Eighteen years after signing his first contract with the Carolina Panthers, John Kasay has once again signed with the team.
This time it is a one-day contract as Kasay, who spent 16 seasons with Carolina, retires as a Panther.
“When we came to Charlotte, our oldest son was about six weeks old,” Kasay said. “To be able to watch your family grow, not only in number, but also in stature, it gives us a long range perspective on as blessed as we were and have been by Mr. Richardson to be able to come live in this community, this city, and really the North Carolina and South Carolina region that has been so good to our family and has given way more to us than we’ve ever given back.”
Kasay retires from the NFL after one of the most productive careers in League history. He is sixth in NFL history for most field goals made (461) and attempted (563) as well as fifth in career field goal percentage (81.9 percent; minimum 500 attempts) and eighth in points scored (1,970). His 42 career field goals of 50-or-more yards are tied for second in NFL history. Kasay’s records take on added meaning since three quarters of his career were spent kicking for Carolina, where all home games are played outdoors.
Kasay spent his 21-year NFL career with three teams: Seattle, Carolina, and New Orleans. Originally selected in the fourth round of the 1991 NFL Draft by the Seahawks, Kasay signed as an unrestricted free agent with the Panthers in 1995 where he played for 15 seasons before completing his career with New Orleans in 2011.
The holder of more than 20 team records, Kasay played in a team record 221 games as a Panther, 54 more than Steve Smith who stands second. Kasay is the franchise leader in points scored (1,482) and holds nearly every major kicking record in team annals, including field goals made (351) and PATs made (429). He was known as a clutch kicker throughout his career, converting 11 game-winning field goals for the Panthers.
Kasay was one of the first unrestricted free agents signed by the Panthers in 1995. He signed February 20 after a four-year career with Seattle along with New York Giants defensive lineman Mike Fox. Both were instrumental on the first Panthers team which set an expansion record for wins with seven in the inaugural season.
Kasay scored 105 points in his first Carolina season, but it was his second year that has become the standard for Panthers kickers. In that 1996 season in which the Panthers advanced to the NFC Championship game, Kasay scored a team record 145 points while converting 37 of 45 field goal attempts and 34 of 35 extra point tries.
His records are even more impressive considering that Kasay missed nearly two full seasons, missing all of the 2000 season after injuring his knee in the preseason and 14 games in the 2002 season with a sports hernia. However, he missed only two games the rest of his career, those coming in the last two contests of the 2004 season.
