Another thread about onside kicks kinda “kicked” my ancient memory cells into action and I was reminded of an old thing in American football known as a drop kick. I believe it was used for field goals, but could be wrong in that.
The idea, I think, was for the kicker to take the ball, then drop it, letting it hit the ground prior to or at the same instant as he kicked it.
Can anyone tell me the rationale behind this? I’m sure there was a reason for doing it way back when.
The drop kick was the preferred method for kicking field goals in the early days of football. The balls were much rounder then (or perhaps less pointy), so you had a good chance of being able to drop the ball, get a true bounce and then whack it over the goal posts.
Until the 1970s, the rules allowed players to attempt a drop kick field goal from anywhere on the field. A placement kick has to be from behind the line of scrimmage.
It’s very hard to drop kick a modern football. It won’t bounce where you want it to.
If you want to see a dropkick watch “Jim Thorpe: All-American”. Burt Lancaster is shown trying one.
The drop kick is a vestige of football’s roots in rugby, where the drop kick is still a common tactic.
It was easier to perform a drop kick in the “old days” when the ball was less pointy-er than it is now. The desire to improve the passing game was one of the reasons why footballs look different than rugby balls nowadays.
Supposedly Jim McMahon of the Bears was pretty good at drop kicking in practice, but was never allowed to try it in a game. About the only thing a drop kick nowadays would be good for would to be a surprise play by a quarterback or running back with time running out and no time to set up a proper place kick to win or tie. That’s the only situation where I can think where it’d be a good idea to try a drop kick now.
Fascinating.
Thank you so much for the insight! Much appreciated.
Not to be confused with the free kick where, immediately after a fair catch, the receiving team can line up for a free kick through the goalpost for 3 points. The ball is set on the line of scrimmage, with no snap, and the defense must stay 10 yards back (i.e., cannot rush the kicker).
Let’s say with time running out, the leading team is pinned back againt their own endzone. They punt from the endzone. A fair catch is called by the recevier on the 40 yard line with little time left. The kicker can come out and try a free kick through the uprights from the line of scrimmage without having to worry about a bobbled snap, a defensive rush, or having to be 5 or so yards behind the line of scrimmage when kicking. If he misses, the other team gets the ball on the 40.
I don’t know if you need a holder or if the kicker can use a tee.
In NFL football, a drop-kick field goal is worth the same as a regular field goal (three points) and thus has almost no advantages and a lot of disadvantages over a regular field goal.
In Arena Football, a drop-kick field goal is worth four points and a drop-kick extra point is worth two points (cite), rules apparently made to encourage its use. As far as I know, it still isn’t really used, since it still has big problems (mostly, as mentioned, that the ball isn’t shaped to bounce truly).
From a synopsis of NFL rules:
To the OP:
For a fascinating picture of football in the PFP (Pre-Forward-Pass) era, get hold of a copy of Foot Ball for Player and Spectator (1905) by Fielding “Hurry Up” Yost. You can see that the balls were indeed fatter and rounder, though no longer quite spherical. Most bizarrely, the pictures to demonstrate the proper form for a pass show the player starting with the ball underhand, held vertically with his fingers around the end of the ball. It’s not clear to me exactly how he was supposed to throw it…was his arm supposed to describe a great semicircle and release the ball overhead, or was he suposed to just toss it lightly to a nearby teammate? Since the foward pass wasn’t allowed, I suspect the latter.
Whatever it was, thanks to you, too!
Incidentally, I have a feeling this will shortly be passed over to Cafe Society.
Former Atlanta Falcons kicker Mick Luckhurst tried a few drop-kick FGs during some preseason games in the 1980s. I can’t recall if he ever made any, but I remember him making the attempts.
Let’s say that rule was still in force, so that a player could try a drop kick from anywhere. Think there would ever be a time where a player would try it in today’s game? I can’t come up with any, unless there was a busted play on fourth down within range.
Drop kicks are still allowed in the NFL. (Not sure on the free kicks). Though the shape and size of the ball now makes it almost absurd to attempt. Would be neat to see a team up by 50 try one just to get it on SportsCenter for a week.
In “Jim Thorpe: All-American”, Burt Lancaster tries the drop kick as a planned play. His teammates try to talk him out of it because of the poor angle. Thorpe played in an era where there weren’t any hash marks so you could be kicking from really weird angles.
There were times in the old days where a player would have run downfield and then just stopped and tried a drop kick field goal because they thought they would have better chance scoring that way.
All this raises an obvious question: when was the last successful NFL (or AFL) drop kick (regular season or playoffs)? I wouldn’t know how to find out, but I’ll bet someone comes along soon who does.
Okay, while I don’t know, it turns out that Google does. I managed to learn that the last drop kick for an extra point was on 21 Dec 1941, by Ray McLean of the Bears.
Still working on the last drop kick field goal.
Alright, I got the field goal too. This site says:
Ironically, less than a month after the previous post above, Doug Flutie broke a 60-year drought and converted the first drop-kick since Ray McLean did it in 1941.
Video clip here (starting at 0:44).
Zombie, now better suited to the Game Room. Moved from GQ.
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