Erik Folk
Encyclopedia
Erik Folk is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 player who is the current placekicker
Placekicker
Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...

 of the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

 and mostly remembered for kicking a 22 yard field goal
Field goal (football)
A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick.The drop kick fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed...

 to beat 3rd ranked USC on September 19, 2009 with just three seconds remaining and again in 2010, leaving the University of Southern California stunned.

High school

Folk helped the Notre Dame High School Knights to an 11-1 record and a Serra League championship as a senior in 2006. The team finished the regular season 10-0 before beating Dana Hills
Dana Hills High School
Dana Hills High School is a high school in Dana Point, California. It is one of the oldest high schools in South Orange County, having opened in 1973...

, 45-10, in the first round of the playoffs, subsequently lost to Long Beach Poly
Long Beach Polytechnic High School
Long Beach Polytechnic High School, founded in 1895 as Long Beach High School, is a High school located at 1600 Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach, California, United States....

, 31-21, the following week. Folk's team finished as the No. 6 team in the state, according to MaxPreps. Los Angeles Daily News
Los Angeles Daily News
The Los Angeles Daily News is the second-largest circulating daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California. It is the flagship of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, a branch of Colorado-based MediaNews Group....

second-team all-area kicker and other awards and accomplishments including, CalHiSports all-state third team, PrepStar all-region selection, booted 53-of-53 PATs
Convert
The convert or try, in American football known as "point after", and Canadian football "Point after touchdown", is a one-scrimmage down played immediately after a touchdown during which the scoring team is allowed to attempt to score an extra one point by kicking the ball through the uprights , or...

 and seven field goals as a senior, kicked a 56-yarder vs. Birmingham High
Birmingham High School
Birmingham Community Charter High School is a public coeducational high school in the neighborhood/district of Lake Balboa in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles, California, United States...

 in 2006.

He also kicked a 50-yarder vs. Canyon
Canyon High School (Anaheim, California)
Canyon High School is a traditional four-year high school located in the Anaheim Hills community in the city of Anaheim, California and is an International Baccalaureate school. It is located on of land on Imperial Highway between the cross streets of Santa Ana Canyon Road and Nohl Ranch Road, and...

, the Knights spent part of 2005 season ranked No. 1 in the state before falling to Dominguez
Dominguez High School
Dominguez High School is a four-year secondary school located in Compton, California. It is part of the Compton Unified School District.The school's current principal is Rigoberto Roman...

 in the CIF Southern Section
CIF Southern Section
C.I.F. Southern Section is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation . Its membership includes most public and private high schools in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Bernardino, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Mono and Inyo counties, as...

 Western Division final.

College

During the 2009 season, it was Folk’s 22-yarder with three seconds to play that made the difference in a 16-13 upset win over No. 3 USC.

Folk, who hit a 32-yard game-winning field goal to beat the 18th-ranked Trojans, was named Pac-10 Special Teams player of the week on October 4, 2010.

Personal

Folk was born to Anton and Kathryn Folk. His father works as an accountant. Folk is a direct descendant from the Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...

 as William Bradford was his "mother's umpteenth-great grandfather." His father Tony is from Austria.

Folk was ranked as the nation's No. 10 kicker by Rivals and ranked by Scout as the nation's No. 8 kicker.
He is the younger brother of New York Jets kicker Nick Folk
Nick Folk
Nicholas "Nick" Alexander Folk is an American football kicker who currently plays for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the sixth round of the 2007 NFL Draft...

, who was a first-team All-Pac-10 punter in 2006. He also has another brother, Greg Folk, who played soccer at UCLA
UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins are the sports teams for University of California, Los Angeles . The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pacific-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation . For football, they are in the Football Bowl Subdivision of Division I...

.

External links

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