Björn Nittmo

Football career

The left-footed Nittmo, famous for his very long kickoffs, came to the U.S. as a foreign exchange student at Enterprise High School in Enterprise, Alabama. After high school, he played college football at Appalachian State University, where he also was the all-time leading scorer with 277 points. He was the first Swedish-born player to play a full season in the NFL, when he played for the New York Giants in 1989. He also tried to make the Kansas City Chiefs' roster the following year but was cut, then the following year was hired by the Buffalo Bills as a potential replacement for Scott Norwood after his infamous wide-right kick in Super Bowl XXV (the Bills nonetheless decided to keep Norwood for one more season instead). Other teams of his career include the Montreal Machine of the World League of American Football (this league later became the NFL Europe). He has also played for the Cleveland Thunderbolts, Arizona Rattlers and the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena Football League, as well as the Shreveport Pirates of the Canadian Football League. In 2005, Nittmo was invited to the Ottawa Renegades' training camp, but was cut prior to the start of the season.

Miscellaneous

Nittmo appeared on Late Night with David Letterman a few times during his stint with the New York Giants. Letterman seemed to be obsessed with the kicker's name and even coined a new catchphrase to both celebrate and mock him: "Who do you think you are, Bjorn Nittmo?" (season 8, episode 162). Nittmo's celebrity continued when in 1999, he appeared as the kicker in the football movie Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday. Nittmo is also starring in a mini-documentary about his life to inspire the Swedish youth to follow their dreams and study abroad.

Personal life

Nittmo has been estranged from his ex-wife, Mary Lois Nittmo, and his four children (three daughters and a son), for over a decade. He suffered severe brain damage from a hit he sustained in a 1997 preseason contest; such was the extent of the damage from that and other hits sustained on kickoffs that his ex-wife got rid of football within the family household, refusing to watch any games on television or let his son play the game. In 2017, as part of a meeting arranged by The Buffalo News, Mary Lois went to Bjorn's home in Arizona, where he explained his absence and behavior; he stated that he mainly lives alone and is self-employed for his children's safety, that the short-term memory loss has been a hindrance to his employability, and that attempts to treat his condition have so far not succeeded.