[El Scorcho]

After just discovering it today, I've decided that I really want to see a successful fair catch kick at some point in my life. I love the oddities of football, and this definitely qualifies.

I'm not sure if any of you old hags may have seen it, but the last successful one in the NFL was in 1968 when the Bears used it to beat the Packers 13 to 10.

Anyone ever seen it done in high school? Apparently there have been six pro attempts since the 1968 success, but none have worked.

[LUconn]

never seen it done, but in my arguement about kicking fieldgoals not being as hard as you think, I mentioned that kickers can hit from really far out with no defense. It's a very good option that nobody uses because most punts go beyond your own 45. Which is about where I think they could hit it from.

[SuperJon]

No clue what it is.

[shukcb04]

from wikipedia:

Fair catch kicks can only occur when a member of the receiving team signals for, and successfully makes, a fair catch. That team then has the option of restarting play either by snap or fair catch kick. If the team elects the fair catch kick option, the kicking team lines up at the spot where the fair catch was made and the opposing team lines up ten yards downfield. The kicker then may either placekick the ball from a teammate's hold (a kickoff tee may be used in high school) or dropkick the ball. Three points are awarded for kicking the ball through the uprights. If the kick does not go through the uprights, the ball is live, similar to either of the other free kicks. Likewise, a fair catch kick landing out of bounds but not in the end zone is awarded to the receiving team 30 yards from where it was kicked.

In the NFL, a fair catch kick may still be attempted if the quarter ends on the fair catch play. This is not automatic; a team's captain or coach must exercise this option.

[El Scorcho]

No clue what it is.

Well, first, you can only do it in high school and the NFL. It's not a legal play in NCAA football.

It works like this...

A team punts the ball. The receiving team calls for a fair catch. Since a fair catch was called for, the have the option of snapping the ball OR kicking it. They may kick it from a hold, from a punt or, if it's high school ball, from a tee, from the spot of the catch. (It's actually kicked from the spot of the catch, and not from ten yards behind the line or whatever.) If you kick it and get it through the uprights, you get three points. If it falls short, the other team can run it back.

So basically, if you were down by 3 or less points in a situation where your team was being punted to from very near their own goal line, you could call for a fair catch and try to kick it in.

From what I've read, a lot of people don't even know it exists.

A history of the fair catch kick, including all NFL attempts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_catch_kick

[blwall1416]

I remember at one football practice in 1999, Coach Sam kept going on & on about how the Cowboys could have done it during the game with the Falcons. I had never heard of it until that point. Man, that Coach Sam was one smart guy.