The Huntdown

Name: John Lohmiller

Nickname: Chip

Claim to Fame, Minnesota: a Woodbury native, Lohmiller was a placekicker for the University of Minnesota. He racked up a couple All-Big Ten honors, with his game-winning field goal against #2 Michigan at the Big House in 1986 being the high-water mark.

Claim to Fame, Everywhere Else: the Washington Redskins decided that using a second-round pick on a [redacted] kicker was a capital idea, and made Lohmiller the 55th pick of the 1988 NFL Draft. He put together a respectable career (although Jim Ducibella was glad to see him go), and led the NFL in points in 1991. Unfortunately, the highlight of his professional career, a McDonald’s commercial with Pete Stoyanovich, is no longer available on the YouTubes.

Where He Is Now: is the head football coach of the Pequot Lakes Patriots. Hunt Down staffers were unable to confirm at press time if he also takes part in Bean Hole Days. We’re going to assume “yes,” because, hey, Bean Hole Days.

Glorious Randomness: Greg Smedstad of Ogilvie, Minnesota, once drafted Chip Lohmiller in the first round of a fantasy football draft. This was surpassed only in hilarity by Kyle “Special K” Krebsbach of Plymouth, Wisconsin, opening the bidding on Mike Vanderjagt at $12 in a $100-cap auction league. Feel free to share your Chip Lohmiller memories, Bean Hole Days recommendations or fantasy draft blunders in comments.

Proprietor Glorious Randomness: One of the first stories we ever wrote for the now-defunct Page 2/Rotation was a piece about Lohmiller and what he had been up to. We were up near Pequot with the RandBall Better Half and the in-laws, so we arranged an interview. It happened to be while the Gophers were playing Michigan in 2005. And it happened that while we were sitting and talking, Jason Giannini kicked a field goal from virtually the same spot as Lohmiller had made his in 1986, giving us not just a feature story but an unexpected sidebar for the next day.

As the Gophers moved into field goal position late in their game Saturday at Michigan, the last Minnesota player to know what it was like to boot the Wolverines out of the Big House with a loss was watching with eager eyes. Chip Lohmiller — viewing the game at a diner in Crosslake, by pure coincidence with a Star Tribune writer — nailed a 30-yard field goal to give the Gophers a 20-17 victory at Michigan in 1986.

That had been the last time Minnesota claimed the Little Brown Jug until Saturday, when an eerily similar set of circumstances led Jason Giannini to put one through the uprights from the exact same distance — “the exact same spot on the field,” Lohmiller said — to give Minnesota a stunning 23-20 victory.

Now, go on with the fantasy stories.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 17th, 2008 at 11:37 am and is filed under Hunt Down, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.