Lawrence Tynes
Encyclopedia
Lawrence James Henry Tynes (born May 3, 1978, Greenock
Greenock
Greenock is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council area in United Kingdom, and a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland...

, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

) is an American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...

 placekicker for the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

. He was originally signed by the Kansas City Chiefs
Kansas City Chiefs
The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. They are a member of the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Originally named the Dallas Texans, the club was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1960 as a...

 as an undrafted free agent in 2001.

Early years

Tynes was a standout kicker for the football team at Milton High School
Milton High School (Florida)
Milton High School is a public four-year high school located in Milton, Florida. Milton High School was established in 1915 and was run by the Johns' families....

 in Milton, Florida
Milton, Florida
Milton , or Milltown, because Milton had the largest mill around) is a city in Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States. The city was incorporated in 1844 and is home to Naval Air Station Whiting Field. The population was 7,045 at the 2000 census. In 2004, the population recorded by the U.S...

.
In addition, Tynes was a stellar soccer player.

College career

Tynes attended Troy State University
Troy University
Troy University is a public university that is located in Troy, Alabama, United States. It was originally founded in 1887 as Troy Normal School. Its main campus enrollment is 7,194 students. The total enrollment of all Troy University campuses is 29,689...

 (now simply Troy University), graduating with a degree in criminal justice
Criminal justice
Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...

, and holds school records for career field goals
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...

 (45), and points (262).

First stint with Chiefs

Tynes originally entered the NFL as a rookie
Rookie
Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of their sport or has little or no professional experience. The term also has the more general meaning of anyone new to a profession, training or activity Rookie is a term for a person who is in his or her first year of play of...

 free agent
Free agent
In professional sports, a free agent is a player whose contract with a team has expired and who is thus eligible to sign with another club or franchise....

 with Kansas City in 2001. He also played in 10 games for the Scottish Claymores
Scottish Claymores
The Scottish Claymores were an American football team from Scotland. The franchise played in the World League of American Football between 1995 and 2004, initially playing all home games at Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh and latterly sharing home games with Hampden Park, Glasgow...

 of NFL Europe
NFL Europe
NFL Europe was an American football league which operated in Europe from 1991 until 2007. Backed by the National Football League , the largest professional American football league in the United States, it was founded as the World League of American Football to serve as a type of spring league...

 in 2002.

Ottawa Renegades

Tynes joined the Ottawa Renegades
Ottawa Renegades
Ottawa Renegades was the most recent name of a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario founded in 2002, seven years after the storied Ottawa Rough Riders folded...

 of the Canadian Football League
Canadian Football League
The Canadian Football League or CFL is a professional sports league located in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football, a form of gridiron football closely related to American football....

 in 2003
2003 CFL season
The 2003 Canadian Football League season is considered to be the 50th season in modern-day Canadian football, although it is officially the 46th Canadian Football League season.-CFL News in 2003:...

. Tynes holds Renegades records for most field goals in a single game (6) and most field goals in a single season (51).

Second stint with Chiefs

Tynes' 82.3% field goal percentage and strong leg earned him another tryout with the Chiefs. He replaced the aging Morten Andersen
Morten Andersen
Morten Andersen , nicknamed "The Great Dane", is a former National Football League kicker. He holds the distinction of being the all-time leading scorer in NFL history, as well as being the all-time leading scorer for two different teams; the New Orleans Saints, with whom he spent 13 seasons, and...

 as the Chiefs' kicker for the 2004 NFL season
2004 NFL season
The 2004 NFL season was the 85th regular season of the National Football League.With the New England Patriots as the defending league champions, regular season play was held from September 9, 2004 to January 2, 2005...

. In 2004, Tynes made 17 of 23 field goals and 58 of 60 extra point
Extra Point
Extra Point is a twice-daily, two-minute segment on ESPN Radio that covers generic sports-related topical news and opinion. The AM edition airs Monday through Saturday at various times between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. ET, and the PM edition airs Monday through Friday between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. ET...

s, also handling kickoff duties.

New York Giants

After a sub-par 2006 season
2006 NFL season
The 2006 NFL season was the 87th regular season of the National Football League.Regular season play was held from September 7 to December 31, 2006...

 with the Chiefs, Tynes was traded to the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

 on May 22, 2007 for a conditional draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft
2008 NFL Draft
The 2008 NFL Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 26 and April 27, 2008. For the 29th consecutive year, ESPN televised the draft; the NFL Network also broadcast the event, its third year doing so...

. He competed with and beat out Josh Huston
Josh Huston
Josh Huston is an American football placekicker who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2006...

 for the Giants' placekicking job. Tynes became the first player to score NFL points at the new Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...

 when the Giants played the Miami Dolphins
Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are a Professional football team based in the Miami metropolitan area in Florida. The team is part of the Eastern Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on October 28, 2007.

Tynes missed two potential game-winning field goals against the Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers
The Green Bay Packers are an American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Packers are the current NFL champions...

 in the 2007-2008 NFC Championship Game
NFC Championship Game
The National Football Conference Championship Game is one of the two semi-final playoff matches of the National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the United States. The game is played on the penultimate Sunday in January and determines the champion of the...

. He connected on a third in overtime, scoring from 47 yards and sending the Giants to Super Bowl XLII
Super Bowl XLII
Super Bowl XLII was an American football game on February 3, 2008 that featured the National Football Conference champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League champion for the 2007 season...

. This crucial play was later called "Tynes' Redeemer" and "Third Tynes the Charm." The game-winning field goal was the longest kicked in postseason history at Lambeau Field
Lambeau Field
Lambeau Field is an outdoor football stadium in Green Bay, Wisconsin, the home of the NFL's Green Bay Packers. Opened in 1957 as City Stadium, it replaced the original City Stadium as the Packers' home field...

. Tynes scored the first and last points (5 points in total - including 1 field goal) in the New York Giants
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in East Rutherford, New Jersey, representing the New York City metropolitan area. The Giants are currently members of the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

' Super Bowl XLII victory. Tynes, who was going to be a free agent in the 2008 offseason, signed a five-year, $7 million contract with the Giants on February 11, 2008.

He did not play in the 2008 season opener against the Washington Redskins
Washington Redskins
The Washington Redskins are a professional American football team and members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team plays at FedExField in Landover, Maryland, while its headquarters and training facility are at Redskin Park in Ashburn,...

 due to a knee injury. Tynes later said that he would return in Week 5 of the regular season but did not do so. In week 10 against the Philadelphia Eagles
Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are members of the East Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

, he returned as a kickoff specialist, handling only kickoff duties, while John Carney remained as the place kicker. In week 11 against the Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a professional football franchise based in Baltimore, Maryland.The Baltimore Ravens are officially a quasi-expansion franchise, having originated in 1995 with the Cleveland Browns relocation controversy after Art Modell, then owner of the Cleveland Browns, announced his...

, Tynes was the only Giants kicker in uniform, as he booted a field goal and three point after touchdowns. However, in week 12 versus the Arizona Cardinals
Arizona Cardinals
The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in Glendale, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. They are currently members of the Western Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...

, Tynes was once again handling the kickoffs and Carney the field goals.

On September 20, 2009, Tynes kicked the game-winning field goal to give the Giants a 33-31 victory over the Dallas Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football franchise which plays in the Eastern Division of the National Football Conference of the National Football League . They are headquartered in Valley Ranch in Irving, Texas, a suburb of Dallas...

 in the inaugural regular season game at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas
Arlington, Texas
Arlington is a city in Tarrant County, Texas within the Dallas–Fort Worth metropolitan area. According to the 2010 census results, the city had a population of 365,438, making it the third largest municipality in the Metroplex...

.

Personal

Since joining the Giants, Tynes and his family have lived in Clifton, New Jersey
Clifton, New Jersey
Clifton is a city in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city had a total population of 84,136. The 2010 population represented an increase of 5,464 residents from its population of 78,672 in the 2000 Census, making it the state's 11th largest...

. He and his wife, Amanda, make their offseason home in the Kansas City area in Overland Park
Overland Park, Kansas
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 149,080 people, 59,703 households, and 39,702 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,627.0 people per square mile . There were 62,586 housing units at an average density of 1,102.9 per square mile...

, where their sons were born.

Tynes is the seventh Scottish-born player in NFL history and the first to have won a Super Bowl
Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League , the highest level of professional American football in the United States, culminating a season that begins in the late summer of the previous calendar year. The Super Bowl uses Roman numerals to identify each game, rather...

 ring. Only two other British (British-born) players have won a Super Bowl: Scott McCready
Scott McCready
Scott McCready is a British national who was an American football wide receiver who, most recently, played for the Hamburg Sea Devils of NFL Europa from 2005 until the league's closure in 2007. Previously he played for the Scottish Claymores from 2002–2004, and was named to the All-League team on...

 and Tynes' Super Bowl XLII teammate, Osi Umenyiora
Osi Umenyiora
-2003:Umenyiora was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2003 NFL Draft by the New York Giants out of Troy State University, now Troy University. He was number 72. As a rookie in 2003, he played in 13 games with one start.-2005:...

.

Lawrence Tynes is the son of a former Navy SEAL. His father, Larry, was a member of SEAL Team 2 stationed in Scotland in the early 1970s. He is currently a detective in the Santa Rosa County
Santa Rosa County, Florida
Santa Rosa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Florida. According to the 2000 U.S. Census, the population was 117,743, while a July 1, 2005, estimate placed the population at 143,105, an 18% increase making it the 84th fastest growing county in the United States between 2000 and 2005. ...

 Sheriff's department in Milton, Florida
Milton, Florida
Milton , or Milltown, because Milton had the largest mill around) is a city in Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States. The city was incorporated in 1844 and is home to Naval Air Station Whiting Field. The population was 7,045 at the 2000 census. In 2004, the population recorded by the U.S...

. One of his brothers, Jason, served in the United States Army in Iraq and Kuwait.
His other brother, Mark Tynes, is serving 27 years in federal prison on drug and witness intimidation charges stemming from his 2004 involvement in a plan to move 3600 pounds (1,632.9 kg) of marijuana between Texas and Florida. Tynes has sought a presidential pardon to shorten or commute his brother's sentence. He has acknowledged his brother's guilt but feels the sentence was too harsh. However, during all proceedings in Mark Tynes' trial, Mark was belligerent and uncooperative. The judge who proceeded the case had parameters of which to sentence Mark, and because of his foul and unruly behavior gave Mark the maximum sentence.

External links

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