Shaun Suisham facts for kids
Suisham prior to Super Bowl XLV in 2011
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| Position: | Placekicker | ||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
| Born: | December 29, 1981 Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada |
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| Height: | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||||||||||||
| Weight: | 199 lb (90 kg) | ||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||
| High school: | Wallaceburg District | ||||||||||||
| College: | Bowling Green (2000–2004) | ||||||||||||
| CFL draft: | 2004 / Round: 3 / Pick: 20 | ||||||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2005 | ||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||
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| Player stats at PFR | |||||||||||||
Shaun Christopher Suisham (born December 29, 1981) is a former professional American football player from Canada. He was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL). Shaun played mostly for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He also spent time with the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. He joined the Steelers in 2005 after college. He played college football for the Bowling Green Falcons.
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Early Life and High School Football
Shaun Suisham was born in Wallaceburg, Ontario, Canada. His parents are Rick and Wendy Suisham. He went to Holy Family Catholic School. Later, he attended Wallaceburg District Secondary School.
At Wallaceburg District, Shaun started playing football. His uncle, Rob MacLachlan, was the team's coach. His uncle also helped him create a video to send to colleges. This video showed off his football skills.
In 1998, when he was a junior, Shaun kicked two field goals. One was from 58 yards and the other from 27 yards. He helped his team, Wallaceburg, win the league championship. This was their first championship since 1968. In 1999, as a senior, he was named the best offensive player in his conference. He was also ranked as the top placekicker in Canada. He set new school and Ontario records for field goals.
College Football Career
Shaun Suisham earned a football scholarship to Bowling Green State University. He started there in the spring of 2000. He got injured during practice and had to take a medical redshirt year. This meant he could practice but not play in games. He played under coach Urban Meyer in 2001 and 2002.
Freshman Year (2001)
As a freshman, Shaun became the main placekicker. He made 44 out of 45 extra points. He also made 3 out of 8 field goal attempts. He scored a total of 53 points that season.
Sophomore Year (2002)
In his second year, he made 12 out of 14 field goal attempts. He set a new record for the Mid-American Conference and his school. He made 57 out of 59 extra point tries. He kicked a career-high 3 field goals in a game against the University of Missouri.
Junior Year (2003)
As a junior, he made 16 out of 24 field goal attempts. He also made 56 out of 60 extra point tries. In the first game of the season against Eastern Kentucky University, he set school records. He made all 9 of his extra point attempts in that game. He kicked a season-long 47-yard field goal against Purdue University.
Senior Year (2004)
In his senior year, Shaun made 14 out of 20 field goal attempts. He set another Mid-American Conference record by making all 69 of his extra point attempts. He also kicked a career-long 52-yard field goal against Ohio State University. He was a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award. This award goes to the best college placekicker. He finished 12th in the nation for scoring, averaging 9.3 points per game. He set an NCAA Division I record for the most extra points made in a college career (226).
Shaun left Bowling Green as the Falcons football team's all-time leading scorer. He had 361 points. He also set records with 45 career field goals and 31 touchbacks. He graduated in 2005 with a degree in exercise science.
Professional Football Career
Pittsburgh Steelers (First Time)
The Ottawa Renegades picked Shaun in the third round of the 2004 CFL Draft. His rights were later traded to the Edmonton Eskimos. However, Shaun chose to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League instead. He joined them as an undrafted free agent on April 28, 2005.
He played in the first preseason game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He made a 46-yard field goal and an extra point. On August 28, the Steelers released him. He could not earn a starting spot over Jeff Reed.
Dallas Cowboys (First Time)
On September 4, 2005, the Dallas Cowboys signed Shaun to their practice squad. He was released on October 11 but re-signed to the practice squad on October 18. On October 24, he was moved to the main team to replace José Cortez. He played for two weeks, making 2 out of 2 field goals. On November 19, he was released so the Cowboys could sign Billy Cundiff. He was re-signed on December 26 for the last game of the season after Cundiff had some struggles.
In 2006, the Cowboys signed Mike Vanderjagt to improve their kicking. Vanderjagt got hurt during training camp. He missed two field goals in a preseason game, which led the Cowboys to keep two kickers. This helped Shaun make the team. He started for the Cowboys in their first game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 10, 2006. He tried two kicks. The first was a 52-yard field goal, which was good and a career-long for him at the time. The second kick, which could have given the Cowboys the lead, hit the right goalpost. He continued to kick off for five more weeks. On October 12, he was released and then signed to the practice squad on October 14. He was released again on October 17.
San Francisco 49ers
On October 24, 2006, Shaun was signed to the San Francisco 49ers' practice squad. He was released just a week later, on October 31.
Washington Redskins
On November 28, 2006, Shaun joined the Washington Redskins' practice squad. On December 2, he was moved to the active roster. He missed his first field goal attempt with the Redskins from 50 yards. He also had some trouble with kickoffs against the Atlanta Falcons. However, the team decided to keep him instead of their other kicker, Nick Novak. He then went on to make 8 field goals in a row to finish the year.
He kicked his first game-winning field goal from 39 yards on September 9, 2007. This happened in an overtime win against the Miami Dolphins. On March 16, 2009, the Redskins re-signed him. On December 6, he missed a short 23-yard field goal. This kick likely would have helped them win against the undefeated New Orleans Saints. The team lost that game in overtime. On December 8, he was released and replaced by Graham Gano.
Dallas Cowboys (Second Time)
On December 21, 2009, the Cowboys signed Shaun again. Their previous kicker, Nick Folk, had missed many field goals that season. Shaun made 2 out of 3 field goals in the regular season. On January 17, 2010, he played in a playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings. He missed two kicks from 48 and 49 yards but made one from 33 yards. He was not re-signed after that season.
Cleveland Browns
On May 18, 2010, Shaun signed with the Cleveland Browns. On June 17, he was released. He was not able to earn a spot over Phil Dawson.
St. Louis Rams
On August 12, 2010, Shaun was signed by the St. Louis Rams. On August 17, he was released. He could not earn a spot over Josh Brown.
Pittsburgh Steelers (Second Time)
2010 Season
On November 16, 2010, Shaun signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers again. This happened after Jeff Reed had some poor games. On November 28, Shaun kicked four field goals from over 40 yards against Buffalo. These included kicks from 45, 46, 48, and 41 yards. He also kicked the game-winning field goal in overtime. No other player in NFL history had kicked four field goals of 40 yards or longer, including an overtime game-winner, in one game, but he did it twice. He had a 5 field goal effort of 40+ yards for the Redskins in a 23–20 overtime victory over the Jets in 2007.
On December 5, Shaun made two field goals in the Steelers' 13–10 win against the Baltimore Ravens. He also handled the punting duties for the Steelers after Daniel Sepulveda got injured. On December 12, he made three field goals in the Steelers' win over the Bengals.
Shaun finished the regular season making 14 out of 15 field goal attempts. His only miss was from 41 yards in Week 16 against the Carolina Panthers.
On January 15, 2011, Shaun missed a 43-yard field goal in a playoff game. This was the first playoff miss by a Steelers kicker since 2002. On February 6, he made a 33-yard field goal in Super Bowl XLV. He also missed a 52-yard field goal. The Steelers lost the Super Bowl 31–25 to the Green Bay Packers.
2011 Season
On September 25, 2011, Shaun made a 38-yard game-winning field goal. This kick came against the Indianapolis Colts with only 4 seconds left in the game. The Steelers lost to the San Francisco 49ers 20–3 on December 19, 2011. The only points for Pittsburgh came from Shaun's 51-yard field goal. However, he also missed a 48-yard attempt in that game.
2012 Season
On October 7, 2012, Shaun made a 34-yard game-winning field goal. This was against the Philadelphia Eagles with 3 seconds left. This successful kick meant he had made all 8 of his field goals that season so far.
On October 11, 2012, he missed a 54-yard attempt against the Tennessee Titans. The ball fell about one yard short. However, he then made his next thirteen field goals in a row. These included game-winning kicks of 23 and 42 yards against the Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens.
2013 Season
Shaun played in all 16 games in 2013. He made 30 out of 32 field goal attempts. This set a Steelers record with a 93.8% success rate. His 30 field goals made tied for the third-most in team history. His 129 points ranked fifth-most in a single season for the team.
On October 20, playing against the Baltimore Ravens, he made all 4 of his field goal attempts. He made a 42-yard field goal with no time left to win the game 19–16. He was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his great performance.
2014 Season
On August 1, 2014, the Steelers announced that Shaun's contract was extended. It was for four more years, through the 2018 season. He scored a career-best 132 points in the regular season. This was the third-highest in team history. He also extended a streak of 30 consecutive field goals made from 40 to 49 yards. On September 7, he made the ninth game-winning field goal of his career. Seven of these were as a Steeler.
On September 28, playing against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he passed Norm Johnson for the fourth-most extra points made in Steelers history. He also made his first field goal of that game. This extended his club record to 24 straight field goals made. He then missed his second attempt.
On October 12, playing against the Cleveland Browns, he moved into fourth place on the club's all-time field goals made list. On November 30, playing against the New Orleans Saints, he scored 10 points. This gave him 509 points for his Steelers career. He became the fourth kicker in team history to reach 500 points.
2015 Season
On August 9, 2015, Shaun told reporters he believed he had torn a ligament in his left knee. This happened while he was covering the opening kickoff in a preseason game. An MRI on August 10 confirmed he had torn his ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). He missed the entire 2015 season because of this injury. Garrett Hartley and later Chris Boswell replaced him.
On June 24, 2016, the Steelers released Shaun after he failed a physical exam.
Life After Football
While playing for Washington, Shaun Suisham held a free football camp for kids. The camp was in his hometown area of Wallaceburg, Ontario. Kids got hands-on training and could meet the NFL kicker. There was also a "Pass, Punt, and Kick" competition.
Shaun played ice hockey when he was growing up. When his two daughters started playing hockey, he got involved with the sport again. In 2014, while still playing for the Steelers, Shaun began coaching girls' youth hockey. In 2024, he was named the Director of the Girls Hockey Program for the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite.
