Professional Football Player. His career read like a storybook, as he went from training camp walk-on to the top place-kicker in the American Football League. Born Gerald Booth Lusteg, he attended New Haven High School (Connecticut) and played collegiate football at the University of Connecticut. He was an exceptional athlete in addition to football, he excelled at basketball, tennis and baseball. The later, he played two years (1961 and 1962) in the Western Carolina League, however he was unable to achieve professional status in the sport. His fortunes would change for the better at the age of 27, when kicker Pete Gogolak departed Buffalo for the New York Giants. After impressing Bills' head coach Joe Collier during training camp, Lusteg earned the spot as place kicker and led the American Football League in field goal attempts with 38, extra point attempts with 42 and extra points made with 41 in 1966, as Buffalo was en route to an appearance in the AFL Title Game. Over the course of three-years, he had stints with the Miami Dolphins (1967), Pittsburgh Steelers (1968) and Green Bay Packers (1969). Lusteg whom earned a degree in Mathematics from the University of Connecticut, received a license in real estate. In addition, he found minor acting parts in a number of motion pictures and authored his autobiography "Kick Rejection....and Win!" (2002), which chronicled his at-times difficult climb to the top of professional sports. Lusteg died following a lengthy battle with cancer.
Professional Football Player. His career read like a storybook, as he went from training camp walk-on to the top place-kicker in the American Football League. Born Gerald Booth Lusteg, he attended New Haven High School (Connecticut) and played collegiate football at the University of Connecticut. He was an exceptional athlete in addition to football, he excelled at basketball, tennis and baseball. The later, he played two years (1961 and 1962) in the Western Carolina League, however he was unable to achieve professional status in the sport. His fortunes would change for the better at the age of 27, when kicker Pete Gogolak departed Buffalo for the New York Giants. After impressing Bills' head coach Joe Collier during training camp, Lusteg earned the spot as place kicker and led the American Football League in field goal attempts with 38, extra point attempts with 42 and extra points made with 41 in 1966, as Buffalo was en route to an appearance in the AFL Title Game. Over the course of three-years, he had stints with the Miami Dolphins (1967), Pittsburgh Steelers (1968) and Green Bay Packers (1969). Lusteg whom earned a degree in Mathematics from the University of Connecticut, received a license in real estate. In addition, he found minor acting parts in a number of motion pictures and authored his autobiography "Kick Rejection....and Win!" (2002), which chronicled his at-times difficult climb to the top of professional sports. Lusteg died following a lengthy battle with cancer.
Bio by: C.S.
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