I was SO ready to make fun of John Leypoldt when I found this card.
First, there’s the weird kicking style seen here (a combination of George Blanda and a seven-year-old girl playing leapfrog in a blizzard). Then, there’s his appearance—he looked like “John from the gas company’s credit department” because, well…he WAS “John from the gas company’s credit department”.
John Leypoldt managed to forge a seven-year NFL career, which no one else at the gas company (or our own lives, for that matter) managed to do.
John Leypoldt never went to college—instead he went into the Army and instead of Vietnam he was shipped to Germany, where he became a kicker for a base team. When he returned to the States, he played for several semi-pro teams while working for the gas company when he heard that the Bills needed a kicker. He contacted them on a whim, and was immediately hired at the age of twenty-five.
From 1971-75, John was a dependable kicker, though “soccer-style” kickers were producing higher success rates. More important, he nabbed six career Topps cards—more than a LOT of Canton inductees ever had. However, coach Lou Saban was not a fan, especially after the Bills lost a ’75 game after Leypoldt missed a chip shot field goal. He was not on solid footing as the ’76 season opener arrived. In a Monday Night Football matchup against the Miami Dolphins, the Bills lost, 30-21, as John missed two field goals, and a third was blocked. That was bad enough—but Saban mercilessly blamed Leypoldt for the loss, and released him the next day.
Leypoldt’s disastrous ’76 debut—on Monday Night Football, no less—was even immortalized in a video documenting the game. I have the link at the bottom of this article.
Leypoldt managed to latch onto the expansion Seattle Seahawks a few weeks later, and held onto his NFL career for another two years, and three more cards. And that paid for a pool hall that he owned and managed.
A pretty decent accomplishment for John from the gas company’s credit department. Nothing to make fun of, but a lot to admire.
Check out this video regarding John Leypoldt and his NFL career:
