Professional Football
The New York Giants drafted Timberlake in the third round of the 1965 NFL Draft. He signed a two-year contract with the Giants for an estimated $85,000 ($12,500 per year base plus $60,000 in bonuses and fringe benefits). Timberlake turned down offers from the Buffalo Bills in the American Football League and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Canadian Football League because he had an opportunity to compete for a starting job with the Giants. Future Pro Football Hall of Famer Y.A. Tittle’s tenure with the Giants was over, and Timberlake was expected to compete in a new system that would emphasize rushing quarterbacks.
Timberlake did not get the quarterback spot with the Giants and was assigned to kickoff and to convert any long field goals for the 1965 NFL season. In a nationally televised game on October 3, 1965, at Pittsburgh, Timberlake hit a 43-yard field goal in a 23–13 win. Timberlake’s kick against the Pittsburgh Steelers was the last field goal by any Giants kicker that season.
Early in an October 24 game against the Cleveland Browns, the Giants' main placekicker twisted an ankle. Timberlake took over as the team’s full-time kicker until the season’s final week. Timberlake went 0-for-14 in field goal attempts for the rest of the season, and three of his shorter attempts were blocked. Though he went 1-for-15 in field goal attempts, Timberlake converted all but one of his extra points. After his one miss, he said: "I’m the guy who put the suspense back in the extra point."
In the 1966 pre-season, Timberlake was third on the Giants' depth chart at quarterback. In the September 1966 issue of the Sporting News, Timberlake lamented: "I’m not doing anything. For four days the other week, I didn’t throw a single pass. Not a single pass." After just one season, the Giants cut Timberlake from the team on August 29, 1966, at their camp in Fairfield, Connecticut.
In an article concluding that Timberlake may have been the worst placekicker in NFL history, the writer concluded: "Timberlake’s 1-for-15 performance makes him look like a laughingstock. He’s better remembered as one of Michigan’s great quarterbacks, a Rose Bowl hero who might have had what it took to be a fine pro quarterback or running back. It’s a shame he was asked to do what he couldn’t."
Read more about this topic: Bob Timberlake (American Football)
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