Parker Hannon, a 15-year-old from Roswell High in Georgia, set a world record by making 31 field goals from 20 yards out in 60 seconds Friday at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta.
Hannon broke the Guinness Book of World Records mark set by four-time Super Bowl champion Adam Vinatieri during Super Bowl week in February. A Guinness representative was on site and the record needs to be certified.
“Once someone beats it, records are meant to be broken,” Hannon said. “I’ll come back and beat it again.”
Congrats Parker on setting a new @guinnessworldrecords with 31 extra point kicks in ONE MINUTE! 🔥🔥🔥 #OneMinutetoKickIt pic.twitter.com/oK6PhjknZk
— CFB Hall of Fame (@cfbhall) May 26, 2017
Hannon acknowledged he was nervous and hit the tee a few times, but said he focused on blocking that out and going to the next kick.
Hannon was joined by 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Morten Andersen, who was Hannon’s first kicking teacher when he was going into the fifth grade. Andersen said he knew Hannon was special early on and had the determination necessary to succeed.
“It all starts with Morten Andersen, 25 years in the NFL,” Hannon said. “You can’t find a better instructor than that.”
The event raised money for the Pat Tillman Foundation and Kids & Pros, a Georgia-based football development organization.
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Before the event, Hannon said the key to his success would be not taking too many steps before each kick to use time. He said Vinatieri often took three steps on his attempts and Hannon thought he could take one.
The genesis of the idea came in March when Parker and his father Jim went out to see what would happen if they tried what Vinatieri did.
“We think he’s one of the best kickers for his age, for sure,” his father, Jim Hannon, said this week. “It was just he and I on a cold night in early March.
“We saw (Vinatieri) kick and watched that video and he was taking three steps. I didn’t think we would have to. We took a video off the phone with a timer so we could tell exactly. We only had 10 balls and he kicked all 10 in 12 seconds. That told me he was pacing 50. We’ve done it a few times since then with more balls. Obviously, we wouldn’t be trying to do it if we didn’t think we could.”
