Rolf Benirschke Rolf Joachim Benirschke ( born February 7 , 1955 ) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League for the San Diego Chargers from 1978 to 1987 , and was the host of the NBC daytime " Wheel Of Fortune " in 1989 . Early career . Benirschke attended La Jolla High School in San Diego where his father Kurt Benirschke , a German immigrant , was pathologist at UCSD medical school . He attended college at the University of California at Davis , playing under coach Jim Sochor . He was selected by the Oakland Raiders in the 12th round of the 1977 NFL Draft , and was then traded to the San Diego Chargers for his rookie year in the National Football League . In the off - season before the 1978 season , his second season , he developed chronic fever , abdominal cramps , and diarrhea . He learned that he had ulcerative colitis , a form of inflammatory bowel disease . Living with ulcerative colitis . His health problems worsened in the 1979 season , when , on the team plane coming home from a road trip , Benirschke collapsed . He underwent two surgeries to remove his large intestine and he was in the intensive care unit for weeks . When released from the hospital , he weighed only 123 pounds and had to adjust to life with two ostomy appliances . His ileostomy was eventually reversed in a Koch pouch procedure . On Sunday , November 18 , 1979 , Benirschke made his dramatic return to the Chargers in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers . While he did not play , he was named honorary team captain for the game , which was a sellout . Louie Kelcher , a Chargers ' defensive tackle , assisted him and held his hand out onto the field . The Chargers won the game 35 - 7 . From 1980 to 1982 , Benirschke was also a broadcaster for the San Diego Sockers of the former North American Soccer League . In 1980 Benirschke returned to kicking and played seven more seasons with the team before retiring in 1987 as the team ' s all - time leader in points scored ( 766 ) . He was named the NFL Man of the Year in 1983 . He was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 1983 season . In 1997 he was the twentieth player inducted into the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame . Life after football . Benirschke hosted the daytime version of the TV game show " Wheel of Fortune " from January 10 to June 30 , 1989 after Pat Sajak left the daytime version to host " The Pat Sajak Show " ; Sajak has continued to host the nighttime syndicated version . When the daytime version moved to CBS , Bob Goen succeeded Benirschke as host . He has not been involved in television since , but was among the many participants in the E ! Network ' s " True Hollywood Story " episode on " Wheel " . He founded and later sold a financial services company , and has been involved in venture capital and development groups . He is the national spokesman for the Crohn ' s and Colitis Foundation of America and for Hepatitis C awareness . In November 1996 he published his book , " Alive and Kicking ! " During and after his football tenure he was also an endangered animal activist who created a well known endangered animal charity . He is married to the former Mary Michaletz ; the couple have four children . He is active in the San Diego , California area , volunteering his time with organizations like the San Diego Zoo , Scripps Hospital , United Way , the Chargers , the Boys & Girls Clubs of East County and the San Diego Blood Bank . Every year , he is in charge of the Rolf Benirschke Legacy Golf Invitational , held at the Rancho Santa Fe Farms Golf Club in Rancho Santa Fe , California . Some of the money is donated to charities such as the Crohn ' s & Colitis Foundation of America and the Prostate Cancer Foundation .