Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

This was one of my favorite moments in NFL history. The woeful young Saints pulling out a miraculous last second win over a strong Detroit team on a miracle 63 yard field goal. So many other little things get forgotten that allowed that kick to happen. A great diving toetap catch by Abramowicz put them on the outer fringes, and a bad poor snap recovery by Joe Scarpati saved the moment

This was a record that I wanted to see last forever. The guy grew up physically disabled, was teased mercilessly, and then kicks a longer field goal than any able bodied person at that time. I recall reading in an old Football Digest about just how unusual that kick sounded when he made contact at the ball, and how the author claimed it was like a baseball bat smacking against a wet mattress.

I've always wondered if Dempsey was given an opportunity to break his own record? Football-reference doesn't show 60+ attempts.

Another interesting bit of knowledge was that Dempsey was diagnosed with dementia in 2013 at 66 years of age. Now don't know his family history but as a kicker, he didn't exactly absorb much in term of head trauma. Though I don't know if he attempted to play at a position other than K growing up. It would've been exceedingly difficult even with accommodations made.

sheajets wrote:I've always wondered if Dempsey was given an opportunity to break his own record? Football-reference doesn't show 60+ attempts.

I've accounted for all of Tom Dempsey's misses. He did attempt a 61-yarder in week 10 of the 1974 season against St. Louis which missed. It was his only other 60-yard attempt. In addition, he was 0-2 from 58 yards, 0-4 from 57 yards, 0-6 from 56 yards and 1-3 from 55 yards. Dempsey was a total of 2-17 from 55 and over, which means from 50-54 he was 10-22.

Dempsey's 729 career kicking points is 90th on the all-time list thru 2016. His career PAL of +2.53 means over the course of entire career, he scored 2.5 more points than an average contemporary kicker would have given the same number of field goal and extra point attempts. In other words, it means he is average. However, his PAL2 career score (which is a much more accurate measure) is +37.65, which is quite good, putting him 27th best all time.

What's not often mentioned is that Dempsey also kicked the shortest field goal in the NFL
in that same game - an 8-yarder.

sheajets wrote:This was one of my favorite moments in NFL history. The woeful young Saints pulling out a miraculous last second win over a strong Detroit team on a miracle 63 yard field goal. So many other little things get forgotten that allowed that kick to happen. A great diving toetap catch by Abramowicz put them on the outer fringes, and a bad poor snap recovery by Joe Scarpati saved the moment

This was a record that I wanted to see last forever. The guy grew up physically disabled, was teased mercilessly, and then kicks a longer field goal than any able bodied person at that time. I recall reading in an old Football Digest about just how unusual that kick sounded when he made contact at the ball, and how the author claimed it was like a baseball bat smacking against a wet mattress.

I've always wondered if Dempsey was given an opportunity to break his own record? Football-reference doesn't show 60+ attempts.

Another interesting bit of knowledge was that Dempsey was diagnosed with dementia in 2013 at 66 years of age. Now don't know his family history but as a kicker, he didn't exactly absorb much in term of head trauma. Though I don't know if he attempted to play at a position other than K growing up. It would've been exceedingly difficult even with accommodations made.

Heard an interesting comment by a Lions player in that game, it might have been Alex Karras, this was for an NFL Films segment in the 1980s. Karras said the Lions were incredulous at the time of Dempsey's kick, and didn't rush nearly as hard as they would have normally would have. The idea of even attempting a kick that long seemed foolish, but Karras added he wish they had made a greater effort, because the kick was low at the point of impact.

Sad to hear the news of Dempsey's current health, it sounds completely unrelated to football, however.

L.C. Greenwood wrote:

sheajets wrote:This was one of my favorite moments in NFL history. The woeful young Saints pulling out a miraculous last second win over a strong Detroit team on a miracle 63 yard field goal. So many other little things get forgotten that allowed that kick to happen. A great diving toetap catch by Abramowicz put them on the outer fringes, and a bad poor snap recovery by Joe Scarpati saved the moment

This was a record that I wanted to see last forever. The guy grew up physically disabled, was teased mercilessly, and then kicks a longer field goal than any able bodied person at that time. I recall reading in an old Football Digest about just how unusual that kick sounded when he made contact at the ball, and how the author claimed it was like a baseball bat smacking against a wet mattress.

I've always wondered if Dempsey was given an opportunity to break his own record? Football-reference doesn't show 60+ attempts.

Another interesting bit of knowledge was that Dempsey was diagnosed with dementia in 2013 at 66 years of age. Now don't know his family history but as a kicker, he didn't exactly absorb much in term of head trauma. Though I don't know if he attempted to play at a position other than K growing up. It would've been exceedingly difficult even with accommodations made.

Heard an interesting comment by a Lions player in that game, it might have been Alex Karras, this was for an NFL Films segment in the 1980s. Karras said the Lions were incredulous at the time of Dempsey's kick, and didn't rush nearly as hard as they would have normally would have. The idea of even attempting a kick that long seemed foolish, but Karras added he wish they had made a greater effort, because the kick was low at the point of impact.

Sad to hear the news of Dempsey's current health, it sounds completely unrelated to football, however.

I talk to these people all the time who say they would not let their kids play football, I always tell them to it's ok if they steer them toward being a kicker or punter. Those positions are the safest to play because they are on the field the shortest.

I noted before in a long-ago thread that Tex Schramm was his usual classy self by saying that Dempsey had an unfair advantage with his flat shoe. He apologized for his ignorant comment about 10 days later.

BD Sullivan wrote:I noted before in a long-ago thread that Tex Schramm was his usual classy self by saying that Dempsey had an unfair advantage with his flat shoe. He apologized for his ignorant comment about 10 days later.

Of course, the NFL did pass the "Tom Dempsey rule" in 1977, banning that type of shoe.