As we saw last week, Tom Dempsey of the New Orleans Saints kicked an unprecedented 63-yard field goal in a National Football League (NFL) game in 1970. His record stood for 43 years!
In 2013, Matt Prater of the Denver Broncos kicked a 64-yard field goal against the Tennessee Titans, eclipsing Dempsey’s effort. Eight years later, in 2021, Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens booted one from 66 yards against the Detroit Lions, and that remains the record.
Poor Dustin Aubrey! In September 2024, kicking for the Dallas Cowboys against the Baltimore Ravens, Aubrey hit from 65 yards out and hardly gets mentioned!
So, as luck would have it, a 63-yard 3-pointer is a record for over four decades and, today, a 65-yarder is not even a record for a minute!
Which gets us back to the point of this article: that NFL kickers are trying – and making – longer field goals than the game has ever seen before.
Forget for a moment the 60- plus-yard attempts that rarely sail through the uprights. Forget, too, the time (in 2008) when Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders attempted one from 76 yards. Do I have to tell you that it missed the mark?
For years, in most NFL games, the “gold standard” for field goals was 50 yards or more. A little internet research shows that the most 50-yard (or longer) field goals recorded in an NFL season was in 2023 when 158 were made.
In 2024 kickers will shatter that mark with room to spare! Ka’imi Fairbairn of the Houston Texans kicked 12 field goals of 50 or more yards through the first 12 weeks of the season!
Cynics may note that the NFL seasons have gotten longer over the years. True, the league has taken advantage of the sport’s popularity to add more games.
Obviously, expanded schedules are going to lead to more records, but the number of long field goals is not only going up in number but in per-game frequency – as we will continue to discuss next week.
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