Rodrigo Blankenship

Rodrigo John Blankenship (born January 29, 1997), nicknamed "Hot Rod", is an American football placekicker who is a free agent.

He played college football at Georgia, where he kicked the longest field goal in Rose Bowl history.

He has received considerable media attention for the thick glasses that he wears during games.

Blankenship was born in Marietta, Georgia, to Ken and Izabella Blankenship.

He is of Brazilian descent through his maternal grandparents, who still live there.

After spending several years playing soccer, he began kicking footballs at ten years old.

Blankenship attended Sprayberry High School.

As a high schooler, he participated in the 2014–15 U.S. Army All-American Bowl.

He was ranked by 247sports.com as the ninth-best kicker in the country.

Blankenship entered Georgia in 2015 as a preferred walk-on and redshirted his first year.

As a redshirt freshman, Blankenship earned the starting kicker spot.

During the 2016 season, Blankenship was 14-for-18 on field goals and 26-for-26 on extra points.

He led the team in scoring and was named to the All-Southeastern Conference (SEC) Freshman team.

His 67 touchbacks – a dramatic improvement over his 20 touchbacks in 2016 – were also a school record, and they came after he adjusted his technique on kickoffs.

In 2017 – his redshirt sophomore season – Blankenship received a full athletic scholarship.

He informed the team of the positive news after Georgia's 20–19 victory over Notre Dame.

Blankenship finished the 2017 season having made 20 of his 23 field goal tries and all 63 extra points attempts.

By making 87 percent of his field goals attempts, Blankenship had the sixth-best season in school history.

He led the SEC in extra point attempts and conversions in the 2017 season.

In the 2018 Rose Bowl, Blankenship made a record-long 55-yard field goal that proved pivotal in shifting the momentum away from Oklahoma, leading to Georgia's eventual 54–48 overtime victory.

In the 2018 College Football Playoff National Championship game against Alabama, Blankenship hit a 51-yard field goal in overtime to put the Bulldogs temporarily ahead.

However, Georgia ultimately lost the national championship game, 26–23.

In July 2018, Blankenship was selected for the preseason All-SEC First Team.

During the 2018 season, he went 19-for-23 on field goal attempts and made all 65 of his extra point attempts.

Following the 2018 regular season, Blankenship was named to the All-SEC Second Team.

In December 2019, Blankenship won the Lou Groza Award, given to the nation's top placekicker.

He also was honored as a member of the SEC Football Community Service Team.

In his senior season, he led the SEC in field goal attempts and conversions.

Notably, Blankenship never missed a single extra point (200/200) in his college career.

Blankenship signed with the Indianapolis Colts as an undrafted free agent on April 29, 2020.

In his first game with the Colts, Blankenship made both extra-point attempts and two of three field goal attempts in a 27–20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Jaguars' only win of the season.

In Week 11 against the Green Bay Packers, Blankenship kicked a 39 yard game-winning field goal in overtime during the 34–31 win, later earning the American Football Conference Special Teams Player of the Week award.

By the end of the regular season, Blankenship had converted 43 out of 45 extra point attempts and made 32 out of 37 field goal tries, with a long of 53 yards.

In the 27–24 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, Blankenship made one of his two field goal attempts and converted his only extra point opportunity.

Blankenship played the first five games for the Colts before being placed on injured reserve on October 16, 2021, due to a hip injury.

He converted seven of eight extra point attempts and 11 of 14 field goal attempts on the season.

On September 11, in the Colts' season opener against the Houston Texans, Blankenship went 2-for-3 on field goals, kicking two kickoffs out of bounds and missing a potential game-winning 42-yarder in overtime as the game ended in a 20–20 tie.

He was waived two days later on September 13.

Blankenship had a tryout with the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 27, 2022.

On October 3, he was among a group of kickers brought in to work out with the Arizona Cardinals after kicker Matt Prater suffered a right hip injury during the Week 4 win against the Carolina Panthers.