Steve O'Neal
O’Neal’s 98-yard punt NFL record:
In 1966 Stephen O’Neal accepted a track scholarship to Texas A&M only to discover that he also had a talent for punting a football. During college he lettered in both football and track, and became a first-team All-American as a punter.
After college he was drafted in 1969 by the New York Jets, where he soon made NFL history. During his second ever professional game, O’Neal lined up deep in his own end zone and connected on a history-making punt (98 yards, a record that still stands today). O’Neal played for the Jets for a total of four years and later played for New Orleans.
During his sixth year in the NFL, his career ended due to torn cartilage in his knee. Needing only 10 weeks to graduate from dental school, O’Neal decided to continue his education and graduated from the University of Tennessee Dental School in 1974.
