SaberCats kicker garners honor
July 1, 2008 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
San Jose SaberCats News Release
SAN JOSE, Calif. (July 1, 2008) - San Jose SaberCats kicker A.J. HAGLUND was voted by the coaches, players and fans as the 2008 AFL Kicker of the Year, the league announced today.
The award marks the first time a SaberCat has been selected as the Kicker of the Year. Haglund joins Mark Grieb, Clevan Thomas, Steve Papin, Sam Hernandez and head coach Darren Arbet as the only San Jose members to earn individual end-of-season accolades.
"Personally, it was a goal that I set for myself for this season and last season," Haglund stated. "Being on a great team with a great offense brings individual success, but we are focused on winning another championship right now."
Haglund (5-8, 175, Central Oklahoma) was named the league's Kicker of the Month in March, April and May. He matched the AFL record for consecutive made FGs with 12 and set the FG accuracy mark after converting 21-of-25 (84.0) attempts. Haglund also broke his team kick scoring record set in 2007 (158 pts) with 179 points, which is the second-highest total in league history.
Called by coaches as a linebacker in a kicker's body, Haglund led all kickers with 16.0 special teams tackles. His PAT accuracy of 93.5 percent (116-of-124) ranked 2nd among league leaders and he set a franchise mark by hitting 59 straight extra points. The streak is believed to be the fourth longest in the AFL's 22-year history.
The SaberCats begin defense of their ArenaBowl title on Saturday, July 5, hosting the Colorado Crush in a Divisional Round playoff contest. Tickets are available and can be purchased at the HP Pavilion ticket office, all Northern California Ticketmaster locations, by phone at (408) 998-TIXS and online at ticketmaster.com.
A premiere franchise in the Arena Football League, San Jose has won three ArenaBowl championships and captured eight Western Division titles, nine consecutive playoff appearances and owns the league's best regular season record this decade.
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