citrin@ucbvax.ARPA (Wayne Citrin) (12/14/84)
I think I read this a long time ago, but I'm not sure that it's true, and if it is true, how come I've never seen it? Supposedly, if a team takes a fair catch, the rules allow it a free kick from the point of the catch. This implies the following situation: Team A punts from their own 5 (say), and team B signals a fair catch at the 40. Using the above rule, they take a free kick, put the ball on a tee, and kick it through the uprights for a field goal. Since it's a free kick, team A can't block it. Is this all bull, or what? Wayne Citrin (ucbvax!citrin)
stevev@tekchips.UUCP (Steve Vegdahl) (12/17/84)
> I think I read this a long time ago, but I'm not sure that it's true, and > if it is true, how come I've never seen it? > > Supposedly, if a team takes a fair catch, the rules allow it a free kick > from the point of the catch. This implies the following situation: > > Team A punts from their own 5 (say), and team B signals a fair catch at > the 40. Using the above rule, they take a free kick, put the ball on a > tee, and kick it through the uprights for a field goal. Since it's a > free kick, team A can't block it. > > > Is this all bull, or what? > > Wayne Citrin > (ucbvax!citrin) I saw a "free" after-fair-catch field goal attempt on an "NFL week in review" highlight show a number of years ago (early 70's?). I believe it was the Bears who kicked it. I don't remember who the kicker was, who they were playing, or whether it was successful. I mostly remember being surprised that such a rule existed. ******************************** Steve Vegdahl NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR Computer Research Lab. typos Tektronix, Inc. logical errors Beaverton, Oregon actions of my pet alligator ********************************
martin@noscvax.UUCP (Douglas W. Martin) (12/18/84)
I am quite sure that the NFL record 63-yard field goal which allowed New Orleans to beat Detroit 17-16 several years ago was a free kick after a fair catch. Furthermore, that fair catch was on the -37 yard line, before the goal posts were moved to the back of the end zone. Doug Martin
citrin@ucbvax.ARPA (Wayne Citrin) (12/18/84)
Thanks to the readers who responded to my question on the free kick after a fair catch. Apparently it is a valid rule and has occurred at least twice in the last 20 years. One respondent pointed out that the Packers won a game in the mid-1960's on that play, while two other respondents said that regulation time in the long KC-Miami playoff game in the early '70's ended on a free kick after a fair catch, although the kick was wide. Wayne Citrin (ucbvax!citrin)
kek@mgweed.UUCP (Kit Kimes) (12/19/84)
I don't know if the rules are the same now but the Chicago Bears did just what you suggested several years ago to kick a winning field goal with time running out. Kit Kimes AT&T Consumer Products Montgomery Works Montgomery, Il. 60538-0305 ..!ihnp4!mgweed!kek
wab@reed.UUCP (Baker) (12/31/84)
The fair catch is, I believe, yet another leftover rule from the time that American football developed from rugby, thereby degenerating as a sport. In rugby, a player who wishes to catch the ball may call for a "mark". To do this he shouts "mark" and simultaneously plants one foot firmly in the pitch, making a mark. He must hold this mark and catch the ball on the fly. If he does this correctly, then the referee awards him the mark and the player may then free kick from the mark. Since the mark is normally a defensive maneuver, most free kicks from marks are punts, but I believe that the player may also drop-kick or place kick for points just as one can after a fair-catch. Australian rules football is almost totally a game of marks. There, any catch on the fly is a mark and a player may kick for points. Of course, Aussie rules also developed from rugby, thereby degenerating... The real difference between these maneuvers and a fair catch is that play goes on until a referee awards the mark. In Aussie rules the mark is ubiquitous, so play does not proceed very far. In rugby, however, the mark is not used much and the referee may take a few seconds to decide and they often do not award the mark. All the while play goes on. Also, the mark is primarily used to deal with a very high punt into the opposition's half of the field. This means that most times a mark is called the opposition is very close. The fullback calls for a mark, the opposing pack thunders down on him, and the fullback either gets the mark or he doesn't. The result for the fullback is the same either way: Once he has the ball and until the referee, most likely strolling comfortably far behind the play, awards the mark the man is playable...and most often played. This is why rugby has very specific rules regarding which player takes the free kick if the player awarded the mark is unable to take the kick due to injury. Calling a mark is sometimes the last play a player will make, yet if the situation calls for it a rugger will use it and get creamed. This is interesting when compared to football, a game in which the players are padded all over (no pads at all in rugby), which has significant penalties for roughing a player who has called for a fair catch. From a true rugby chauvinist, Bill Baker tektronix!reed!wab
stevev@tekchips.UUCP (01/01/85)
> I am quite sure that the NFL record 63-yard field goal > which allowed New Orleans to beat Detroit 17-16 > several years ago was a free kick after a fair catch. > Furthermore, that fair catch was on the -37 yard line, > before the goal posts were moved to the back of the end zone. Hmm. The way I remember the story is that Detroit had just scored to put themselves ahead by a point or two with just a few seconds (~10?) left on the clock. On the ensuing kickoff, the Saints returned the ball to their own 45. Their coach sent the field goal unit onto the field, thinking that the ball had been returned to the DETROIT 45 (which would have been a plausable 53ish-yard field goal back in those days of goal-line goalposts). Tom Dempsey and crew, not to question why, tried their best at the 63-yarder, which amazingly succeeded. I seem to remember reading this in Sports Illustrated. Does it ring a bell with anyone, or is my imagination running away with me? As long as we're on the subject of long field goals, did anyone see the bowl game a couple weekends ago in which the game was ended by a 71-yard would-have-broken-the-tie field goal attempt that came within a foot or so of the crossbar? I forget the names of the kicker, teams and even the bowl game. Can someone fill in the details? Back to free kicks. Can anyone give an itemization of situations in which a team is awarded (or may elect) a free kick? After a safety is the only other situation that comes to mind (a kickoff is not a free kick--you don't have the option of punting). I seem to remember reading that one could not score a field goal on a free kick that follows a safety, even if wind conditions and/or penalties made it physically possible. As long as I'm on the subject of safeties, someone a long time ago told me that after a safety, the scored-upon team had the option of foregoing the free kick, and running one play from scrimmage (effectively a 4th down and 80 yards to go). I have no reason to believe this to be true, but it sticks in my mind. If true, one can imagine some unusual behavior by a team in the closing seconds of a game taking advantage of this rule. ******************************** Steve Vegdahl NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR Computer Research Lab. typos Tektronix, Inc. logical errors Beaverton, Oregon actions of my pet alligator ********************************