Best of the Packers: Top 10 kickers, punters since 1960
By Phil Watson
5. Don Chandler (1965-67)
Don Chandler only spent three seasons kicking for the Green Bay Packers, but he hit one of the most significant kicks in franchise history in 1965, when he booted a 25-yard field goal 13:39 into overtime to lift Green Bay to a 13-10 Western Division tiebreaker win over the Baltimore Colts—the first-ever overtime game-winning kick in NFL history.
The game-tying field goal by Chandler with 1:58 remaining in regulation is one that still causes gnashing of teeth in Baltimore, as the Colts insisted the kick was wide to the right, something Chandler confirmed to The Baltimore Sun in 1996.
Chandler came to the Packers in 1965 after nine years with the New York Giants, where he was their punter and took over the placekicking chores in 1962.
With the Packers, he did both jobs in both 1965 and 1966 before becoming exclusively a placekicker in 1967, when he earned a Pro Bowl berth after going 19-for-29 on field goals and making all 39 extra points.
He punted to the tune of a 41.9-yard average as a Packer, including a 42.9 yard mark in 1965, that included a league-best 90-yard boot.
In three seasons, Chandler was 48-for-83 on field goals, as well, and made all but three of his 120 PAT tries, while playing for three NFL championship clubs and the first two Super Bowl champs.
Chandler’s 48 field goals are ninth in Packer history and his 57.8 percent rate ranked seventh among kickers with at least 75 attempts. Additionally, his 41.9 yard punting average is 10th-best among those with at least 100 attempts.
Chandler was a fifth-round pick by the Giants out of Florida in 1956 and died in August 2011 at the age of 76. He is also a member of the Packers Hall of Fame.
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