Nets behind the goalposts - when?

[Rupert Patrick]

At what point did teams start putting up nets for kicking plays to prevent the balls from sailing into the stands? I figure it had to be sometime in the 1960's. A google search came up empty on this one. Any assistance would be appreciated.

[sheajets]

In the early to mid 80's I can still remember no nets behind the posts in certain stadiums. Houston comes to mind. Candlestick possibly?

[Ronfitch]

Was it a league-wide standardized practice or were some stadiums doing it earlier on their own?

[RRMarshall]

Yes, it was done by a few teams and it gradually caught on. In one of his books Gary Yepremian details how the Dolphins starting using the nets in the late 1970s to keep him from kicking the ball into the pool in back of the end zone where the Dolphins' mascot Flipper resided. He kept trying to kick the ball over the net and into the pool on extra points just to rile up management.