64-yard FG in Denver

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64-yard FG in Denver
Started by Rupert Patrick, Dec 08 2013 07:02 PM
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#1 Rupert Patrick
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Posted 08 December 2013 - 07:02 PM

Matt Prater hit a 64-yard FG at the end of the first half, setting a new NFL record.

#2 JuggernautJ
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Posted 08 December 2013 - 07:14 PM

and it had to be in Denver...

#3 Marble_Eye
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Posted 08 December 2013 - 07:21 PM

Tom Dempsey's kick was at Tulane Stadium, which is about sea level or possibly below, Wiki gives the New Orleans elevation as being anywhere from -6.5 feet below to 20 feet above, sea level. Two of the 3 tying kicks and the record breaker above (+ also, a 65 yard exhibition game effort) were all made in mile high Denver.

Just an interesting point is all. Congrats to the new record holder. I never thought 63 would last all these years. I still recall seeing the Dempsey kick on TV. It was amazing and barely made it too. I also recall Tex Schramm complaining that Dempsey's deformity gave him an unfair advantage via his special kicking shoe. I would think the PC crowd, of which I am not one; would vilify him today lol

#4 Rupert Patrick
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Posted 08 December 2013 - 07:53 PM

Marble_Eye, on 08 Dec 2013 - 7:21 PM, said:
Tom Dempsey's kick was at Tulane Stadium, which is about sea level or possibly below, Wiki gives the New Orleans elevation as being anywhere from -6.5 feet below to 20 feet above, sea level. Two of the 3 tying kicks and the record breaker above (+ also, a 65 yard exhibition game effort) were all made in mile high Denver.
Just an interesting point is all. Congrats to the new record holder. I never thought 63 would last all these years. I still recall seeing the Dempsey kick on TV. It was amazing and barely made it too. I also recall Tex Schramm complaining that Dempsey's deformity gave him an unfair advantage via his special kicking shoe. I would think the PC crowd, of which I am not one; would vilify him today lol

Did the shoe give Dempsey an unfair advantage? I tend to say it did not because Dempsey was a rather mediocre kicker during his career except for the 63-yarder. Sometimes athletes are able to take advantage of their disabilities to improve their performance; Baseball pitcher Three Finger Brown had a hand that was mangled in an accident when he was a kid and was able to use his unique grip to put a different spin on the ball and he went on to a Hall of Fame career. There was a lot of debate about track star Oscar Pistorius deriving a special advantage from his special prosthetic legs.

As far as the kick coming in Denver, my research has proven that a kicked ball travels five to seven yards further in Denver than anywhere else in the NFL. If Neil Rackers or Sabastian Janikowski had played for the Broncos and played half of his games in Denver, we might very well see a 70-yard FG.

#5 Marble_Eye
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Posted 08 December 2013 - 08:14 PM

Rupert Patrick, on 08 Dec 2013 - 7:53 PM, said:
Did the shoe give Dempsey an unfair advantage? I tend to say it did not because Dempsey was a rather mediocre kicker during his career except for the 63-yarder. Sometimes athletes are able to take advantage of their disabilities to improve their performance; Baseball pitcher Three Finger Brown had a hand that was mangled in an accident when he was a kid and was able to use his unique grip to put a different spin on the ball and he went on to a Hall of Fame career. There was a lot of debate about track star Oscar Pistorius deriving a special advantage from his special prosthetic legs.

As far as the kick coming in Denver, my research has proven that a kicked ball travels five to seven yards further in Denver than anywhere else in the NFL. If Neil Rackers or Sabastian Janikowski had played for the Broncos and played half of his games in Denver, we might very well see a 70-yard FG.

I don't believe his shoe gave him any special edge either. I was just thinking back to Dempsey and the original record setting kick and recalled that Schramm complained about it. You are correct, Dempsey wasn't a HOF kicker and cant really be said to have had any special advantage. I think the NFL gave this a cursory look at the time and decided "No edge".

Yes re: Denver I am amazed that the Dempsey record kick lasted 43 years before being broken. I always thought it would go long ago at some point by someone. Bert Rechichar's previous record 56 yard kick record only lasted 17 years from 1953.

#6 BD Sullivan
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Posted 08 December 2013 - 09:22 PM

Here is the CBS clip of Dempsey's FG--with Don Criqui on the call! You can easily detect Criqui's amusement about the Saints trying it--until it's good, then he goes crazy:

#7 luckyshow
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Posted 08 December 2013 - 10:47 PM

Rechichar also had a touchdown on an interception in the same game....

Few kickers do that anymore

#8 luckyshow
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Posted 08 December 2013 - 10:51 PM

In 1961, George Blanda had a 55 yard FG for the Houston Oilers v San Diego in the AFL.

In his first exhibition game for the Buffalo Bills, as a rookie, Pete Gogolak kicked a 58 yard field goal in a game played at Tampa, Florida

NFL Longest FG in playoff game: 58 yards Pete Stoyanovich, Miami v Kansas City

Only NFL pkayer to have one 60-yd. FG & one 50 (58-yd FG) in one game: Greg Zuerlein, St. Louis Rams v Seattle Seahawks, 9/30/2012

There was two 57 yard FGs in the USFL, one was at Denver

60 Steve Cox, Cleveland at Cincy
60 Morten Anderson, indoors, New Orleans v Bears
60 Rob Bironas, Tennessee v Indianapolis
60 Josh Brown, (exh) St. Louis v Indianapolis
60 Greg Zuerlein, St. Louis at Seattle
61 Jay Feely, Arizona v Buffalo
61 Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland v Cleveland
61 John Kasay, (exh), Carolina v New England
62 Matt Bryant, Tampa Bay v Philadelphia
The CFL record is 60 yards Dave Ridgeway, Saskatchewan v Winnipeg

This record is illusory. It all depends on where the ball is spotted and it usually now is only attempted at end of a half so it won't be spotted in their own territory on a miss.

#9 SixtiesFan
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 12:41 AM

Dempsey was capable of hitting a 63 yard FG or shanking an extra point.

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Posted 09 December 2013 - 12:52 AM

Marble_Eye, on 08 Dec 2013 - 8:14 PM, said:
I don't believe his shoe gave him any special edge either. I was just thinking back to Dempsey and the original record setting kick and recalled that Schramm complained about it. You are correct, Dempsey wasn't a HOF kicker and cant really be said to have had any special advantage. I think the NFL gave this a cursory look at the time and decided "No edge".

I remember seeing a picture of Dempsey's shoe. It was just a piece of leather that covered his foot. It did not have anything hard like a sole. Not much different than being bare footed.

#11 Marble_Eye
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 01:51 AM

Ola Kimrin of the Denver Broncos kicked a 65 yard field goal in an exhibition game on 8-29-02
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Ola_Kimrin
Ola Kimrin
Kimrin played for NFL Europe in 2001 and 2002. In the 2002 season, he led NFL Europe kickers in scoring (57 points) for the Frankfurt Galaxy, converting 12-of-24 field goals (long of 52) and 20-of-22 extra point attempts. He then signed a free agent contract with the Denver Broncos and kicked a 65-yard field goal in the final preseason game against Seattle. Had that kick taken place during the regular season, it would have eclipsed the NFL record shared by Tom Dempsey and Jason Elam of 63 yards. Despite the kick, he was released at the conclusion of camp in favor of veteran Jason Elam. (David Akers and Sebastian Janikowski also kicked 63 yard FG's after this Wiki entry was made )
------------------------------
http://espn.go.com/n...29/1424799.html
Thursday, August 29
Kimrin's kick tops existing record by 2 yards
Associated Press
DENVER -- Swedish kicker Ola Kimrin, who has little chance of sticking with the Denver Broncos with Jason Elam in front of him, made a 65-yard field goal Thursday night against Seattle.
The Broncos had the ball at the Seattle 48 with seven seconds left in the first half, when Jarious Jackson threw the ball out of bounds to set up a final play.
The crowd stirred as Kimrin ran out to attempt the kick from his own 45, then let out a huge roar when the ball sailed through the uprights with a few yards to spare as time expired.
Kimrin was mobbed by teammates as he ran toward the sideline, and Denver tight end Shannon Sharpe grabbed the ball and gave it to him as they left the field.
Elam hit a 63-yard field goal in 1998 to tie Tom Dempsey for the longest field goal in league history. Preseason games do not count in the league record book.
Kimrin led NFL Europe in field goals this year with 12 for Frankfurt. His long was 52 yards.
======================================================================
Kimrin kicked briefly for the Redskins in 2004, his only regular season in the NFL. He was 6 of 10 on FG and 6 of 6 on XP kicks.

#12 conace21
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 02:04 AM

SixtiesFan, on 09 Dec 2013 - 12:41 AM, said:
Dempsey was capable of hitting a 63 yard FG or shanking an extra point.

Dempsey had a strange 1975 season. He missed ten kicks all year. Half of those ten were extra points. His 80+% on field goals was one of the best in the league, but he was terrible on extra points.

#13 Mark L. Ford
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 09:03 AM
I wasn't surprised when I heard that the record was broken in Denver. Besides the field goal examples above, that was also the site of the longest NFL punt (9/21/69 by the Jets' Steve O'Neal at Denver). There's no asterisk in the record books for high-altitude achievements-- not yet.

#14 John Grasso
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 09:35 AM

SixtiesFan, on 09 Dec 2013 - 12:41 AM, said:
Dempsey was capable of hitting a 63 yard FG or shanking an extra point.

Dempsey also had a share of the record for shortest field goal (8 yards) which
he set in the same game as his 63-yarder. That win was only the second for
N.O. that year and they didn't win another game that season as they lost their next 6.

#15 BD Sullivan
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 11:45 AM

Mark L. Ford, on 09 Dec 2013 - 09:03 AM, said:
I wasn't surprised when I heard that the record was broken in Denver. Besides the field goal examples above, that was also the site of the longest NFL punt (9/21/69 by the Jets' Steve O'Neal at Denver). There's no asterisk in the record books for high-altitude achievements-- not yet.

The Browns' Don Cockroft had a career-high 57-yard field goal in 1972--in a game at Denver.

#16 luckyshow
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 12:04 PM

The 8 yard field goal is a permanent record, impossible to achieve now that 17 would be the lowest distance possible.

For someone crappy at extra points, an 8 yarder was actually an achievement. If goal posts were on the goal line and they set up 7 yards back, the scrimmage line must have been at the 1.

#17 Rupert Patrick
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 05:51 PM
Denver was also the site of the back-to-back FG attempts at the end of the first half in the week 1 game against the Giants in 2001. With seven seconds to play in the first half, Jason Elam attempted a 65-yard FG that was wide left, after which there was still one second left on the clock. The Giants brought out Owen Pochman, who attempted a 63-yard FG that was wide right to end the first half.

#18 JWL
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 07:00 PM

luckyshow, on 09 Dec 2013 - 12:04 PM, said:
The 8 yard field goal is a permanent record, impossible to achieve now that 17 would be the lowest distance possible.
For someone crappy at extra points, an 8 yarder was actually an achievement. If goal posts were on the goal line and they set up 7 yards back, the scrimmage line must have been at the 1.

Jim Turner was given credit for a 7-yard FG vs the Chiefs in a 1969 playoff game. Maybe that was an error and it really was an 8-yarder?

#19 Magda
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 08:29 PM

conace21, on 09 Dec 2013 - 02:04 AM, said:
Dempsey had a strange 1975 season. He missed ten kicks all year. Half of those ten were extra points. His 80+% on field goals was one of the best in the league, but he was terrible on extra points.

How did he miss them - wide? blocked? I'm always amazed by PAT stats of yesteryear.

#20 Magda
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 08:36 PM

Take 1975 for instance: 13 of the 26 teams were less than 90% successful on PATs. It's weird that that was considered acceptable.

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64-yard FG in Denver
Started by Rupert Patrick, Dec 08 2013 07:02 PM
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#21 Rupert Patrick
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 09:09 PM

Magda, on 09 Dec 2013 - 8:36 PM, said:
Take 1975 for instance: 13 of the 26 teams were less than 90% successful on PATs. It's weird that that was considered acceptable.

It took a couple years for Extra Point success percentages to start going up after the goal posts were moved to the back of the end zone before the 1974 season. The XP percentage in 1973 was 96.7 percent, but dropped to 90.5 and 90.6 in 1974 and 75. The 1976 expansion added Tampa Bay and Seattle, and two kickers who were otherwise not good enough to kick in the NFL in 1975 were kicking in 1976, and the XP percentage dropped again, to 89.7. It started going up from there, and by 1991, the XP percentage was at 97.2 percent, higher than it was in 1973 when it was a 10-yard Extra Point, and it has been above 1973 levels every year since. In 2012 the Extra Point percentage was 99.5 percent.

#22 luckyshow
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 10:02 PM

Maybe Turner was 7 yards. If the ball was maybe inches from the goal line?

#23 Teo
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Posted 09 December 2013 - 10:47 PM

Rupert, do you know by your research of the straight-on kickers of the 70s had much lower percentage than the European/Latin American soccer-style kickers of the same period?

#24 Rupert Patrick
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Posted 10 December 2013 - 01:12 AM

Teo, on 09 Dec 2013 - 10:47 PM, said:
Rupert, do you know by your research of the straight-on kickers of the 70s had much lower percentage than the European/Latin American soccer-style kickers of the same period?

I would have to segregate the data, but I will borrow from evolution theory and say the soccer style kickers were more successful because they have survived and thrived over the past 40 years while the straight on kickers have disappeared and the species seems to be extinct. I doubt I will see another straight on kicker in my lifetime.

#25 TouchdownTimmy
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Posted 10 December 2013 - 01:36 AM

The play by play of Dempsey's 63 yarder by Don Criqui is nothing like it would be today. Criqui almost sounds dismissive as Dempsey lines up and only casually mentions that the kick would set a league record. Then he actually says "I don't believe this" after Dempsey's kick sounds like a cannon.

To his credit, he does get excited as the kick goes through the uprights, but doesn't go overboard like some play by play guys would today.

#26 Jay Z
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Posted 10 December 2013 - 11:13 PM

Rupert Patrick, on 09 Dec 2013 - 9:09 PM, said:
The 1976 expansion added Tampa Bay and Seattle, and two kickers who were otherwise not good enough to kick in the NFL in 1975 were kicking in 1976, and the XP percentage dropped again, to 89.7.

I understand, but I'm not really sure that happened in 1976. The two primary kickers for the expansion teams both kicked in 1975 (David Green and John Leypoldt.) Two other 1975 kickers were cut in 1976, George Blanda and George Hunt. Two experienced kickers who had been hurt in 1975, Chester Marcol and Efren Herrera, were back. Marcol beat out Joe Danelo, who moved to NY to replace Hunt. Herrera beat out Toni Fritsch, who eventually moved to SD to replace Ray Wersching.

Green was replaced in CIN by Chris Bahr. But Bahr was a second round choice; he was going to be replacing somebody. Blanda was indirectly replaced by Benny Ricardo, as Errol Mann ultimately moved over to OAK. Leypoldt was replaced by George Jakowenko. Jakowenko actually had a pretty good year, but didn't stick long term regardless.

I think if there had been no expansion, I think Leypoldt and Green would have lost their jobs and not gotten new ones so quickly. But they were actually established NFL kickers.

#27 Chrisskreager
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Posted 10 December 2013 - 11:32 PM

What's forgotten is that Dempsey's kick capped off what was game and standings wise a big upset in that era.

Going into that game- Detroit was 5-2, New Orleans 1-5-1.

New Orleans finished 2-11-1, not winning another game after this. Detroit finished a solid 10-4.

#28 NWebster
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Posted 11 December 2013 - 10:47 AM

I'm pretty sure Matt Blair personally blocked more PAT's in a couple seasons in the mid/late 70's than are blocked by all players these days. I miss the blocked kick as an outcome, much of it was legislated out - no jumping from behind the line, no jumping off a team-mate, but much has to do with the higher trajectory of the soccer style kickers.

#29 luckyshow
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Posted 11 December 2013 - 01:09 PM

Do you remember how some teams came up with odd ways to try to block the new soccer style kickers? This means the Gogolak brothers in college. I recall one Life Magazine picture where the opponents had their players stacked on top of each other like a human pyramid. Why they didn't then fake and run around it I don't know but it was quickly made illegal...

#30 TouchdownTimmy
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Posted 12 December 2013 - 02:02 PM

Chrisskreager, on 10 Dec 2013 - 11:32 PM, said:
What's forgotten is that Dempsey's kick capped off what was game and standings wise a big upset in that era.

Going into that game- Detroit was 5-2, New Orleans 1-5-1.

New Orleans finished 2-11-1, not winning another game after this. Detroit finished a solid 10-4.
Yes, Tom Fears had just been fired by the Saints and J.D. Roberts was coaching his first game. It has been said that Roberts didn't know what else to do so sent Dempsey out to kick the field goal.

#31 Mark L. Ford
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Posted 12 December 2013 - 04:59 PM

What's forgotten is that Dempsey's kick capped off what was game and standings wise a big upset in that era.

Going into that game- Detroit was 5-2, New Orleans 1-5-1.

New Orleans finished 2-11-1, not winning another game after this. Detroit finished a solid 10-4.
I remember that some organization gave Dempsey its annual "Bonehead of the Year Trophy", with their reason being that he kept the Saints' from getting the number one draft pick, which went to the (then) Boston Patriots, who finished 2-12-0.

#32 Rupert Patrick
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Posted 15 December 2013 - 10:35 AM

I came across this video medley of past attempts to break the 63-yard FG record and thought I would pass this along:

http://www.nfl.com/n...ieldgoal-record

#33 nicefellow31
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Posted 18 December 2013 - 05:38 PM

I officiate high school games and worked a game where a young man kicked a 60 yard FG to set the record for the state of Virginia. What was funny is that at my position, linesman, I'm supposed to watch the wide guys and make sure there's no holding or cheap shots etc. However this game, the defensive players gave a half hearted effort, stopped and turned and watched the kick. In our post game discussion, pretty much everyone on my officiating crew admitted that they watched the kick too and were thinking "the heck with the these players."
http://weblogs.daily...hristopher.html

#34 LJP
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Posted 18 December 2013 - 05:53 PM

Forgetting about the record for a minute, how epic was Baltimore Ravens K Justin Tucker's 61-yard game winning FG against the Lions? It dropped the Lions to 7-7 and behind the Bears (8-6) in the NFC North. Despite the Lions holding the head-to-head tiebreaker, the Bears could clinch the division this week (or next) and the Lions would miss the playoffs. Outdoors in December that kick would have had no chance - another reason not to play indoors
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