Quote:
Originally Posted by Rain Man
I think in college Jan Stenerud attempted a 90 yard field goal or something like that. I don't remember the reason, but I think under some old college rules it was basically a live-ball punt and Stenerud could kick it further than the punter.
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Here's an old SI article about Stenerud that mentions the field goal attempt made with the ball placed three-yards deep in his own endzone, a 113-yard attempt.
https://vault.si.com/vault/1968/11/0...a-strange-game
(In college, the goal posts had been "in the back" of the end zone since 1927. The NFL didn't move them there until 1974.) The article doesn't say what the rules were for a missed field goal. Even today, a field goal attempt can be recovered and returned within the field of play, but maybe in the old days, the field goal attempt was treated more or less like a punt, so missing one wasn't as bad for the kicking team, in terms of where the opponent gets to take over the ball as the current rules make it.
There's an interesting rule in NFL and high school football regarding fair catches, where a team that has just made a "fair catch" can execute a free kick (either as a punt or as a place kick) that can yield a 3-point Field Goal. The nice thing about it is that the defense has to start 10 yards away, so it yields a nice little advantage to a team like the Chiefs that has a terrific placekicker like Harrison Butker. We might end up winning a game one day because of that rule.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_catch_kick