Day 48: John Rocholl '09

Jon Rocholl kicks one true (CREDIT: Columbia Athletics)

In the 139-year history of Columbia football no kicker has been asked to do more than Jon Rocholl '09 did from 2005 through 2009. For four years, he was just about the hardest working special teams specialist I've ever seen.

With very few exceptions, tor each of those seasons he was virtually the only Columbia player to kick, punt, or kick off. A huge responsibility for anyone of any age to take on.

Rocholl came to CU from Fort Wayne, Indiana and made an immediate impression as a freshman, nailing a 47-yard field goal in the win over Fordham in the season opener.

A year later, he closed out the great 2006 season with a game-winning field goal over Brown in the 22-21 that is easily one of the most clutch kicks in CU history.

He finished his career by making his final clutch kick, another 47-yard field goal into the wind against Cornell in the 17-7 win at home.

The stats speak for themselves, and Rocholl basically owns the kicking section of the Columbia record book.

He is currently #1 all time for CU in:

1) Scoring by Kicking - 177 points

2) PAT's - 57

3) Field Goals - 38

4) Career Punting Yardage Average - 39.0

5) Consecutive Field Goals Made - 7 (tied with Matt Pollard '90)


Jon was also a very frequent member of All Ivy teams, making Honorable Mention All Ivy as a punter in 2005 and 2006, 2nd Team All Ivy as a punter in 2007, and 2nd Team All Ivy as a kicker and Honorable Mention All Ivy as a punter in 2008.

We will miss him.