Steve Little (American football)

{{Short description|American football player (1956–1999)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}

{{Use American English|date=April 2024}}

{{Infobox NFL biography

| name =

| image =

| alt =

| caption =

| number = 12

| position = Kicker, Punter

| birth_date = {{birth date|1956|2|19|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Springfield, Illinois, U.S

| death_date = {{death date and age|1999|9|6|1956|2|19}}

| death_place = Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S

| height_ft = 6

| height_in = 0

| weight_lbs = 180

| high_school = Shawnee Mission South
(Overland Park, Kansas)

| college = Arkansas

| draftyear = 1978

| draftround = 1

| draftpick = 15

| pastteams =

• St. Louis Cardinals ({{NFL Year|1978|1980}})

| highlights =

• Consensus All-American (1977)
• First-team All-American (1976)
• 2× First-team All-SWC (1975, 1977)

; NCAA record

• Longest field goal made: 67 yards (tied){{efn|Kicked with tee}}{{efn|Also tied with Tom Odle from Fort Hays State (Division II)[http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2016/Collegiate.pdf Individual and Team Collegiate Records]. NCAA. Retrieved 2016-10-18.}}

| statlabel1 = Field goals attempted

| statvalue1 = 27

| statlabel2 = Field goals made

| statvalue2 = 13

| statlabel3 = Field goals percentage

| statvalue3 = 48.1%

| statlabel4 = Extra points attempted

| statvalue4 = 51

| statlabel5 = Extra points made

| statvalue5 = 41

| statlabel6 = Extra points percentage

| statvalue6 = 80.4%

| statlabel7 = Punts

| statvalue7 = 125

| statlabel8 = Punting yards

| statvalue8 = 4,809

| pfr = L/littlste01

}}

Steven Richard Little (February 19, 1956 – September 6, 1999) was an American professional football player who was a kicker and punter in the National Football League (NFL) for the St. Louis Cardinals.{{cite news |url=http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/benjamin-hochman/hochman-big-red-s-steve-little-lived-and-died-in/article_4a915fa5-8405-5222-8411-6fd8c9a23f41.html |work=St. Louis Post-Dispatch |last=Hochman |first=Benjamin |title=Big Red's Steve Little lived, and died, in the fast lane |date=December 6, 2015 |access-date=December 28, 2017}}{{cite web |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=tzEjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0NkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3073,5162689 |work=Nevada Daily Mail |location=(Missouri) |title=Former Arkansas football star Steve Little dies at 43 |agency=Associated Press |date=September 7, 1999 |page=10}} He is the third-highest drafted kicker in NFL history, behind Charlie Gogolak (6th, 1966) of Princeton and Russell Erxleben (11th, 1979) of Texas.{{cite web |url=http://iqfb.com/nfl-draft/the-highest-drafted-kickers-in-nfl-history/ |title=The Highest Drafted Kickers in NFL History |author=Mark |work=IQFB |access-date=March 28, 2014 |archive-date=February 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216144417/http://iqfb.com/nfl-draft/the-highest-drafted-kickers-in-nfl-history |url-status=dead }} Little was drafted higher than future NFL greats Ozzie Newsome and Todd Christensen.

Little was an All-American placekicker and punter during his years at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville. He kicked an NCAA record-tying 67-yard field goal on October 15, 1977.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-18-sp-13535-story.html |work=Los Angeles Times |last=Wojciechowski |first=Gene |title=No small comeback |date=October 18, 1985 |access-date=December 28, 2017}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1977/11/07/622766/theyre-kicking-up-a-real-storm |magazine=Sports Illustrated |title=They're kicking up a real storm |last=Jares |first=Joe |date=November 7, 1977 |page=26}}{{cite news |url=https://www.si.com/vault/1977/10/24/621996/the-week |magazine=Sports Illustrated |title=College football: The week, Southwest |last=Weiskopf |first=Herman |date=October 24, 1977 |page=60 }} That record has yet to be broken; it was set by Erxleben two weeks earlier on October 1, 1977,{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=koVfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9zAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=5972%2C578881|work=Lewiston Morning Tribune |location=(Idaho) |agency=Associated Press |title=Texas bowls over Rice |date=October 2, 1977 |page=7B}} and is shared with Joe Williams of Wichita State (October 21, 1978).{{cite web |url=http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=1610610 |title=October 24 – Welcome Home Joe |date=October 24, 2008 |work=Official Website of Wichita State Athletics |access-date=March 28, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131105031649/http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=7500&ATCLID=1610610 |archive-date=November 5, 2013 }}