Former Georgia Bulldogs kicker Rodrigo Blankenship has signed with the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League (UFL). The Battlehawks’ first game is on March 28. Blankenship was hoping to sign with an NFL team, but he was unable to land a job before the postseason started.
Blankenship tried out for UFL teams in December and evidently impressed enough to be signed.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the last NFL team to sign Blankenship in 2023. However, Blankenship, who is known as “Hot Rod,” lost the kicking competition and was cut before the regular season started.
The former Georgia star has connected on 83.9% of his career NFL field goal attempts. He has a career long field goal of 53 yards and has made 54 of 58 career extra points. Blankenship’s last NFL field goal attempt came in 2022.
Blankenship made four out of five field goals during the 2022 NFL season. He played for both the Arizona Cardinals and Indianapolis Colts in 2022. The Colts, who originally signed Blankenship as an undrafted free agent, cut Blankenship after he missed a potential game-winning field goal in Week 1 of 2022.
Blankenship made 80 of 97 career field goals during his time with Georgia from 2016-2019. He holds the all-time Rose Bowl record for longest made field goal at 55 yards.
