“I’m happy for the Cowboys, but not for me,” Fritsch said afterward. The name translates to “hooky” in Spanish. Though hardly speaking any English at all, he decided to sign a contract as an undrafted free agent, move to the United States and join the team's training camp. [11] On 21 December, 1982, he announced his retirement. I think it was important, no? “I played soccer before over 100,000 fans in all the countries of the world for seven years as a pro,” Fritsch said of the moment. He lined up to kick to the left, but Fritsch instead squibbed the ball to the right, bouncing it off the 49ers' Preston Riley. Jan 18, 1976; Miami, FL, USA; FILE PHOTO; Dallas Cowboys kicker Toni Fritsch (15) attempts a field goal against the Pittsburgh Steelers during Super Bowl X at the Orange Bowl. Apparently there’s no video of it on the entire internet. [13] He converted 42 of 50 field goals and 126 of 131 extra points for a total of 252 points in two seasons. Fourteen points in the final two minutes to advance in the playoffs. Landry also continued his psychological warfare with the Redskins by refusing to permit newsmen to see films of Toni Fritsch's onside kick off that … A stalled drive and Fritsch’s third field goal of the day quickly trimmed the margin to 12 points. It remains one of Roger Staubach’s most legendary wins. Assistant coach Ernie Stautner often used German to communicate with Toni. Practically overnight, kickers looked different. In the 1972 NFC Divisional against the 49ers, Cowboys kicker Toni Fritsch successfully performed a Rabona onside kick. The ball skittered to Fritsch’s right… the opposite of where the 49ers thought it was headed. Though hardly speaking any English at all, he decided to sign a contract as an undrafted free agent, move to the … It's supposed to be the crowning moment in a young college football player's life. To American football fans, he is remembered for the new kicking style he brought from his home country, helping to forever revolutionize a part of the NFL with it. Anton K. "Toni" Fritsch (10 July 1945 – 14 September 2005) was an Austrian footballer who later started a successful career in American football in the United States. … Just like it was in 1972 when Toni Fritsch did it in a playoff game against the 49ers. He led the league with 22 field goals (tied with Stenerud) as well as total points and helped Dallas reach Super Bowl X. Contact with the ball was made along the instep and the top of the foot, resulting in added control. [12] He finished with 758 points in 125 games during his 11-year NFL career, among those 317 for Dallas. This is the story of the unlikely little Austrian man who helped usher that revolution into Dallas. [3] Fritsch did get a Super Bowl ring that season though, as was on the roster of the Super Bowl VI winning team. By the time he had played 123 games and scored 15 goals for Rapid Vienna over eight seasons, Toni Fritsch’s soccer career came to an end. He scored two goals when Austria defeated England 3-2 in London's Wembley Stadium on 20 October 1965, from which his nickname "Wembley-Toni" is derived. He was discovered by the team's scouts during a 1971 European tour in which they were looking for soccer-style kickers, which at the time was becoming popular in the NFL. And the first player we tried out was Toni Fritsch.”. That’s a lot of buildup to tell the story of a placekicker. A slow kick=more players involved, some of them getting a 20 yard running start. Onside kick, Toni. Then, Dallas’ Mel Renfro recovered Fritsch’s onside kick, putting the Cowboys back in business at midfield. “I have used it in warmups to help me relax. Pete Gogolak, a native of Hungary, gave birth to it after a successful college career at Cornell got him drafted by the Buffalo Bills. You can suggest future Stars of the Cowboys’ Past by following Todd on Twitter at @ToddBrock24f7. “Seasoning” is what coach Tom Landry called it. He was activated on 1 November after starting the season on the taxi squad,[1] making his NFL debut against the St. Louis Cardinals, where he kicked a game-winning field goal in a 16-13 victory. At 18, Fritsch made his debut for the first team in 1964. The team won the Austrian Championship three times (1964, 1967, 1968) and the Austrian Cup twice (1968, 1969). The club went 10-4 and finished second in the NFC East. He is the only player in history to win professional titles in both association football and American football: he won the Austrian League in 1964, 1967 and 1968, and the Super Bowl in 1972. He [Fritsch] points at one of the officiating crew and asks his roommate, [offensive lineman] Don Talbert, ‘Name? Mel Renfro recovered the ball for the Cowboys. A late Staubach touchdown pass made the score 28-23 with under two minutes to go. And he went on to boot the game-winner, despite the aforementioned efforts of the Cardinals defense to rattle him. And for the first time in nine seasons, the Cowboys failed to make the playoffs. Fritsch helped the squad win the Austrian Cup in 1968 and 1969. Austrian Toni Fritsch, who started his 11-year, four-team NFL career with the Cowboys, led the NFL in field goal accuracy three times. Fritsch started to play association football at an early age and joined the Austrian record titleholder Rapid Vienna at the age of 13. As offensive lineman Ralph Neely relays in America’s Team: The Official History of the Dallas Cowboys by Jeff Sullivan: “So our first exhibition game in 1971, we’re playing the Rams. Wow, that guy (Caleb Sturgis)! Fritsch also played for the Austrian national team nine times. They would win it again in 1967 and 1968. On first down, Staubach scrambled for 21 yards. Team staffers and scouts launched a touring series of tryouts they called the Kicking Karavan. The approach was made at an angle, and the entire body rotated to swing the leg with far more power. The Steelers defeated the Cowboys 21-17. A behind-the-back tap. Toni Fritsch, who went from Austrian soccer player to placekicker in the National Football League, died Tuesday. On 6 September, 1976, because of inconsistencies,[7] he was traded to the San Diego Chargers in exchange for an eighth round draft choice (#208-Al Cleveland). The 49ers knew an onside kick was coming. Boswell has done the trick kick before in college, but this time it didn’t work out quite as well. For starters, he was a... Start every day with our most popular content waiting in your inbox. At 5-foot-7 and 190 pounds, the pudgy and balding Fritsch certainly did not cut the profile of a gridiron hero. Two goals in a 3–2 victory were achieved by Toni Fritsch, who was then nicknamed "Wembley Toni". Wembley-Toni was coming to Texas Stadium. Toni's career was short but he got a late start, he was already 26 when he took over the Cowboys kicking duties in 1971. DAL - Sellers 10 pass from Staubach (Fritsch kick) DAL 30-28; ... Dallas cut the deficit to 7-3 with kicker Toni Fritsch's 37-yard field goal, ... Mel Renfro recovered the ensuing onside kick, and Ron Sellers scored the winning touchdown on a 10-yard reception with 52 seconds left. We’ll re-acquaint readers with the stories of some of the franchise’s players who have shone brightly during the 60-year history of America’s Team. He was 60. They came from exotic places. He was described as a small, but extremely fast striker. Besides, a new sport was about to find Fritsch. Gogolak introduced American football to the European soccer kick, where the kicker took two steps back from the ball, and then three more to the side. Over the years of the Garrett regime, I was able to put together a pretty fool-proof assessment of how the Cowboys approached the draft, so much so that I developed a list of commandments. Pittsburgh’s Chris Boswell went viral in 2016 when one he tried versus Baltimore failed in spectacular fashion. His NFL record of having kicked a field goal in 13 straight playoff games was tied by Adam Vinatieri on 13 January, 2007. Staubach threw a 20-yard scoring pass to Billy Parks and Dallas needed to recover an onside kick. I get better. With the 49ers leading, 28‐23, and a … After his retirement he worked in Europe as a sports commentator and in the world of finance, providing support to Austrian businessmen who wanted to settle in the United States. Fritsch kicked three field goals, three extra points and outfoxed San Francisco with special onside kick in Dallas's 30‐28 victory last Saturday. [2] That year, he suffered from a pulled hamstring muscle, the majority of the kicking duties went to Mike Clark. The first city they went to was Vienna and the first player they tried was Fritsch. As recently as the 1960s, a team’s kicker was often simply their best athlete. Like most European boys, “Toni” grew up playing futbol. Dec 23: On this day in 1972, the Cowboys beat the Niners, 30-28 in the divisional round of the NFC playoffs. They sounded different. WikiMatrix Cowboys kicker Toni Fritsch then executed a successful onside kick that was recovered by Mel Renfro, giving the Cowboys the ball at midfield with 1:20 left on the clock. 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