Tucker Sets New Field Goal Distance Record

[Zero26]

Justin Tucker today set a new record for the longest field goal in NFL History at 66 yards... two thirds of the field..

https://www.nfl.com/news/ravens-kicker- ... goal-lions

Will we see the record broken again?
What do you think is the longest possible field goal; the limits of human ability?

Tucker himself thinks he can kick 84-85 as his absolute limit in Denver. While that might be a little much, longer kicks are somewhat common in out of game settings and the big issue isn't whether some kickers can do it but how often coaches give those kickers a chance to try as it's a low percentage kick. If I had to predict I'd say the record won't last long and will settle somewhere in the low 70s.

https://www.nfl.com/news/justin-tucker- ... 0000679593

I'm a Lion fan(1 of 3 favorite teams)and I don't have it in me to get too upset about the missed delay of game since we weren't contending anyway this year. What's important is the team is going in the right direction and they finally seem to have the right management in place.

[sheajets]

Both times against Detroit...amazing

Still this is the era of robo kickers. It was indoors on turf. Still amazing. Don't want to take anything away from him but Dempsey with half a foot, on grass outdoors will always be one of the most amazing moments ever, far above this one

[sheajets]

Both times against Detroit...amazing

Still this is the era of robo kickers. It was indoors on turf. Still amazing. Don't want to take anything away from him but Dempsey with half a foot, on grass outdoors will always be one of the most amazing moments ever, far above this one

[rhickok1109]

I think larger roster sizes have played a big role in the amazing performances by today's kickers.

I watched many practices in the 1950s and 1960s and quite a few in the 1970s, when there was no such position as long snapper and the holder on kicks was almost always the starting QB. The punter, as often as not, was a position player and so was the kicker, well into the 1960s. There was no such thing as special teams practice. After the regular practice ended, the starting center, starting QB, and kicker usually worked on their timing and coordination for 10 minutes or so while the punter practiced alone and apart from them with a bag of balls, which he kicked, one by one, to the equpment manager (or, more likely, his assistant, who then gathered up the balls and put them back into the bag. Very occasionally, maybe once a week, the center also spent a few minutes practicing snaps to the punter.

I can't begin to estimated how many missed field goals I saw because the snap was just a few inches off the mark or the holder wasted a precious fraction of a second because he slightly mishandled the ball. That hardly ever happens nowadays.

Another factor is that kickers are groomed from a very early age. Many (most?) high schools now have kicking specialists. Those kids, probably taking advice from their fathers, know that colleges will give scholarships based on kicking ability alone.

[Brian wolf]

That was part of the beauty of the NY Jets in 1968. With the acquisition of QB Babe Parilli, the Jets and kicker Jim Turner suddenly had a holder with great hands and willingness to spot the ball properly which aided Turner greatly and helped him lead the league in FG conversions. Nothing against Namath or whoever placed the ball but QBs never really like doing that job knowing their hands could get kicked at any time ...

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

I think larger roster sizes have played a big role in the amazing performances by today's kickers.

I watched many practices in the 1950s and 1960s and quite a few in the 1970s, when there was no such position as long snapper and the holder on kicks was almost always the starting QB. The punter, as often as not, was a position player and so was the kicker, well into the 1960s. There was no such thing as special teams practice. After the regular practice ended, the starting center, starting QB, and kicker usually worked on their timing and coordination for 10 minutes or so while the punter practiced alone and apart from them with a bag of balls, which he kicked, one by one, to the equpment manager (or, more likely, his assistant, who then gathered up the balls and put them back into the bag. Very occasionally, maybe once a week, the center also spent a few minutes practicing snaps to the punter.

I can't begin to estimated how many missed field goals I saw because the snap was just a few inches off the mark or the holder wasted a precious fraction of a second because he slightly mishandled the ball. That hardly ever happens nowadays.

Another factor is that kickers are groomed from a very early age. Many (most?) high schools now have kicking specialists. Those kids, probably taking advice from their fathers, know that colleges will give scholarships based on kicking ability alone.

All excellent points.

And back then guys like Lou Groza and Jerry Kramer were kickers -- offensive linemen! Could you imagine David Bakhtiari lining up for a game-winning field goal?

[sheajets]

That was part of the beauty of the NY Jets in 1968. With the acquisition of QB Babe Parilli, the Jets and kicker Jim Turner suddenly had a holder with great hands and willingness to spot the ball properly which aided Turner greatly and helped him lead the league in FG conversions. Nothing against Namath or whoever placed the ball but QBs never really like doing that job knowing their hands could get kicked at any time ...

Die hard Jets fan - didn't know that piece of information. Interesting. Turner went from being a slightly above 50% kicker to a 73% field goal percentage in 1968, best in his career. 2nd only to Stenerud in the AFL and Cockroft in the NFL (both were 75% iirc)

[RichardBak]

And a 73% success rate would get most FG kickers fired today. Funny how much that part of the game has changed.

[Zero26]

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/322 ... ing-target

This article gives a nice breakdown of the current kickers who can do it in the future.

The list has 8 kickers 3 of whom are in their first 2 NFL seasons. The 5 established names are Tucker, Prater, Butker, Myers and McManus. These are based on NFL sources so while Ammendola for example has missed his only FG longer than 35 yards apparently outside of games he has shown ability to get into the 60s.

2 kickers I'd potentially add to this group are the Bengals new one McPherson and Koo from the Falcons. McPherson's a rookie but looks very promising and Koo hasn't missed a field goal over 50 yards though he's never even attempted one in the high 50's.

Blankenship might be the best kicker of the new generation accuracy wise but with half of his misses beyond 50 it doesn't seem likely he'll be one to threaten this record.

[lastcat3]

I think larger roster sizes have played a big role in the amazing performances by today's kickers.

I watched many practices in the 1950s and 1960s and quite a few in the 1970s, when there was no such position as long snapper and the holder on kicks was almost always the starting QB. The punter, as often as not, was a position player and so was the kicker, well into the 1960s. There was no such thing as special teams practice. After the regular practice ended, the starting center, starting QB, and kicker usually worked on their timing and coordination for 10 minutes or so while the punter practiced alone and apart from them with a bag of balls, which he kicked, one by one, to the equpment manager (or, more likely, his assistant, who then gathered up the balls and put them back into the bag. Very occasionally, maybe once a week, the center also spent a few minutes practicing snaps to the punter.

I can't begin to estimated how many missed field goals I saw because the snap was just a few inches off the mark or the holder wasted a precious fraction of a second because he slightly mishandled the ball. That hardly ever happens nowadays.

Another factor is that kickers are groomed from a very early age. Many (most?) high schools now have kicking specialists. Those kids, probably taking advice from their fathers, know that colleges will give scholarships based on kicking ability alone.

That is all true and in addition to that players are now paid enough to where they don't have to have other jobs and can just focus entirely on their craft. They are simply able to hone their skills more now then they were thirty/forty/or fifty years ago.