Jason Elam signed a one-day contract with the Denver Broncos so that he may retire with the organization he kicked for from 1993-2007.
Chosen in the third-round (70th overall) of the 1993 NFL Draft, Elam was successful on 80.7% of his 540 field goal attempts, and retires as the sixth-leading scorer in NFL history with 1,983 points, just 19 points behind Hall of Fame quarterback/kicker George Blanda.
Broncos owner Pat Bowlen would like to see Elam join Blanda in the Canton.
"He's definitely going into the (Broncos') Ring of Fame," said Broncos owner Pat Bowlen. "I think he's definitely a (Pro Football) Hall of Famer, but kickers getting into the Hall of Fame is damn near impossible but I'll try to use some influence if I can to see that he gets there."
Elam was named to three Pro Bowls during his career, earning bids after the 1995, 1998, and 2001 seasons.
The University of Hawaii product spent the last two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, his hometown team, but was released in Week 12 after connecting on just 12-of-19 field goal attempts. Elam said that he had battled a left knee injury in recent years, and last season had a painful hip injury that required injections just to be able to play.
"I remember people asking me a long time ago, "When are you going to retire?"" Elam said during a Wednesday press conference. "I always said, As long it's fun, as long as I'm feeling good and as long as I'm performing well." All three of those are out the window. It wasn't fun anymore because I couldn't go out there and kick. The Falcons never made me practice because I couldn't."
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