Topic: Ryan Longwell

Ryan Walker Longwell (born August 16, 1974) is an American football placekicker for the Minnesota Vikings in the National Football League. After playing college football for the California Golden Bears, he started his professional football career with the San Francisco 49ers, but never played a game for the franchise. He then played for the Green Bay Packers from 1997 to 2005.

Longwell attended high school in Bend, Oregon, where he played high school football for Bend High School's Lava Bears. A three-year letter winner in football as a kicker, Longwell also was the team's back-up quarterback. He also played baseball as a third baseman, earning three letters in that sport. He earned all-conference honors in both sports.

In 1993, he started college at the University of California, Berkeley where he played football and earned four varsity letters. At California he served as both a punter and placekicker for the team, earning all-conference honors in the Pac-10 his senior year as a punter and second team honors as a kicker. Longwell graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in English.