Caleb Shudak
 Shudak in 2022 | |||||||||
| Omaha Beef | |||||||||
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| Position: | Placekicker | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Born: | November 19, 1997 Council Bluffs, Iowa, U.S. | ||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 177 lb (80 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | Lewis Central (IA) | ||||||||
| College: | Iowa | ||||||||
| Undrafted: | 2022 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||
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Caleb Shudak (born November 19, 1997) is an American professional football placekicker. He played college football at Iowa and was signed by the Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2022.
Early life
[edit]Shudak was born on November 19, 1997, in Council Bluffs, Iowa. He attended Lewis Central High School, where he played five sports (football, track, swimming, tennis, baseball) and was a four-year varsity player in football. Shudak assisted the school in making the football playoffs four consecutive seasons and played placekicker, defensive back, running back, and linebacker. He earned all-city and first-team all-district, as well as All-Western Iowa, honors in his first three seasons at the school and was named all-state as a senior.[1]
College career
[edit]In 2016, Shudak began attending the University of Iowa after making their football team as a walk-on.[2] He redshirted as a true freshman in 2016, and did not see any game action in 2017.[1] While earning academic all-conference honors in 2018, Shudak made an appearance in one match, converting his only PAT attempt in a 63–0 win over Illinois.[1]
In 2019, Shudak began handling Iowa's kickoffs. He earned Academic All-Big Ten honors and recorded an average of 58.2 yards on 75 kicks, with only one going out of bounds. The following season, Shudak handled kickoffs in eight games and had an average of 60.6 yards on 51 kicks. He also recorded the first field goal attempt of his career, 52 yards, which was no good after hitting the upright.[1]
After being given an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19, Shudak opted to return to the team in 2021.[3] He became the team's main kicker on field goals and made 24-of-28 attempts, which was the fourth-best single season average in school history.[4] He also made all 36 of his PATs and totaled 108 points on the season, placing fifth all-time in Iowa scoring for a single season.[1] After the season ended, he received the Brett Greenwood Award, Reggie Roby Special Teams Award, Forest Evashevski Academic Achievement Award, and was named third-team All-American by Associated Press (AP), as well as first-team All-Big Ten by the league media.[1] After converting four field goals in a 28–21 win over the Nebraska Cornhuskers, Shudak was given the conference special teams player of the week award.[5]
Professional career
[edit]| Height | Weight | Arm length | Hand span | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 6+5⁄8 in (1.69 m) |
177 lb (80 kg) |
28+3⁄8 in (0.72 m) |
9 in (0.23 m) | |||||||||
| All values from Pro Day[6] | ||||||||||||
Tennessee Titans
[edit]After going unselected in the 2022 NFL draft, Shudak was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent.[7] He was placed on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list to start the season.[8] He was activated for Week 12, after an injury to Randy Bullock,[9] and made his NFL debut against the Cincinnati Bengals, converting 3 of 4 fields goals and one PAT attempt.[10] He was waived on December 3, but signed with the practice squad three days later.[11][12] He signed a reserve/future contract on January 10, 2023.[13] On August 22, 2023, Shudak was waived by the Titans.[14]
Arena football
[edit]In April 2024, Shudak signed with the Iowa Rampage, an arena football team that ultimately folded a month later after a single game and without playing a single home game.[15] Then, ahead of the 2024 NFL season, the Pittsburgh Steelers brought Shudak into their spring mini-camp, but he did not ultimately make the team.[16]
In December 2024, Shudak signed with the Omaha Beef of the National Arena League ahead of the 2025 NAL season.[17]
Personal life
[edit]Shudak's father, Jeff, played kicker at Iowa State and is one of their all-time leading scorers.[18]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f "Caleb Shudak". Iowa Hawkeyes. April 10, 2020.
- ^ Howe, Rob (January 30, 2016). "Council Bluffs Kicker Caleb Shudak Accepts Iowa's Walk-On Opportunity". Hawkeye Nation.
- ^ Steppe, John (October 15, 2021). "After 5 years of patience, 'friendly rivalry,' Caleb Shudak shows grade 'A' kicking for Iowa football". The Gazette.
- ^ Helmer, Josh (May 2, 2022). "Best photos of Caleb Shudak's Iowa Hawkeyes career". USA Today.
- ^ "Caleb Shudak B1G Special Teams Player of Week". Sports Illustrated. November 29, 2021.
- ^ "2022 NFL Draft Scout Caleb Shudak College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved April 16, 2023.
- ^ Glennon, John (May 5, 2022). "New Class of Undrafted Rookies Looks to Catch On". Sports Illustrated.
- ^ Arthur, Ben (August 23, 2022). "Tennessee Titans placekicker Caleb Shudak moved to Reserve/PUP, out at least four games". The Tennessean.
- ^ Moraitis, Mike (November 26, 2022). "Titans kicker Caleb Shudak to make NFL debut in Week 12 vs. Bengals". USA Today.
- ^ "Caleb Shudak Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com.
- ^ Wyatt, Jim (December 3, 2022). "Titans Activate OLB Ola Adeniyi from Injured Reserve, Waive Kicker Caleb Shudak". TennesseeTitans.com.
- ^ Wyatt, Jim (December 6, 2022). "Titans Make Several Roster Moves on 53-Man Roster, Practice Squad". TennesseeTitans.com. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
- ^ Wyatt, Jim (January 10, 2023). "Titans Sign 12 Players to Reserve/Futures Contracts". TennesseeTitans.com.
- ^ Wyatt, Jim (August 22, 2023). "Titans Agree to Terms With Kicker Michael Badgley, Waive Kickers Caleb Shudak and Trey Wolff". TennesseeTitans.com.
- ^ Heinen, Austin (April 16, 2024). "Welcome home: Shudak signs with Rampage". THe Daily Nonpareil.
- ^ "New Steelers K grew up playing Gaelic football". The Weirton Daily Times. May 11, 2024.
- ^ "Caleb Shudak - Stats". beeffootball.com. Omaha Beef.
- ^ Batterson, Steve (September 9, 2021). "Roots Run Deep". The Courier. p. B1, B2 – via Newspapers.com.
