Los Angeles Chargers sign former Illini kicker James McCourt as undrafted free agent
Illinois kicker James McCourt is hoisted into the air by his teammates after the game against Wisconsin. McCourt has signed with the Los Angeles Chargers.
April 30, 2022
The Los Angeles Chargers have signed Illinois kicker James McCourt at the conclusion of the NFL draft.
McCourt was born in Ireland but played high school football in the state of Florida, joined Illinois for the 2016 season. After a few seasons, McCourt made his Illinois debut against Minnesota in 2018.
Come the 2019 season, McCourt started all 13 games at kicker, making 13 out of 19 field goals. Most memorably, he kicked a 39-yard field goal to upset No. 6 Wisconsin on Homecoming. The game would go down as the largest upset over a ranked team in Big Ten in the last 40 seasons.
In 2020, he was awarded an All-Big Ten honorable mention (media and coaches) after starting in six games, only missing two due to COVID-19 protocols.
In his final season, he was named to the All-Big Ten third team (media and coaches) after McCourt went 18 out of 23 on the season, making all of his extra points.
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He leaves Illinois with the most 50+ yard field goals in program history with eight and has the eighth-best career field goal accuracy percentage in program history at 71.2%.
McCourt joins fellow Illini quarterback Brandon Peters on the Chargers, as he was also signed as an undrafted free agent.
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