Nick Folk

Folk was born to Anton and Kathryn Folk in Los Angeles, California. His father, an accountant born in Austria, grew up in Germany, and his mother is a pediatrician. Through his father's heritage, Folk and his younger brothers, Erik and Gregory, hold dual citizenship in the United States and Germany. Both of his brothers are also athletes; Erik kicked for the University of Washington Huskies football team, while Gregory played college soccer at UCLA before joining the Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer.

Folk is married to his wife, Julianne, and the couple has four children, including twin boys, a daughter, and a younger son. Outside of football, Folk is an enthusiastic soccer supporter and belongs to the Viking Army Supporters Club for the New York Red Bulls. After his cousin Blake Robinson was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis at eighteen months old, Folk partnered with the Children's Tumor Foundation to raise awareness and funding for medical research.

Before entering college, Folk attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California, where he competed in both football and soccer. He accepted a scholarship to play college football for the Arizona Wildcats at the University of Arizona, where he majored in marketing.

Folk took over the Wildcats' primary placekicking and punting duties as a sophomore. In 2005, he converted a 52-yard field goal against USC, which stood as his longest kick in college. By the end of his senior season in 2006, he had earned first-team All-Pac-10 honors, finishing his collegiate tenure with 30 field goals, 79 extra points, and 96 punts averaging 44.2 yards.

The Dallas Cowboys selected Folk in the sixth round with the 178th overall pick in the 2007 NFL draft. During his rookie campaign, he converted a 53-yard game-winning field goal against the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football. Folk went 26 for 31 on field goals and made all 53 extra points, earning a selection to the 2008 Pro Bowl as the first rookie kicker in Cowboys history. He also set a franchise rookie scoring record with 131 total points.

In his second year in Dallas, Folk made 91 percent of his field goal attempts and converted all 42 extra points. However, following the 2008 season, he suffered a torn labrum in his hip that required surgery in May 2009. Returning quickly from rehabilitation, Folk experienced inconsistent mechanics during the 2009 campaign, making only 18 of 28 field goals before the Cowboys waived him in December.

Folk signed with the New York Jets in February 2010, working closely with special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff to rebuild his kicking motion. In October 2010, he kicked a franchise-record 56-yard field goal against the Denver Broncos and became the first Jets kicker since 1984 to make five field goals in a home game. Later that postseason, Folk converted a game-winning kick with three seconds remaining to defeat the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Wild Card round.

Folk spent seven seasons in New York during his initial stint, receiving the franchise tag in 2014 and signing a multi-year extension. During the 2013 season, he converted 23 consecutive field goals and achieved a 91.7 percent success rate. By the time he was released prior to the 2017 season, he ranked second on the franchise's all-time scoring list with 729 points and 175 field goals.

Folk returned to the Jets in 2025 for a second tenure. That season, he connected on a career-long 58-yard field goal against the Miami Dolphins and kicked a 56-yard game winner in Week 13 against the Atlanta Falcons, marking the 20th game-winning kick of his NFL career.

Following brief stints with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2017 and the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football in early 2019, Folk joined the New England Patriots in October 2019. In 2021, Folk co-led the NFL in scoring with 150 points, tying Daniel Carlson. He also broke Stephen Gostkowski's franchise mark by making 36 consecutive field goals and established an NFL record by converting 64 straight kicks from under 50 yards between 2020 and 2022.

In August 2023, the Patriots traded Folk to the Tennessee Titans. Folk set a Titans franchise record during the 2023 season by making 29 of 30 field goals (96.7 percent). He led the NFL in field goal accuracy again in 2024 at 95.5 percent, converting all six of his attempts from 50 yards or beyond. In March 2026, Folk signed a two-year contract to join the Atlanta Falcons.