# kicking a field goal - barefoot?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-a-field-goal-barefoot/533954>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [March 26, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-a-field-goal-barefoot/533954 "2010-03-26T22:34:34Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![PatriotGrrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9dc877/32.png) [@PatriotGrrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatriotGrrrl)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-a-field-goal-barefoot/533954/1 "2010-03-26T22:34:34Z")

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I was just watching the NFL channel and they were showing the end of some old playoff game between Denver and Cleveland. Denver won by a field goal in overtime.

And the kicker was barefoot. WTF?

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**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-a-field-goal-barefoot/533954/2 "2010-03-26T22:44:43Z")

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Believe it or not, that was moderately popular in the 80’s. It made absolutely no sense to me though. I would think you could kick a ball harder when you’re wearing a shoe.

> **[ESPN.com: Page 2 : A brilliant idea! (For now)](https://www.espn.com/espn/page2/story?page=klosterman%2F061016)**
>
> Whatever happened to all the barefoot kickers? In the NFL, any idea is a brilliant idea ... until it no longer is, theorizes Chuck Klosterman.

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-a-field-goal-barefoot/533954/3 "2010-03-26T22:57:08Z")

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Kicking barefooted field goals in football goes back quite a bit, at least to the 1920s. Hawaii.

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**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-a-field-goal-barefoot/533954/4 "2010-03-26T23:04:42Z")

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Never mind. Need to pay more attention.

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**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\
**Post date:** [March 26, 2010, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/kicking-a-field-goal-barefoot/533954/5 "2010-03-26T23:19:59Z")

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> [@PatriotGrrrl](#):
>
> I was just watching the NFL channel and they were showing the end of some old playoff game between Denver and Cleveland. Denver won by a field goal in overtime.
> 
> And the kicker was barefoot. WTF?

Rich Karlis, IIRC. Tony Franklin was another.