Shaun Christopher Suisham (; born December 29, 1981) is a Canadian former professional American football player who was a placekicker in the National Football League (NFL), primarily for the Pittsburgh Steelers, while also playing for the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins. He was signed by the Steelers as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He played college football for the Bowling Green Falcons.
Suisham was born in Wallaceburg, Ontario, to Rick and Wendy Suisham. He attended Holy Family Catholic School before attending Wallaceburg District Secondary School, where he began playing football under his uncle Rob MacLachlan, the coach of the team. He also helped Suisham make a highlight reel to send out to colleges.
As a junior in 1998, he kicked two field goals (from 58 and 27 yards) and helped Wallaceburg win the league championship for the first time since 1968. As a senior in 1999, he was named the conference offensive MVP. He was also rated as the number-one placekicker in Canada, after setting school and Ontario field goal records.
Suisham accepted a football scholarship from Bowling Green State University, starting from the spring 2000 semester. He suffered an injury during spring practice and was forced to take a medical redshirt. He played under coach Urban Meyer in 2001 and 2002.
As a freshman, he was named the starter at placekicker, converting 44-of-45 extra points, 3-of-8 field goal attempts and scoring 53 points.
As a sophomore, he converted 12-of-14 field goal attempts and set a new Mid-American Conference and school record by converting 57-of-59 extra point tries. He had a career-high 3 field goals made against the University of Missouri.
As a junior, he converted 16-of-24 field goal attempts and 56-of-60 extra point tries. In the season opener against Eastern Kentucky University, he set school records for extra point attempts and conversion in a single-game, making all of his 9 tries. He kicked a season-long 47-yard field goal against Purdue University.
As a senior, he converted 14-of-20 field goal attempts, set a Mid-American Conference record by making all 69 of his extra points attempts and kicked a career-long 52-yard field goal against Ohio State University. He was a Lou Groza Award semifinalist after finishing 12th in the nation in scoring with a 9.3 points-per-game average. He set the All-time NCAA Division I record for extra points made in a career (226).
He left Bowling Green as the all-time leading scorer of the Falcons football team with 361 points, while also setting records with 45 career field goals and 31 touchbacks. He graduated in 2005 with a degree in exercise science.
Pittsburgh Steelers (first stint)
Suisham was selected by the Ottawa Renegades in the third round (20th overall) of the 2004 CFL draft and his rights were traded to the Edmonton Eskimos. He instead opted to sign as an undrafted free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League on April 28. He played in the first game of the preseason against the Philadelphia Eagles, converting a 46-yard field goal and an extra point. On August 28, he was waived after not being able to pass Jeff Reed on the depth chart.
On September 4, 2005, he was signed by the Dallas Cowboys to their practice squad. On October 11, he was released and later re-signed to the practice squad on October 18. On October 24, he was promoted to active roster to replace José Cortez. After two weeks on the team, in which he went 2 for 2 on field goals, he was released on November 19, so the Cowboys could sign Billy Cundiff. On December 26, he was re-signed for the season finale after Cundiff struggled.
On March 23, 2006, the team signed Mike Vanderjagt to improve its kicking game. Vanderjagt suffered a groin injury in training camp that kept him out of action for most of the preseason games. He returned for the final preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings, but missed two field goals in overtime of 32 and 33 yards (both misses were wide right), forcing the contest to end in a tie. These circumstances forced the Cowboys to make the unconventional move of keeping 2 kickers on the regular season roster, helping Suisham to make the team. He was named the starter for the Cowboys' season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 10, 2006. He attempted two kicks during the game, the first of which was good from a then-career-long 52 yards. The second attempt, which would have given the Cowboys the lead, hit the right upright of the goalpost. He went on to kick for five more weeks as a kick off specialist. On October 12, he was released and signed to the practice squad on October 14. He was released on October 17.
On October 24, 2006, Suisham was signed to the San Francisco 49ers' practice squad. He was released on October 31.
On November 28, 2006, he was signed to the Washington Redskins' practice squad. On December 2, he was promoted to the active roster. Despite missing his first field goal attempt (from 50 yards) and struggling on kickoffs against the Atlanta Falcons, the team decided to keep him instead of placekicker Nick Novak. He would go on to make 8 consecutive field goals to finish out the year. He kicked his first game-winning field goal from 39 yards in an overtime victory over the Miami Dolphins in the Redskins' season-opener on September 9, 2007.
On March 16, 2009, he was re-signed by the Redskins. On December 6, he missed a 23-yard field goal that likely would have sealed an upset win against the undefeated New Orleans Saints. The team went on to lose the game in overtime, 33–30. On December 8, he was released and replaced him with former UFL kicker Graham Gano.
On December 21, 2009, the Cowboys signed Suisham, after Nick Folk missed 10 field goals during the season. He was two out of three in the regular season. On January 17, 2010, he played in the NFC Divisional Playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings, his fourth game after replacing Nick Folk. He missed twice, including kicks from 48 and 49 yards, making one field goal from 33 yards. He was not re-signed after the season.
On May 18, 2010, Suisham signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Browns. On June 17, he was released after not being able to pass Phil Dawson on the depth chart.