[NFL] 43 years & 30 days... the run is over. Damn you thin Denver air!!!

redthirtyone

redthirtyone

November 8, 1970 - a diminutive man with half a foot kicked a 63 yard field goal to help the Saints defeat the Detroit Lions. This was one of the longest standing records in professional sports.

Every time I watched a NFL kicker attempt a FG of this length, I held my breath a little.

For you see, it was also the day I was born.

And now I feel like part of my identity has been taken.

Broncos' Matt Prater kicks record setting 64-yard FG

/sigh it was a good run... :(
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

And the thing is, that FG by Prater won't even matter, in the long run of the game. 51-28 right now.
 
redthirtyone

redthirtyone

Yup - was just thinking that. Dempsey's was a game winner.

But for years I figured Elam was going to be the one to do it, or at the very least someone playing a game in Denver.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
Prater deserves an asterisk.

Let's see him do this at sea level and I'll be suitably impressed.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
That graphic shows that sea level has a definition already. Use that one as opposed to the 1 mile over sea level in Denver.
 
Reverent-one

Reverent-one

Dave said:
Prater deserves an asterisk.

Let's see him do this at sea level and I'll be suitably impressed.
Click to expand...
Air gets denser as it gets colder, and Praeter did it in 18~ degree weather rather than the 65~ Degree weather Dempsey did (according to Pro Football Reference). So that would at least partly offset the altitude change, someone more knowledgeable about weather could say how much. The Bronco's have been playing in one Mile High Stadium or another as long as that record has been around, so if the altitude made it easy to do, someone else should have done it already. So still impressive.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Should every no-hitter not thrown at Coors Field have an asterisk, since curve balls will also curve less in the lower viscosity air?
 
redthirtyone

redthirtyone

One of the reasons the record stood for so long was that there has to be a perfect situation for the attempt to even occur. The line of scrimmage has to be around the 46 yard line. Depending on the kicker, most teams would rather just chuck up a hail Mary from that spot than try a FG. Most of the attempts of 63+ took place at the end of the first half, just as this one did, where there's not as much of a sense of urgency. At that point your choices are FG try, hail mary or take a knee.

Jason Elam was the Broncos' kicker for many years. He had a strong enough leg & the Denver air, and in fact he was one of the 3 kickers who had tied the record. Janikowski has always had the leg no matter where, and the Raiders suck just hard enough for it to have happened.

There is a little known clause to the fair-catch rule, where the team making a fair-catch is allowed a free kick with no defense. Basically allowing the kicker to take a running kick-off style kick at the goalposts. This is the scenario I saw having the best chance of breaking the record.
There have only been ~30 attempts of 63 or more yards since 1988. Multiple attempts by Elam & Janikoswki[DOUBLEPOST=1386634455,1386634341][/DOUBLEPOST]
kicks.JPG
[DOUBLEPOST=1386634611][/DOUBLEPOST]5 of those attaempts were in Denver. All unless noted were at the end of the first half.
 
jwhouk

jwhouk

There have been free kicks (formally known as "Fair Catch Kicks") made in NFL history - but the last one was made in 1976. Ray Wersching of the San Diego Chargers made a 45-yard FG with no time left in the first half against Buffalo on 11/21/76.
 
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