Drop Kick

[Spart43]

Didn't know if any of you had gotten a chance to see this. Here is the video of Doug Flutie drop kicking an extra point.


http://sportsillustrated.netscape.cnn.c ... topplays_1

Just click on 'Watch Video'

[Jacobs4Heisman]

I was absolutely flabbergasted that Belechick let him do that. I guess he wasn't too concerned about winning and having Pitt come to town instead of Jax.

It was a very cool thing though. I didn't even know that was an option.

[hammb]

It was a very cool thing though. I didn't even know that was an option.

I'm always amazed by the number of people that didn't even know you were allowed to do that. By all accounts it's incredibly difficult to pull off, but if you have somebody that can do it there are advantages. Mainly you don't need a holder so you get an extra blocker.

Apparently modern footballs are more pointed than they were "back in the day" (which was a wednesday by the way). When the ends of the ball were more rounded it was a fairly common practice, but with the added difficulty we don't see it too much anymore. It was pretty sweet though

[UK Peregrine]

http://sportsillustrated.netscape.cnn.c ... topplays_1

Just click on 'Watch Video'

Thanks Spart, but the clip isn't Mac compatible. I guess I'll have to watch it on my PC at home.

[BGSUfalcons]

It was a very cool thing though. I didn't even know that was an option.

I'm always amazed by the number of people that didn't even know you were allowed to do that. By all accounts it's incredibly difficult to pull off, but if you have somebody that can do it there are advantages. Mainly you don't need a holder so you get an extra blocker.

Apparently modern footballs are more pointed than they were "back in the day" (which was a wednesday by the way). When the ends of the ball were more rounded it was a fairly common practice, but with the added difficulty we don't see it too much anymore. It was pretty sweet though

I remember the dropkick being discussed on ESPN years ago. They showed both Flutie and Jim McMahon kicking them from 40+ yards with some consistency. At the time, I wondered why they wouldn't give these guys a shot in a game.

[Dayons_Den]

It is my understanding that you can drop kick a "try" (ala Rugby) at any time in the game. So you could be running down the field with the ball and drop kick for 3 points. Anyone know if this is a correct line of thinking?

[TG1996]

It is my understanding that you can drop kick a "try" (ala Rugby) at any time in the game. So you could be running down the field with the ball and drop kick for 3 points. Anyone know if this is a correct line of thinking?

For some reason, I think I remember hearing/reading after Flutie's try that it has to be behind the LOS... but I could be *gasp!* wrong.

[San Diego Falcon]

quote:
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Originally posted by Dayons_Den:
It is my understanding that you can drop kick a "try" (ala Rugby) at any time in the game. So you could be running down the field with the ball and drop kick for 3 points. Anyone know if this is a correct line of thinking?
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For some reason, I think I remember hearing/reading after Flutie's try that it has to be behind the LOS... but I could be *gasp!* wrong.

Yes, they changed the rule at some point so that you have to be behind the LOS, which is another reason (besides making the ball more pointed) why the practice went extinct.

[hamjunior]

I think the last time I saw a drop kick was in the original "Longest Yard" right after the kick Burt Reynolds had to explain to Ray Nichske what a drop kick was. sorry if Rays last name is spelled wrong

[Warthog]

Isn't there some kind of rule though about a free drop kick after a fair catch on a punt? Seems like you hear that every so often when a team is kicking with just a few seconds left. Not sure what a "free" drop kick would be though.

[San Diego Falcon]

Isn't there some kind of rule though about a free drop kick after a fair catch on a punt? Seems like you hear that every so often when a team is kicking with just a few seconds left. Not sure what a "free" drop kick would be though.

That rules does exist, but I believe the free kick is actually done with a holder out there as well. It seems like a great thing to try at the end of the 1st half or at the end of the game if down by 3 or less if the situation presents itself. Has anyone out there ever seen it attempted?

[transfer2BGSU]

Isn't there some kind of rule though about a free drop kick after a fair catch on a punt? Seems like you hear that every so often when a team is kicking with just a few seconds left. Not sure what a "free" drop kick would be though.

Fair Catch Kick

1. After a fair catch, the receiving team has the option to put the ball in play by a snap or a fair catch kick (field goal attempt), with fair catch kick lines established ten yards apart. All general rules apply as for a field goal attempt from scrimmage. The clock starts when the ball is kicked. (No tee permitted.)

http://www.nfl.com/fans/rules/fairkick

From the Hall Of Fame web site -

The Dropkick

Believe it or not, the dropkick remains a legal maneuver in the National Football League today. It still exists in the NFL's official rule book. Rule 3, Section 8 defines the dropkick as, "a kick by a kicker who drops the ball and kicks it as, or immediately after, it touches the ground."

Obviously, the New England Patriots were well aware of this fact. In the team's 2005 regular season finale against the Miami Dolphins, quarterback Doug Flutie dropkicked an extra point following a 9-yard touchdown reception by wide receiver Tim Dwight in the fourth quarter. Flutie's point-after-attempt was the first drop kick converted in the NFL in more than six decades.

Some of the legends who've been permanently honored in the Pro Football Hall of Fame were masters of the dropkick. Names like Jim Thorpe, Wilbur "Pete" Henry, and Paddy Driscoll were known to have entertained pro football crowds with their extraordinary talent of dropkicking. Albeit, some of their exploits were exaggerated but nevertheless the dropkick was an integral part of the game in the 1920s and 1930s. It was during this era that the football slightly resembled a rugby ball. Numerous rule changes affecting the shape of the ball took place during the early years of the NFL. Changes to the ball essentially ended by 1934 as it took its familiar shape of a prolate spheroid. As a result, the number of dropkicks attempted in the NFL diminished significantly in subsequent years.

"As soon as they made the ball pointier, dropkicking went out of style. They needed the ball to bounce and to bounce true," commented Bob Carroll, a leading football historian.

In fact, it wasn't until 1963 that the league removed the category of dropkicked field goals from the record book. Driscoll shared the two major records for dropkicking when he booted fourfield goals (23, 18, 50 and 35 yards) for the Chicago Cardinals in a 19-9 win over the Columbus Tigers on October 11, 1925. That mark was equaled by the Kansas City Cowboys' Elbert Bloodgood. His four dropkicked field goals were from 35, 32, 20, and 25 yards as Kansas City edged the Duluth Eskimos, 12-7, on December 12, 1926.

Driscoll's 50-yarder was also an NFL best and matched the record-tying kick he made one year earlier in a game against the Milwaukee Badgers on September 28, 1924. The Cardinals defeated Milwaukee, 17-7.

Prior to Flutie drop-kicking the PAT on January 1, 2006, Ray McLean of the Chicago Bears was the last player to successfully drop kick in the NFL. McLean converted an extra point following Ken Kavanaugh's 42-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown during the Bears' 37-9 win over the New York Giants in the 1941 NFL Championship Game. The drop kick came in the fourth quarter of the title game played on December 21, 1941.

Hall of Famer Earl "Dutch" Clark is believed to be the last player to successfully dropkick a field goal in the NFL. According to game accounts, he dropkicked a 17-yard field goal in the Detroit Lions 16-7 victory over the Chicago Cardinals on September 19, 1937.

http://www.profootballhof.com/history/r ... se_id=1481

[BGSU33]

Didn't know if any of you had gotten a chance to see this. Here is the video of Doug Flutie drop kicking an extra point.


http://sportsillustrated.netscape.cnn.c ... topplays_1

Just click on 'Watch Video'

Maybe Timchenko and Fry should have tried do this during the season.....(ducking!!!).

[JohnnySwoop '85]

Damn...HamJunior beat me to the movie trivia on drop kick's.

"What the hell was that?"
"A dropkick"
"A dropkick?, what's that worth?"
"Three points"
"Three points? $%&@!!"

[ZiggyZoomba]

"back in the day" (which was a wednesday by the way).

Nice. Dane Cook RULES!!