ON THIS DATE IN 1989: Jason Elam’s rare miss leaves UH tied

Nobody is perfect, not even a Hall of Famer.

On this date in 1989, Jason Elam missed a 47-yard field goal with no time on the clock and Hawaii tied Air Force 35-all in front of a crowd of 37,604 at Aloha Stadium.

Elam, who was inducted into the UH Hall of Fame in 2002 and is knocking on the door of bigger Halls in Canton and Atlanta, had missed only one field goal on 21 attempts before he missed his last one. Long snapper Lemoe Tua, holder Kyle Ah Loo and Elam all agreed the snap and placement were perfect. Then a Kona wind got ahold of the attempt a few yards in front of the crossbar and knocked the ball to the turf short and left.

“It’s my fault,” Elam said. “It felt good. Everything went right, then it just trailed off to the left. But this is every kicker’s nightmare.”