Green Bay Packers: 50 greatest players in franchise history

Greatest players in Green Bay Packers history: 48. Mason Crosby

You know what? Kickers are important. Nothing is worse than have a great team and a lousy kicking game. Fortunately for the Packers, they haven’t had to worry about it all that much for this last decade thanks to the great leg of placekicker Mason Crosby. He was a former sixth-round pick by the Packers in the 2007 NFL Draft out of Colorado.

Crosby was able to win the job over Dave Rayner in training camp. As a rookie, Crosby connected on 79.5 percent of his kicks, attempting what remains a career-best 39 tries. To date, Crosby has not missed a game in his 11-year NFL career out of Colorado, playing in 176 straight NFL contests. The Packers have made the NFC playoffs nine of his 11 years in the league, including 2010 when Green Bay won Super Bowl XLV over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While he doesn’t have the strongest leg in the NFL, Crosby rarely misses inside of 50 yards. He boasts a career 80.3 field goal percentage, making 98.3 percent of his PATs as well. Overall, Crosby has been a model of consistency in the Green Bay kicking game like Ryan Longwell before him. While Crosby has never been to a Pro Bowl, few kickers in the NFL are as reliable as he is.

Crosby’s most famous kick to date might be in the 2016 NFC Divisional Round on the road versus the Dallas Cowboys. After getting iced on his first attempt, Crosby would nail a 51-yard field goal to beat the No. 1 Cowboys at the end of regulation to reach the 2016 NFC Championship Game. Green Bay would lose to the Atlanta Falcons on the road the following week, but that was definitely one of the better playoff wins of the Mike McCarthy era for sure.