Giorgio Tavecchio
Giorgio Tavecchio (born July 16, 1990), nicknamed "Italian Ice", is a placekicker who is a free agent. He was born in Milan, Italy and was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Francisco 49ers in 2012. He played his collegiate career at the University of California, Berkeley. College career Tavecchio's original plan was to attend UC Davis after they offered him a soccer scholarship. Because UC Davis was not also interested in him as a football placekicker, he considered other options. He then set up a workout at Cal but was only offered to be a walk-on. Tavecchio began attending Cal in 2008 and competed with David Seawright and Jordan Kay to be the team's placekicker. As a freshman, he split time with Seawright and converted all 25 extra point attempts and 9-of-13 field goal attempts. As a sophomore in 2009, he competed with Vincenzo D'Amato for the placekicking duties. With D'Amato handling a majority of the work, Tavecchio converted 14-of-15 extra point attempts and 8-of-12 field goal attempts. As a junior in 2010, he handled all of the placekicking duties and converted 37-of-39 extra point attempts and 11-of-16 field goal attempts. Throughout his first three seasons, he posted a 68% field goal percentage and was able to reach 75% after his senior year. In his final collegiate season in 2011, he continued to handle all placekicking duties and converted 36-of-42 extra point attempts and 20-of-23 field goal attempts. In his senior season, he had his best statistical kicking performance against Arizona State in a 47–38 victory. In the win over the Sun Devils, he converted all five extra point attempts and all four field goal attempts. His 20 field goals made in the 2011 season led the Pac-12 Conference. During his time at Cal, he was a four-year starter. Collegiate statistics Professional career Pre-draft Going into the draft, Tavecchio was not invited to the NFL Combine. During the California Golden Bears pro day, it began to rain before he was able to perform any drills. Tavecchio kept running his planned drills but was unable to showcase his talents since every NFL scout had gone into an indoor practice facility. Tavecchio remained unsigned after going undrafted in the 2012 NFL Draft. He then attended a tryout for the San Francisco 49ers at which he was the only kicker present. San Francisco 49ers On August 29, 2012, Tavecchio signed a three-year, $1.44 million contract with the San Francisco 49ers. At the time, 49ers special teams coach, Brad Seely was looking for an additional kicker to eventually succeed long-time veteran David Akers. The left-footed Tavecchio was chosen because Akers was also left-footed and they could both use the same holder, instead of getting another holder for a right-footed kicker. Green Bay Packers After being waived by the San Francisco 49ers during the offseason, the Green Bay Packers signed him to a three-year, $1.48 million contract on March 26, 2013. Tavecchio was waived by the Packers on August 26, 2013. Detroit