document_title: Field goal

question_text: who has kicked the longest field goal ever

root

text: Field goal

text: Strategy[edit]

text: As a field goal is worth only three points, while a touchdown scores at least six (which usually becomes seven with a successful conversion, and potentially 8 with a two-point conversion), teams will generally attempt a field goal only in the following situations:

tag: p

text:
It is fourth down (third down in Canadian rules), especially if the offense is more than a yard or two from a new first down, and within about 45 yards of the goal posts.
In the first half, there is enough time remaining to execute only one more play.
In the second half, there is enough time remaining to execute only one more play, and the team on offense needs three points to win or tie (four points in a few leagues given special circumstances).
The game is in overtime, and a FG is the quickest, easiest, and least risky way to end the match.

tag: ul

text: Except in desperate situations, a team will generally attempt field goals only when keeping a drive alive is unlikely, and its kicker has a significant chance of success, as a missed field goal results in a turnover at the spot of the kick (in the NFL) or at the line of scrimmage (in the NCAA). In American high school rules and Canadian football, where a missed field goal is treated the same as a punt, most teams still opt not to attempt field goals from very long range since field goal formations are not conducive to covering kick returns. Even under ideal conditions, the best professional kickers historically had difficulty making kicks longer than 50 yards consistently (the NFL record is 64 yards and the CFL record, 62 yards).[2] If a team chooses not to attempt a field goal on their last down, they can punt to the other team. A punt cannot score any points in American football unless the receiving team touches the ball first and the kicking team recovers it (though it can result in a single in Canadian football), but it may push the other team back toward its own end.

text: The longest field goal kick in NFL history is 64 yards, a record set by Matt Prater on December 8, 2013. The previous record was 63, originally set by Tom Dempsey and then matched by Jason Elam, Sebastian Janikowski, and David Akers. High school, college and most professional football leagues offer only a three-point field goal; however, some professional leagues have encouraged more rare kicks through four-point field goals. NFL Europe encouraged long field goals of 50 yards or more by making those worth four points instead of three (much like Australian rules' Super Goal or basketball's three-point line), a rule since adopted by the Stars Football League. 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 six-man football, where there is no offensive line, all field goals are worth four points instead of the usual three.)

text: The overall field goal percentage during the 2010 NFL season was 82.3. In comparison, Jan Stenerud, one of only two pure kickers in the Pro Football Hall of Fame (along with Ray Guy), had a career field goal percentage of 66.8 from 1967 to 1985.[2]

text: How field goals are kicked[edit]

text: When a team decides to attempt a field goal, it will generally line up in a very tight formation, with all but two players lined up along or near the line of scrimmage: the placekicker and the holder. The holder is usually the team's punter or backup quarterback.[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.

text: The holder usually lines up seven to eight yards behind the line of scrimmage, with the kicker a few yards behind him. Upon receiving the snap, the holder holds the ball against the ground vertically, with the stitches away from the kicker. The kicker begins his approach during the snap, so the snapper and holder have little margin for error. A split-second mistake can disrupt the entire attempt.

text: The measurement of a field goal's distance is from the goalpost to the point where the ball was positioned for the kick by the holder. In American football, where the goalpost is located at the back of the end zone (above the end line), the ten yards of the end zone are added to the yard line distance at the spot of the hold.

text: In the early days of the sport, placekickers approached the ball straight on, with the toe making first contact with the ball. The technique of kicking the ball "soccer-style", by approaching the ball at an angle and kicking it with the instep, was introduced by kicker Pete Gogolak in the 1960s.[3] The Hungarian-born Gogolak, reflecting his roots in European soccer, observed that kicking the ball at an angle could cover more distance than kicking straight on; today, the soccer-style kick is now universal; the last straight on kicker in the NFL was Mark Moseley, who last played in 1986.

text: Successful field goals[edit]

text: If there is any time left in the half, the method of resuming play after a successful field goal varies between leagues.

text: Missed field goals[edit]

text: A missed field goal is said to be "no good" if the kicked ball does not cross between the uprights and/or over the crossbar of the goal posts. If it misses to the posts' left it may be called "wide left" and "wide right" if it misses to the posts' right. A field goal attempt may be described as "short" if it does not have sufficient distance to go over the cross bar. Some commentators will only describe a field goal attempt as being short if it appears to have been aimed correctly while others will describe an attempt appearing to lack both accuracy and distance as being both wide and short.

text: If a field goal attempt is missed and does not go out of bounds, a defensive player may catch the ball and return it, like a punt or kickoff. This type of play usually occurs during an extremely long field goal attempt due to the distance the defense must travel to reach the returner. 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. The risk in this is that the return man may be tackled deep in his own territory, at a considerably worse position than he could have gotten by letting the ball go dead (see below); furthermore, should the returner fumble the ball, the kicking team can recover it and gain a new set of downs (the advantage is that the kicking team is lined up very close together to stop kick blockers, and not spread across the field like a kickoff or punt team, and is therefore in poor position to defend the return). Thus, teams will usually return a kick only towards the end of a half (when the kick will be the final play) or in a particularly desperate situation.

text: If a ball caroms off one of the goal posts or the crossbar, but lands in the field of play, the ball is considered dead and cannot be returned. (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.) However, if the ball caroms off one of the goal posts or the crossbar and continues into the goal, the score counts.

text: Situations where the defense does not return a missed field goal vary between leagues and levels of play:

text: Blocked field goals[edit]

text: Occasionally, the defense will succeed in blocking a field goal. If a blocked field goal is in or behind the neutral zone, it is treated like a fumble and can be advanced by either team. Beyond the neutral zone, a blocked kick is treated like a punt and can be advanced only by the defense, unless a defensive player fumbles the ball, after which an offensive player can advance it.

text: History[edit]

text: In the early days of football, kicking was highly emphasized. In 1883, the scoring system was devised, with field goals counting for 5 points, and touchdowns and conversions worth 4 apiece. In 1897, the touchdown was raised to 5 points while the conversion was lowered to 1 point. Field goals were devalued to 4 points in 1904, and then to the modern 3 points in 1909. The touchdown was changed to 6 points in 1912 in American football; the Canadian game followed suit in 1956.

text: The spot of the conversion has also changed through the years. In 1924, NCAA rules spotted the conversion at the 3-yard line, before moving it back to the 5-yard line in 1925. In 1929, the spot was moved up to the 2-yard line, which the NFL had done until 2014. In 1968, the NCAA diverged from the NFL rules in moving the spot back to the original 3-yard line. Canadian rules originally spotted the conversion at the 5-yard line, which remains closer than in the American code as the goalposts are at the front of the end zone. In 2015, to make conversion kicks harder, the NFL and CFL moved the spot of the kick to the 15 and 25-yard lines, respectively. In addition, the CFL moved the spot for a two-point conversion up to the 3-yard line to entice more teams to go for 2 points as opposed to one.

text: The goalposts were originally located on the goal line; this led to many injuries and sometimes interfered with play. The NCAA moved the goal posts to the rear of the end zone in 1927. The NFL (still following NCAA rules at the time) followed suit, but moved the posts back to the goal line starting in the 1932 NFL Playoff Game, a change made necessary by the size of the indoor Chicago Stadium and kept when the NFL rules stopped mirroring the NCAA rules in 1933. The NFL kept the post at the goal line until 1974, when they were moved back to the rear of the end zone. This was partly a result of the narrowed hashmark distance made in 1972, which had made for easier field-goal angles. The Canadian game still has posts on the goal line.

text: The width of the goalposts and the hashmarks have also varied throughout the years. In 1959, the NCAA goalposts were widened to 23 feet 4 inches (7.11 m), the standard width for high school posts today. In 1991, the college goalposts were reduced in width to 18 ft 6 in (5.64 m), matching the NFL. 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). In 1993, the NCAA narrowed the distance between the hashmarks to 40 ft (12.19 m), matching what was the width of hashmarks in the NFL from 1945 through 1971; the NFL narrowed the hashmarks in 1972 to goalpost width at 18.5 feet (5.64 m). In the CFL, the hashmarks are 51 feet (16 m), but the field is 195 feet (59 m) in width, 35 feet (11 m) wider than the American field.

text: The NFL increased the height of the uprights above the crossbar to 20 feet (6.10 m) in 1966 and 30 feet (9.14 m) in 1974. In 2014, they were raised five feet to 35 feet (10.67 m) after the adoption of a proposal by New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.[7]

text: The "slingshot" goalpost, with a single post curving to support the crossbar, was invented by Jim Trimble and Joel Rottman in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[8] The first were built by Alcan and displayed at Expo 67,[8][9] the World's fair in Montreal. The NFL had standardized the goalposts in 1966 and adopted the slingshot for the 1967 season;[8] the NCAA later adopted the same rule, but later allowed the use of "offset" goalposts, with two posts rather than one (which were the norm prior to the invention of the "slingshot" goalposts). The CFL was the first league to use the new goalposts; they made their debut in the 2nd game of the CFL's Eastern Conference final in 1966 (which was played at Montreal's Autostade as Landsdowne Park [now TD Place Stadium], the home of Ottawa Rough Riders, was undergoing renovations), and were used in the Grey Cup the next week at Vancouver's Empire Stadium. Three schools in Division I FBS currently use dual-support posts: Florida State, LSU, and Washington State. 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.

text: Goalposts at the professional level today are sometimes equipped with a camera mounted to the stanchion immediately behind the center of the crossbar. Since these cameras are both above and slightly behind the crossbar, a field goal attempt will be judged good if it strikes this equipment.

text: In 1989, the NCAA banned the kicking tee for field goals and extra points, requiring kicks from the ground.[10][11]

text: During the 2011 NFL season, a record 90 field goals of 50 yards or longer were made.[12] In 2012, this record was increased to 92 field goals of 50 yards or longer.[12]

text: Longest field goal records[edit]

text: This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2010) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

tag: table

text: As recorded in Guinness World Records:

text: The record for a field goal at any level is 69 yards. It was kicked by Ove Johansson of the Abilene Christian University Wildcats in the 1976 game against East Texas State University Lions (now Texas A&M University–Commerce) in Shotwell Stadium, Abilene, Texas.[13]

text: NFL[edit]

text: The longest field goal made was 64 yards by Matt Prater of the Denver Broncos on December 8, 2013.[14] The longest field goal attempt in an NFL game was 76 yards by Sebastian Janikowski on September 28, 2008.[15]

text: In the history of the NFL regular season, only 18 field goals have been made from at least 60 yards:[16]

text:
Distance
Kicker
Team
Result
Opposition
Date
Notes
Location
Elevation
Weather

64 yards
Matt Prater
Denver Broncos
51–28
Tennessee Titans
December 8, 2013
End of 1st half
Sports Authority Field at Mile High
5,280 ft (1,610 m)
13 °F; Sunny; Wind: S at 3 mph; Humidity: 72%

63 yards
Tom Dempsey
New Orleans Saints
19–17
Detroit Lions
November 8, 1970
Born with a stub for a right foot. Game-winning kick as time expired. Detroit kicker Errol Mann had kicked a field goal with :08 remaining to give Lions the lead.
Tulane Stadium
16 ft (4.9 m)

63 yards
Jason Elam
Denver Broncos
37–24
Jacksonville Jaguars
October 25, 1998
First field goal to tie record; soccer-style kicker
Mile High Stadium
5,280 ft (1,610 m)

63 yards
Sebastian Janikowski
Oakland Raiders
23–20
Denver Broncos
September 12, 2011
Left-footed
Sports Authority Field at Mile High
5,280 ft (1,610 m)
Light rain early

63 yards
David Akers
San Francisco 49ers
30–22
Green Bay Packers
September 9, 2012
Left-footed; end of first half; ball bounced off crossbar before crossing the plane
Lambeau Field
640 ft (200 m)
70 °F; Mostly Cloudy; Wind: N at 7 mph; Humidity: 43%

62 yards
Matt Bryant
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
23–21
Philadelphia Eagles
October 22, 2006
Game-winning kick as time expired
Raymond James Stadium
35 ft (11 m)

62 yards
Stephen Gostkowski
New England Patriots
33–8
Oakland Raiders
November 19, 2017
Right-footed; kicked as time expired at the end of the first half
Azteca Stadium
7,280 ft (2,220 m)
63 °F; Mostly Cloudy

61 yards
Sebastian Janikowski
Oakland Raiders
9–23
Cleveland Browns
December 27, 2009
Left-footed
FirstEnergy Stadium
580 ft (180 m)

61 yards
Jay Feely
Arizona Cardinals
16–19 (OT)
Buffalo Bills
October 14, 2012
Right-footed; longest game-tying field goal with 1:09 remaining in the 4th quarter, missed a 38-yard field goal that would have won the game at the end of regulation
University of Phoenix Stadium
1,150 ft (350 m)
Retractable roof closed

61 yards
Justin Tucker
Baltimore Ravens
18–16
Detroit Lions
December 16, 2013
Right-footed; game-winning field goal with 43 seconds remaining; sixth field goal of the game
Ford Field
601 ft (183 m)[17]
Dome

61 yards
Greg Zuerlein
St. Louis Rams
18–21 (OT)
Minnesota Vikings
November 8, 2015
Right-footed
TCF Bank Stadium
869 ft (265 m)
58 °F (14 °C); sunny

61 yards
Jake Elliott
Philadelphia Eagles
27–24
New York Giants
September 24, 2017
Right-footed; game winning kick as time expired. Second game of NFL career. NFL rookie record for longest made field goal.
Lincoln Financial Field
39 ft (12 m)
91 °F (33 °C); sunny

60 yards
Steve Cox
Cleveland Browns
9–12
Cincinnati Bengals
October 21, 1984
Straight-ahead kick; on AstroTurf
Riverfront Stadium
490 ft (150 m)

60 yards
Morten Andersen
New Orleans Saints
17–20
Chicago Bears
October 27, 1991
Left-footed; on AstroTurf; first 60-yard kick done indoors
Louisiana Superdome
Sea level
Dome

60 yards
Rob Bironas
Tennessee Titans
20–17
Indianapolis Colts
December 3, 2006
Right-footed; game winner with six seconds remaining
LP Field
400 ft (120 m)

60 yards
Dan Carpenter
Miami Dolphins
10–13
Cleveland Browns
December 5, 2010
End of 1st half
Sun Life Stadium
5 ft (1.5 m)
77 °F (25 °C), wind SW at 14 mph (23 km/h)

60 yards
Greg Zuerlein
St. Louis Rams
19–13
Seattle Seahawks
September 30, 2012
In his rookie season; longest field goal in third quarter; also kicked a 58-yard field goal in the first quarter
Edward Jones Dome
466 ft (142 m)
Dome

60 yards
Chandler Catanzaro
Arizona Cardinals
18–33
Buffalo Bills
September 25, 2016
Longest field goal in career
New Era Field
600 ft (180 m)

text: Prior to Dempsey's 1970 kick, the longest field goal in NFL history was a 56-yard field goal by Bert Rechichar in 1953. A 55-yard field goal, achieved by a drop kick, was recorded by Paddy Driscoll in 1924, and stood as the unofficial record until that point; some sources indicate a 54-yarder by Glenn Presnell in 1934 as the record, due to the inability to precisely verify Driscoll's 55-yarder.

text: 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.[18] However, because pre-season games are not counted toward official records, this accomplishment is not the official record.

text: CFL[edit]

text:
62 yards, Paul McCallum, Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. Edmonton Eskimos, October 27, 2001[19]
60 yards, Dave Ridgway, Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers, September 6, 1987[19]

text: College football[edit]

text:
69 yards, Ove Johansson, Abilene Christian vs. East Texas State on October 16, 1976. (NAIA)
67 yards, Tom Odle, Fort Hays State vs. Washburn, 1988. (NCAA)
67 yards, Joe Williams, Wichita State vs. Southern Illinois, 1978. (NCAA Division I)
67 yards, Russell Erxleben, Texas vs. Rice, 1977. (NCAA Division I)
67 yards, Steve Little, Arkansas vs. Texas, 1977.[20] (NCAA Division I)
65 yards, J. T. Haxall, Princeton vs. Yale, 1882.

text: All of the above kicks were successful with the use of a kicking tee, which was banned by the NCAA after the 1988 season.

text: 65 yards, Martin Gramatica, Kansas State vs. Northern Illinois, 1998 - without a tee [21]

text: The longest known drop-kicked field goal in college football was a 62-yard kick from Pat O'Dea, an Australian kicker who played on the Wisconsin Badgers football team. O'Dea's kick took place in a blizzard against Northwestern on November 15, 1898.[22]

text: U Sports[edit]

text: 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. The field goal was the final and winning play of the 81st Hardy Cup.[23][24]

text: High school[edit]

text:
68 yards, Dirk Borgognone, Reno High School vs. Sparks High School (Nevada), September 27, 1985[25][26]
67 yards, Austin Rehkow, Central Valley High School (Spokane Valley, Washington) vs. Shadle Park High School (Spokane, Washington), October 18, 2012, game-tying FG with :02 left in 4th quarter (CV would go on to win 62-55). [27][28] (tied with two others)
62 yards, David Rosenbaum, Woodrow Wilson High School (Washington, D.C.) vs. Spingarn High School, October 3, 2003. While no records are kept, considered to be the longest extra point scored. Penalties due to excessive celebration, unsportsmanlike conduct, and taunting.[29]

text: Independent amateur[edit]

text: 68 yards, Fabrizio Scaccia, Treasure Coast Bobcats (FL), March 29, 2009[30] (world record for a kick without the aid of a tee, which was banned for field goal and extra point attempts in the NCAA in 1989)

text: Independent Women's Football League[edit]

text: 44 yards, Sarah Oliver, California Quake vs. New Mexico Menace, April 26, 2008.[31]

text: Longest missed field goal return records[edit]

text: NFL[edit]

text: Field goal returns are rare in the NFL, since an attempt with sufficient distance that misses the uprights will automatically be dead. Returns are possible when a field goal is short, but in that case returners will usually down the ball so as to scrimmage from the spot of the kick. Normally, a return will only be attempted when there is not enough time left in the half to run a play from scrimmage. Nevertheless, four field goals have been returned for at least 107 yards in the 21st century:

text:
Distance returned
Returner
Team
Opposing kicker
Opposing team
Distance attempted
Date
Location

109 yards[32]
Antonio Cromartie
San Diego Chargers
Ryan Longwell
Minnesota Vikings
58 yards
November 4, 2007
Metrodome

108 yards[33]
Devin Hester
Chicago Bears
Jay Feely
New York Giants
52 yards
November 12, 2006
Giants Stadium

108 yards[34]
Nathan Vasher
Chicago Bears
Joe Nedney
San Francisco 49ers
52 yards
November 13, 2005
Soldier Field

107 yards[35]
Chris McAlister
Baltimore Ravens
Jason Elam
Denver Broncos
57 yards
September 30, 2002
Ravens Stadium

text: CFL[edit]

text: 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. The longest missed field goal return in the CFL is 131 total yards. Against the Montreal Alouettes on August 22, 1958, the Toronto Argonauts' Boyd Carter ran 15 yards, then threw a lateral to Dave Mann, who then returned it for the final 116 yards.[36] This return, which started 21 yards behind the goal line, was during the era of 25-yard end zones (which made the maximum theoretical missed field return distance 134 yards in those days) and therefore cannot be met or exceeded on the modern field with 20-yard end zones. Since the shortening of the end zones in the CFL in 1986, a field goal has been returned for the maximum 129 yards on two occasions: by Tristan Jackson of the Saskatchewan Roughriders on July 14, 2012 [37] and by Trent Guy of the Montreal Alouettes on September 23, 2012.[38]

text: NCAA[edit]

text: In NCAA college football, only five missed field goals returns for touchdowns have ever been returned 100 yards or more:[39]

text:
September 17, 1966: Don Guest (California Golden Bears), 108-yard return for a touchdown after a failed 47-yard field goal attempt by Washington State.[39]
September 28, 1968: Richie Luzzi (Clemson Tigers), 108-yard return for a touchdown after a failed 47-yard field goal attempt by Georgia.[40]
September 7, 2013: Odell Beckham Jr. (LSU Tigers), 109-yard return for a touchdown after a failed 59-yard field goal attempt by UAB.[39]
November 30, 2013: Chris Davis, Jr. (Auburn Tigers), 109-yard return for a touchdown after what would have been a tie-breaking 57-yard field goal attempt by Alabama fell short as time expired, what some writers and fans call the greatest play in college football history.[41][42][43][44]
September 3, 2016: Brandon Wilson (Houston Cougars), 109-yard return for a touchdown after a failed 53-yard field goal attempt by Oklahoma.[45]

text: U Sports[edit]

text: In U Sports football, like in the CFL, the longest possible missed field goal return is 129 yards, and this has occurred three times.[24]

text:
Jeremy Botelho of the Manitoba Bisons playing against the Simon Fraser Clansmen on September 11, 2009
Jedd Gardner of the Guelph Gryphons playing against the McMaster Marauders on October 8, 2010
Tunde Adeleke of the Carleton Ravens playing against the Ottawa Gee-Gees on October 5, 2013