Category: History and More

Cam Little’s 68-yard field goal against the Las Vegas Raiders last Sunday set a new NFL record, so the Jacksonville Jaguars kicker now stands alone with the longest three-pointer in league history.

But for how long?

His effort was of the “no doubt about it” variety, meaning it would’ve been good from 70 yards – a mark he had already met in a preseason game, incidentally. It was an impressive feat, and something he’ll always remember.

Thing is, though, it’s not gonna stand … not for any significant length of time, anyway. It might be broken later this season – or even as early as tomorrow. What once seemed next to impossible is now a probability.

The former record holder was Justin Tucker, whose 66-yard boot set a new standard back in 2021.

But this year alone there have been six field goals made from 60-plus yards, and 22 kickers have split the pipes from at least 55 yards away.

On October 19, both Dallas’ Brandon Aubrey and Green Bay’s Lucas Havrisik drilled 61-yard field goals, marking the first time in NFL history two 60-plus yarders had been made on the same day.

Yet, there was a time when a ball that cleared the crossbar from that distance was the ultimate rarity – and that time was November 8, 1970.

The lowly New Orleans Saints – on their way to a 2-11-1 worksheet in their fourth NFL season – trailed the Detroit Lions, 17-16, with just two seconds left in the game.

Instead of opting for a long bomb in hopes of a miracle finish, New Orleans boss J.D. Roberts (in his first game as head man after Tom Fears was fired) called Tom Dempsey’s number.

The 264-pound second-year kicker out of Palomar Junior College was asked to attempt a 63-yard field goal, which seemed ridiculous.

The longest field goal in league history was 56 yards, that set in 1956 by Baltimore’s Bert Rechichar in the Colts’ 13-9 victory over the Chicago Bears.

But long odds were hardly new to Dempsey, who was born with a congenital condition that left him with no toes on his right foot and no fingers on his right hand.

In fact, he wore a specially designed (and NFL-approved) shoe that featured a 1 ¾-inch-leather block at the toe. The 23-year-old had a powerful right leg, and the sporting world was about to learn just how strong it was.

So, with the ball at the Saints 45 (goal posts were located on the goal line in 1970), the snap to Joe Scarpati was placed down at the 37.

Sixty-three yards and an inch or two later, New Orleans had a 19-17 victory and the Crescent City had a new folk hero.

“We were beaten by a miracle,” Detroit coach Joe Schmidt said.

There were 66,920 fans at Tulane Stadium that day, and I’m guessing most claim to have witnessed the “miracle.” But Detroit’s Errol Mann made an 18-yard field goal 12 seconds earlier, sending thousands of them toward the exits.

“I knew I could kick the ball that far, but whether or not I could kick it straight kept running through my mind,” Dempsey told the Associated Press. “I knew I had to hit the ball awfully hard and would need a little extra time.

“There’s so much involved in kicking a 60-yard field goal. You’ve got to try and hit the ball as hard as you possibly can, and yet, kicking it straight is a hard thing to do. It just happened that I hit it right that time and it happened at the right time.”

Dempsey had already kicked three field goals in the game and wanted to try a 55-yarder earlier.

“We didn’t let him kick that shorter one,” Roberts told AP. “He was upset and I said, ‘Well, if you think you can get high trajectory on it, we’ll kick a long one a little later.’ But I didn’t think it would be that long.”

Who would have?

Certainly none of the Detroit players.

“Tom Dempsey didn’t kick that field goal,” Lions linebacker Wayne Walker said. “God kicked it.”

But no good deed goes unpunished, and three days after Dempsey’s historic kick, Dallas Cowboys president Tex Schramm said he was going to protest the use of Dempsey’s shoe. Schramm’s reasoning was that it gave the kicker an unfair advantage because of its sledgehammer-like design.

There was immediate backlash at the suggestion someone born with basically half a foot had an “advantage,” and Schramm withdrew his protest on November 13.

“It was a mistake and bad timing on my part,” Schramm said in an interview with The Times-Picayune of New Orleans. “I will not pursue it. I want to apologize to Tom Dempsey, the Saints and the people of New Orleans for the impression my remarks created. It was not my intent whatsoever to criticize Tom. That 63-yarder was a heck of an accomplishment and a tremendous tribute to him.”

(As a quick aside, in 1977 the NFL made a rule mandating that “… any shoe that is worn by a player with an artificial limb on his kicking leg must have a kicking surface that conforms to that of a normal kicking shoe.” It became known as the Tom Dempsey Rule, although Dempsey had no artificial limbs).

In 1992, the Detroit Free Press asked Dempsey to look back on his accomplishment.

“I always practiced kicking from 65 yards away,” he said. “Lots of times I’d kicked 70-yard field goals in practice, so I didn’t pay any attention to the distance on this kick.

“All I noticed was the goalposts looked a little small.”

The record stood for 43 years, although Denver’s Jason Elam tied it in 1998. It was broken by Broncos kicker Matt Prater’s 64-yard field goal against the Tennessee Titans on December 8, 2013.

Still, for those of us “old school” fans, Dempsey’s achievement remains one of the truly great moments in National Football League history.

Thirty-three years ago today, Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelly and San Francisco 49ers signal caller Steve Young put on an epic show for 64,503 fans at Candlestick Park – and millions more on  television.

In leading Buffalo to a 34-31 victory, Kelly hit 22 of 33 passes for 403 yards and three touchdowns.

Young, on the other hand, connected on 26 of 37 aerials for a career-high 449 yards and three scores.

They were hall of fame-worthy performances by two future Pro Football Hall of Famers.

“I guarantee you,” Kelly told the Reno Gazette-Journal, “no Super Bowl will be this entertaining.”

Added Young, “I don’t know what to say … honestly, I don’t.”

The teams combined for 1,086 yards, with 820 racked up via the passing game. There were no punts, a first in a regular season National Football League contest.

By 1992, both men had already established themselves as superstars on football’s biggest stage. Once they were done, they were regarded as two of the greatest to ever play the game.

Kelly spent 11 seasons in the NFL, throwing for 237 touchdowns and 35,467 yards and making four Pro Bowls.

Young had a 15-year career in football’s apex league, ending with 232 TD passes, 43 rushing scores, 33,124 yards through the air and six passing crowns. He was also a three-time Super Bowl champion.

Yet, while they’ll always be known as NFL legends, they first made their bones in the United States Football League. And on February 24, 1985, they went head-to-head in what has come to be known as “The Greatest Game No One Saw.”

It was the dawn of the third year of the USFL, and the renegade league was struggling. In August, 1984, owners voted to move to the fall and take on the NFL in what some fans saw as a suicide mission. With many ticket buyers seeing the handwriting on the wall, there was a palpable dip in enthusiasm for the product in 1985.

When Kelly and the Houston Gamblers came to California to take on Young and his Los Angeles Express in the season opener, only 18,826 people showed up at the Coliseum. And ABC – the primary TV partner of the spring league – had decided it would televise only one national game each Sunday. On this day, the network chose to showcase the Birmingham Stallions hosting the New Jersey Generals, with Doug Flutie debuting as the Generals’ quarterback.

But those who bought tickets to the game in the Coliseum witnessed history – and one of the wildest gridiron games ever played.

Houston won, 34-33, which suggests a nip-and-tuck affair.

What the final tally doesn’t tell you, though, is that the Gamblers rallied from a 33-13 fourth quarter deficit to steal the victory.

When the smoke cleared, Kelly had connected on 35 of 54 passes for five touchdowns and an all-time American pro football record of 574 yards.

His yardage total eclipsed Los Angeles Rams QB Norm Van Brocklin’s previous best of 554 yards set in 1951. (Canadian Football League quarterback Sam Etchenverry of Montreal had the overall pro passing record with 586 yards in a 1954 game).

Young managed 255 yards and a TD against two interceptions, and he was quite impressed with his counterpart.

“He’s a great quarterback,” Young said to the San Bernardino County Sun. “That’s a great offense … it’d be a fun offense to play for. I can really relate to that offense. They have guys running all over the place, and he just drops back and throws it. It reminded me of our offense at BYU (Young’s college team).”

Kelly’s performance helped him bolster his reputation as one of the best young field generals in the sport; he was both the USFL Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year in 1984.

Kelly was one of five quarterbacks taken ahead of Dan Marino in the 1983 NFL Draft, and the man who chose the USFL said he had no problem comparing numbers with the Miami Dolphins’ starter.

“I’ll bet you can call him up tomorrow and (Marino) will know my stats,” Kelly told the Sun. “Sure, build it up as much as possible. I’m not out for the glory, but if it comes to me, fine.

“I can’t say that I’m better. If he says he’s better, that’s fine. He’s proved how good he is. All I can say is I know how good I am.”

Kelly added that he had no regrets about joining the alternative league.

“Zero,” he said. “My goal was the NFL, but I got paid enough money to take care of my family. I’m just happy playing football. I love Houston, and that’s better than 40 degrees in Buffalo.”

As you probably know, the 1985 campaign was the last for the USFL. It’s demise paved the way for Kelly and Young to begin their sterling NFL careers.

Kelly joined Buffalo in 1985, and seemed to adjust to the cold just fine since he spent his entire time as an NFL employee there.

Young was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1985 and 1986 before signing with the 49ers in 1987.

And while their exploits playing for “The Shield” ultimately got them to Canton, their USFL clash forty years ago showed just how great they could be.

Too bad less than 19,000 people were there to see it.

Friday marked the first of seven international regular season games the NFL will play in 2025, with the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers mixing it up in São Paulo, Brazil. Fans who are  more accustomed to world class association football showed plenty of love for the top-tier tackle kind, with 47,000 watching the Chargers take a 27-21 victory at Arena Corinthians.

Other overseas stops this fall/winter include Dublin, Berlin, Madrid and three trips to London.

“The 2025 NFL season will see seven regular season games played outside of the U.S. – the  most ever regular season international games to date, including historic first games in iconic venues in Berlin, Dublin and Madrid,” NFL official Peter O’Reilly, who is in charge of international league events, said when the slate was announced. “The 2025 International Games schedule showcases an exciting selection of matchups featuring major NFL stars, bringing our game directly to fans around the world, and underscores our collective commitment to global growth as we continue our journey to becoming a truly global sport.”

Each year, it seems, the NFL expands its reach, and next year it steps into Australia with the Los Angeles Rams serving as the host team for a game in Melbourne.

“Expanding to Melbourne, Australia, a beautiful city with a rich sports history, underlines our ambitions to become a global sport and accelerate international growth,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said in a prepared statement. “Together with the Victorian State Government, Visit Victoria and the Melbourne Cricket Ground, and with the Los Angeles Rams in 2026, we look forward to making history in what is an important market for the NFL and a significant next step in expanding our international footprint.”

What the NFL is doing right now for foreign relations might well be enough. When the league goes to locales like London it’s always a major event, and being an annual visitor is a great arrangement for both the city and the league.

But remember, talk about putting a franchise (or franchises) across the pond has never gone away and has, in fact, been pushed by Goodell himself.

“I think there’s no question that London could support not just one franchise, but I think two franchises, I really believe that,” Goodell said at a fan gathering hosted by Sky Sports back in 2022. “And that’s from a fan perspective, a commercial standpoint, from a media standpoint, I think you (United Kingdom fans) have undoubtedly proven that, and thank you for that. We’re trying to see could you have multiple locations in Europe where you could have an NFL franchise because it would be easier as a division.”

I’ve pontificated on these matters before, because it costs nothing to do so. My last unsolicited idea – based on Goodell’s musings – was to expand the NFL to 36 franchises with a European Division consisting of two London teams as well as clubs in Frankfurt and Munich. Playing each division foe twice along with the balance of a 17-game schedule, that gives the international wing of the NFL 11 or 12 games on their side of the Atlantic in addition to five or six in the United States.

“The question I think is going to come down to, not so much the logistics about travel, that’s clearly a challenge, it really comes down to whether you can do it competitively,” Goodell said three years ago. “Where the team here or the teams in the States coming over can continue to be competitive and that was the challenge when we did the regular season games.”

OK, so let’s make it less challenging by expanding the NFL to eight European markets – London One, London Two, Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin, Dublin, Glasgow and Paris. (You can plug in your own European cities here … I’m just using these as examples).

One four team division would go the NFC and the other to the AFC, splitting the NFL into two, 20-team conferences with five divisions in each.

To help with scheduling, the European teams would play each other twice during the regular season, accounting for 14 games of the 17-game slate. The remaining three would feature traditional NFL teams coming for a visit.

In other words, in addition to seven home and seven road games against European sides, the London Kings would also host, say, the Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears and New York Giants while the London Knights might welcome the New York Jets, Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans.

The winners of each European Division would earn a playoff spot and be guaranteed at least one postseason home game.

This unbalanced, all-European schedule would give the eight international teams a bit of a break in the regular season since they would face only a handful of legacy NFL foes (and avoid overseas travel), but hey – that’s life.

And since the NFL is a global brand, it could continue its international series in places like Brazil and Australia, utilizing franchises that aren’t traveling to play the European squads.

Of course, if something like this ever happens, it will be many years down the road. If and when it does, I’ll have shuffled off this mortal coil or be too old to care – or write about it.

Still, it’s fun to think about, and that’s what I’m thinking about as the National Football League begins a brand new season.