Chris Blewitt signs with Washington Football Team

Former Pitt kicker Chris Blewitt was signed to the active roster of the Washington Football Team on Wednesday after spending two weeks on the team’s practice squad. And in a corresponding move, the Washington Football Team released kicker Dustin Hopkins.

Hopkins had been Washington’s kicker since 2015, and since then, he had made 84 percent of his field goals and 94.2 percent of his extra points. However, the kicker missed two extra points in his team’s 34-30 loss to the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 3 and misfired on a 42-yard attempt in Washington’s 31-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, and that may have created the chance for Blewitt.

Blewitt last kicked in a game on Dec. 28, 2016, for Pitt and has yet to make his NFL debut. However, he did have a four-month stint on the Chicago Bears practice squad in 2019 as the team sought to replace Cody Parkey, following his infamous Double Doink miss in a 16-15 playoff loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

The native of Alexandria, Virginia, played for Pitt between 2013 and 2016 and became the Panthers’ all-time leader in made fields goals and extra points, with 55 and 198, respectively. He converted 69.6 percent of his field goals and 97.1 percent of his extra points during his collegiate career, and his most notable moment in blue and gold came in Pitt's 43-42 upset of Clemson in 2016, when he made the game-winning field goal from 48 yards out.

Wednesday’s move means Blewitt will take over for Hopkins as Washington’s kicker, as it leaves him as the only player at his position on the team’s roster. Blewitt will get his first pro start when Washington takes on the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field on Sunday.