the season , Walsh missed only one field goal and had another blocked . He was 6 - for - 6 with kicks over 50 yards and 21 - for - 21 on extra point attempts . On December 16 , Walsh passed Randy Moss for the Vikings ' franchise record in points scored by a rookie ( 119 ) . In his best week of his rookie season , in a game against the St . Louis Rams in week 15 , Walsh equalled the NFL record for field goals made from 50 yards or more with his eighth kick ( a new team record ) ; his three 50 - yarders in the game was also a team record . His 5 kicks also tied an NFL record for most field goals of 37 yards or more in a single game , 5 , which only Chris Boniol equaled for the Cowboys in 1996 . The next week in a game against the Houston Texans on December 23 , 2012 , Walsh completed a 56 - yard attempt , setting the NFL record for field goals over 50 yards in a season with his 9th 50 + yarder . The 56 yarder also tied the Vikings record of longest field goal set by Paul Edinger in 2005 . In the final game of the 2012 season , Walsh completed a 54 - yard field goal to make himself 10 / 10 over 50 yards on the season . He was 3 points short of tying an NFL record for most points in a season by a rookie at 144 , Walsh ended 2012 with 141 points for the Vikings ; which is the team record . His final regular season field goal allowed the Vikings to beat the Green Bay Packers 37 - 34 and earn a playoff berth . The field goal also tied the NFL record for most field goals by a rookie kicker at 35 with Ali Haji - Sheikh from 1983 . As reward for his standout rookie season , Walsh was selected for the NFC team in the 2013 Pro Bowl . Walsh was also selected to the All - Pro 1st Team .