Field goal
Drop-kicked field goals were common in the early days of gridiron football but are almost never attempted in modern times.
[2] Since a field goal is worth only three points, as opposed to a touchdown, which is worth six points, it is usually only attempted in specific situations, such as when the offense has reached its final down but has advanced the ball into field goal range, or when there is not enough time left in the half to score a touchdown.
Even under ideal conditions, the best professional kickers historically had difficulty making kicks longer than 50 yards consistently.
The third longest is 63, originally set by Tom Dempsey (1970) and then matched by Jason Elam (1998), Sebastian Janikowski (2011), David Akers (2012), Graham Gano (2018), Brett Maher (2019), and Joey Slye (2024).
Similarly, the sport of arena football sought (unsuccessfully) to repopularize the drop kick by making that worth four points; it failed since only one kicker (Brian Mitchell) was able to do it with any semblance of proficiency.
In comparison, Jan Stenerud, one of only three pure kickers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (along with fellow placekicker Morten Andersen and punter Ray Guy), had a career field goal percentage of 66.8% from 1967 to 1985.
[citation needed] Instead of the regular center, a team may have a dedicated long snapper trained especially to snap the ball on placekick attempts and punts.
[7] Reflecting his roots in European soccer, Gogolak observed that kicking the ball at an angle could cover more distance than kicking straight-on; he played college football at Cornell and made his pro debut in 1964 with the Buffalo Bills of the AFL; his younger brother Charlie was also an NFL kicker.
The soccer-style kick gained popularity and was nearly universal by the late 1970s; the last full-time straight-on kicker in the NFL was Mark Moseley, who retired in 1986.
If there is any time left in the half, the method of resuming play after a successful field goal varies between leagues.
If there is a significant likelihood of a miss and the strategic game situation warrants it, the defense places a player downfield, in or near their end zone, to catch the ball.
(This is not the case in arena football, where large "rebound nets" surround the goal posts for the explicit purpose of keeping the ball in play.)
For the 1991 and 1992 seasons, this meant potentially severe angles for short field goal attempts, since the hashmark width remained at 53 ft 4 in (16.26 m).
[13] The "slingshot" goalpost, having a single post curving 90° up from the ground to support the crossbar, was invented by Jim Trimble and Joel Rottman in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
They debuted in the 2nd game of the CFL's Eastern Conference final in 1966 at Montreal's Autostade because Landsdowne Park (now TD Place Stadium), the home of Ottawa Rough Riders, was undergoing renovations.
A special exemption was allowed by the NFL for the New Orleans Saints to use the offset goalposts during the 2005 season, when they used LSU's stadium for home games after Hurricane Katrina.
Goalposts at the professional level today are sometimes equipped with a video camera mounted to the stanchion immediately behind the center of the crossbar.
The longest successful field goal in NFL history was 66 yards by Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens against the Detroit Lions on September 26, 2021.
The longest field goal attempt in an NFL game was 76 yards by Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders against the San Diego Chargers on September 28, 2008.
Cloudy Prior to Dempsey's 1970 kick, the longest field goal in NFL history was 56 yards, by Bert Rechichar of the Baltimore Colts in 1953.
In a pre-season NFL game between the Denver Broncos and the Seattle Seahawks on August 29, 2002, Ola Kimrin kicked a 65-yard field goal.
In another pre-season NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Las Vegas Raiders on August 17, 2024, Brandon Aubrey kicked a 66-yard field goal.
The longest known drop-kicked field goal in college football was a 62-yard kick from Pat O'Dea, an Australian kicker who played for Wisconsin.
[41] The longest field goal in U Sports football history is 59 yards, by Niko Difonte of Calgary Dinos, playing against the UBC Thunderbirds on November 11, 2017.
[42][43] Field goal returns are rare in the NFL, since an attempt with sufficient distance that misses the uprights will automatically be dead.
The record of 109 yards, set by Antonio Cromartie in 2007 and tied by Jamal Agnew in 2021, is the maximum number of yards that can be achieved on a scoring play: Because the goalposts in Canadian football are on the goal line, and because downing the ball in the end zone results in the kicking team scoring a single point, field goal returns are much more common.
Since the shortening of the end zones in the CFL in 1986, a field goal has been returned for the maximum 129 yards on four occasions: by Bashir Levingston of the Toronto Argonauts on June 28, 2007,[58] by Dominique Dorsey also of the Toronto Argonauts on August 2, 2007,[59] by Tristan Jackson of the Saskatchewan Roughriders on July 14, 2012 [60] and by Trent Guy of the Montreal Alouettes on September 23, 2012.
