Former Cardinals great Jim Bakken named to Hall of Very Good

The Hall of Very Good announced its 2026 class, and a familiar Cardinals face was included: kicker Jim Bakken. He will join nine other professional footballers.

Bakken was a member of the St. Louis Cardinals from 1962 to 1978 and played 17 years before hanging up his cleats. Today he is 85 years old and lives in Madison, Wisconsin.

The Hall of Very Good (HOVG) is a secondary hall as part of the Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) membership. Each year, members recommend players for that year’s Hall, then the list is narrowed down to 20 names. From there, 10 players are elected.

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The purpose of the HOVG is to recognize professional football players who have had excellent careers, but are simply not good enough to be nominated for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. Many players have been elected to HOVG and later inducted into the Hall of Fame.

Including Bakken, 10 Cardinal players are now listed in the HOVG: RB OJ Anderson, HB John David Crow, S Pat Fischer, HB Marshall Goldberg, DE Ken Gray, FB Pat Harder, OT Duke Slater, DB Abe Woodson and coach Don Coryell.

Bakken grew up in Madison, Wisconsin, played basketball, baseball and was the quarterback of his high school football team. He then went to the University of Wisconsin and shared the QB position, but was the team’s punter and kicker. He was named honorable mention All-Big 10 during his sophomore year as a punter and kicker.

He led the Big 10 in punting average during his junior and senior seasons. His longest field goal was 47 yards.

Kickers and punters are drafted in today’s NFL, usually on day three. Many very good specialists go undrafted and become very good kickers. K Adam Vinatieri is in the 2026 Hall of Fame and went undrafted. The 1962 NFL Draft had 20 rounds, so teams regularly selected punters and kickers. It was also a time when there were very few specialists in the NFL. The punter was usually a quarterback or safety while the kickers were almost always an offensive lineman. Long snappers did not exist as a standalone position, so this task was performed by the center or a tight end. It was not uncommon for several players to take on these “extra tasks”.

Bakken was chosen by the Los Angeles Rams in the seventh round of the 1962 NFL Draft.

He was one of the Rams’ latest training camp casualties, and the St. Louis Cardinals filed a waiver claim against him. Veteran Danny Villanueva handled all kicking duties and Bakken was unable to knock him down. Both players were immediately style placekickers.

For St. Louis in 1961, kicking duties fell to offensive tackle Gerry Perry, while strong safety Jerry Norton was the team’s punter.

In 1962, there were only eight coaches on NFL teams and the roster limit was 36 players. Coaching staffs didn’t want a kicker or punter taking up valuable spot on their roster, so other players took on those duties. But in 1962, Bakken became the first specialist on the Cardinals roster.

In his third season, he went 25-38 in field goals and 40-40 in PATs. His field goal attempts and converted field goals led the NFL in 1964. The following season, he led the league in field goal percentage with 67.7% and was named to his first Pro Bowl.

In total, Bakken made four Pro Bowls, was a two-time first-team All-Pro selection, and was the NFL’s scoring leader in 1967 (117). Additionally, he was later named to the “NFL 1960s All-Decade Team” and the “NFL 1970s All-Decade Team”.

His nickname was “Bags” because his teammates called him “money in the bank.”

He also enjoyed great success in his later years. In his 13th season, he went 19-24 on field goals and 40-41 on PATs and was elected to his third Pro Bowl. The following season, he was named to the Pro Bowl again with a record of 20-27 in field goals and 33-35 in PATs.

Additionally, Bakken has completed 65 punts in the NFL for 2,439 yards with an average of 36.8 yards per kick and a long of 56 yards.

The 2026 HOVG is his fourth Hall of Fame honor. He was inducted into the Madison (Wisconsin) Sports Hall of Fame in 1984, the University of Wisconsin Athletic Department-National W Club Hall of Fame in 2001 and the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame in 2015.

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The rest of the 2026 HOVG class includes Nate Newton, Clem Daniels, Charley Brock, Mike Stratton, Wilber Marshall, Kent Hull, George Christensen, Greg Lloyd and Chris Hinton.

After football, Bakken was hired as director of external relations at the University of Wisconsin athletic department until his retirement. He was a seven-time Wisconsin State Masters Handball Doubles champion (1991-97).

In 2010, his biggest honor was probably the annual trophy awarded to the best kicker in the Big-10, named “Bakken-Andersen Kicker of the Year.” It is named after former Michigan State kicker Morten Andersen, who played 25 years in the NFL with five different clubs.