Stephen Gostkowski attended Madison Central High School in Madison, Mississippi where he played football, baseball, and soccer. He was a pitcher on the baseball team, finishing with a record of 8-2 as a senior. He had an ERA of 1.40 and a .395 batting average with 3 home runs and 25 RBI on the season. He holds the school record for longest field goal with a 55 yard kick and received all-state honors in all three sports as a senior. He went on to Memphis where he made the football team as a walk-on kicker. By the beginning of his freshman season, he had earned a starting position and a scholarship. He converted on 32 of 37 extra point attempts and 9 of 14 field goal attempts with a long of 50 yards as a freshman. He finished the season with 59 points on the year. As a sophomore, Gostkowski was perfect on extra points, converting all 44 attempts on the season. He was successful on 19 of 29 field goal attempts with a long of 45 yards. His 101 points on the season tied the school record for most points in a single season. He also pitched on the baseball team, finishing with a record of 4-4 and an ERA of 4.32 with 45 strikeouts. As a junior he was near perfect on extra points, missing just 1 of his 49 attempts. He was successful on 20 of 24 field goal attempts with a long of 49 yards. He finished the season with a career high 108 points, on his way to first team all-conference USA honors. He was also named the Tigers’ special teams player of the year. As a senior, Gostkowski was successful on all 35 extra point attempts and 22 of 25 field goal attempts with a long of 53 yards and 101 points. He was named first team all-conference USA for the second consecutive season and conference USA special teams player of the year for his performance as a senior.

Stephen Gostkowski has a great deal of experience, having been the starting kicker at Memphis for the past four seasons. He has a very strong leg and has proven to be a very accurate and reliable kicker. He has only missed 1 of 128 extra point attempts over the past three seasons, including 88 consecutive kicks at one point. He has only missed 7 of 49 field goals over the past 2 seasons. He hasn’t had many opportunities from 50+ yards, converting one of three attempts over his first three seasons at Memphis. As a senior he was a perfect 9-9 from 40+ yards including a career long of 53 yards. He was impressive at senior bowl practices, converting multiple kicks of 50+ yards. One kick had the distance to be good from 65 yards with the wind at his back. He played both football and baseball in college and could be even better once his concentration is totally on football. Stephen Gostkowski is one of the best prospects at the kicker position to come out this year and has a chance to be a late round pick in the 2006 NFL draft.