Top 50 Cal Pros: No. 48 -- Jim Breech Got His Kicks With the Bengals

We are counting down Cal’s top 50 athletes based on their careers as post-collegiate professionals. Their performance as Golden Bears is not factored into the rankings.

48. JIM BREECH

Years at Cal: 1974 to 1977

Sport: Football

Pro teams: Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals

Age: 69

Hometown: Sacramento

Why we ranked him here: Chosen in the eighth round of the 1978 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions, Breech was cut before the season. But he went on to play 14 seasons, the final 13 with the Cincinnati Bengals. Breech is among three former Cal placekicker who had enduring NFL career, following Ray Wersching and preceding Doug Brien. Breech gets the nod here based on making 243 career field goals, 517 extra points and scoring 1,246 points over his career. He made 30 or more field goals in five different seasons. His 1,151 points with the Bengals are a franchise record. And he is second all-time scoring in 186 consecutive games. Breech also set an NFL record, going 9 for 9 on field goal tries in overtime. He was on top of his game in the postseason, converting 9 of 11 field-goal attempts and never missing an extra point. In two Super Bowls (losses to the 49ers both times), he was better still, successfully converting every kick he tried. In Super Bowl XXIII on Jan. 22, 1989, he kicked three field goals and an extra point, accounting for 10 of the Bengals’ 16 points. His third field goal gave Cincinnati a 16-13 lead over the 49ers with 3:10 to play, suggesting he might become the first placekicker to win Super Bowl MVP. Joe Montana had other ideas, driving the San Francisco 92 yards and connecting with John Taylor for the 10-yard game-winning touchdown pass with 34 seconds left. Breech was named to the Bengals’ 50th anniversary team in 2017.

Jim Breech at Cal | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

At Cal: Breech scored then-program record 260 points (now No. 3 all-time) for teams that compiled a record of 27-16-1 over four seasons. He was a first-team All-Pac-8 selection in 1976 and ’77 when he made 32 of 51 field-goal attempts and 58 of 59 PATs. Breech was a second-team all-conference choice as a sophomore in ’75. He was inducted into the Cal Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.

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