Mark Jensen - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mark Jensen is a former 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

Placekicker

Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...

for the National Football League

National Football League

The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...

. He played for three different NFL teams Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are a professional American football team based in Detroit, Michigan. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League , and play their home games at Ford Field in Downtown Detroit.Originally based in Portsmouth, Ohio and...

, St. Louis Rams

St. Louis Rams

The St. Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. They are currently members of the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The Rams have won three NFL Championships .The Rams began playing in 1936 in Cleveland,...

and the Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders are a professional American football team based in Oakland, California. They currently play in the Western Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

. He also spent one year (2004) in NFL Europe, playing for the now defunct 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...

. While with Detroit, he connected on a 33 yard field goal versus the Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The team currently belongs to the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League . Founded in , the Steelers are the oldest franchise in the AFC...

as well as going 2-2 on extra points.

Jensen served for three years as Cal Football's Director of Player Development. He oversaw all aspects "off the field" for the Cal players, including: Academics, housing, community relations, alumni relations, player employment, and admissions.

Jensen now owns and operates Mark Jensen Kicking.

NFL

Jensen signed a free agent contract with the Detroit Lions

Detroit Lions

following the 2003 NFL Draft

NFL Draft

The National Football League Draft is an annual event in which the National Football League teams select eligible college football players and it is their most common source of player recruitment. The basic design of the draft is each team is given a position in the drafting order in reverse order...

, but was waived during training camp after injuring his groin versus the Pittsburgh Steelers

Pittsburgh Steelers

. A year later, he was signed by the St. Louis Rams

St. Louis Rams

and subsequently allocated to play in 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...

. After handling all kick-off duties for the Scottish Claymores

Scottish Claymores

, Jensen returned to St. Louis only to be subsequently released. He was signed immediately by the Oakland Raiders

Oakland Raiders

and joined them for camp. Once again, Jensen reinjured his groin and after taking an injury settlement was released by the Raiders. Jensen has also had tryouts with the San Francisco 49ers

San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers are a professional American football team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the West Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League . The team was founded in 1946 as a charter member of the All-America Football Conference and...

, Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills are a professional football team based in Buffalo, New York. They are currently members of the East Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...

, and NY Jets.

College

At the University of California, Berkeley

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

, Jensen was a four-year starter, handling both field goals and kick offs from 1999-2002. Jensen continued in a long line of Cal greats including Ray Wersching

Ray Wersching

Raimund "Ray" Wersching is an Austrian former placekicker in the National Football League . He played in the NFL for a span of 15 years, stretching from 1973 through 1987.-NFL career:...

, Jim Breech

Jim Breech

James Thomas Breech is a former American football kicker in the National Football League, who played for Oakland Raiders in 1979 and Cincinnati Bengals from 1980-1992. Before his NFL career, Breech played for the University of California and Sacramento High School...

, Doug Brien

Doug Brien

Douglas Robert Zachariah Brien is a former American football placekicker. He played twelve seasons for seven teams in the National Football League:...

, Ryan Longwell

Ryan Longwell

Ryan Walker Longwell 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...

, and Nick Harris

Nick Harris

Nicholas John Harris is an American football punter for the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Denver Broncos in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft...

. He owns the Golden Bears’ modern day scoring record with 107 points (2002). Jensen also hold the Pac-10 record for most field goals in a game (5) versus Air Force

Air force

An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy or...

in 2002. He converted on field goals of 50 and 51 yards out, registering the fifth and 7th-longest field goals in Golden Bear history.

Graduated with a BA in Development Studies in 2001 after only three years of college. Completed his Master's Degree in Education (Language, Literacy, Society & Culture emphasis) also at Berkeley...

2002 ... emerged as one of the nations most prolific kickers. Among his 2002 honors, named one of 20 Semi-Finalists for the Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award. Named the Pac-10 Special teams player of the week after kicking a Pac-10 record 5 field goals versus Air Force

Air force

. Set a school record for points (107), while his 8.92 ppg average was second in the Pac-10 and 17th nationally. First Team 2002 Pac-10 All-Academic. Finished his Cal career as the school's fourth All-Time leading scorer...

Jensen's Career Statistics...

Year	FG	FGA	XP	XPA	PTS
1999	4	8	12	13	24
2000	11	16	25	26	58
2001	11	14	22	22	55
2002	19	27	50	51	107
TOTALS	45	65	109	112	244

High School/Personal

Earned first team Utah ALL-State two times (1993–1994) at Pleasant Grove High School

Pleasant Grove High School (Utah)

Pleasant Grove High School is a public high school located in Pleasant Grove, Utah.- History :Pleasant Grove High School was established in 1912. It started in a small one-room building. Additional rooms were eventually added on due to the increasing number of students. The former location was...

... named first team team All-Conference two times.... In 1993, kicked a game winning field goal in the Utah 4A state championship game to lift Pleasant Grove High School over Judge Memorial High School 18-17. Following a stellar senior campaign, was named USA Today

USA Today

USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...

second team ALL-American...Was a standout high school soccer and basketball player as well.

Served a two year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Leipzig, Germany following graduation from high school.

Most recently left Cal Football

California Golden Bears football

The California Golden Bears football team is the college football team of the University of California. The team plays its home games at California Memorial Stadium, however the team played at San Francisco's AT&T Park in 2011 while Memorial Stadium was being renovated, the team will return to...

and established Mark Jensen Kicking. Has worked with hundreds of high school, college, and professional kickers and punters.

Holds dual citizenship (American - Danish)

External links

Sources

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