Oh, and there is such a thing as a “drop kick” field goal. It is exceedingly rare to see it. I think Doug Flutie made the last one in 2006, and that was the last one since 1941. But we’re getting deep into the weeds with that.
Charlie Brown could also be practicing the opening kickoff.
brian
There are 11 players on the field for each team on each play. In general, those are offense, defense, or special teams, but the actual group of 11 changes for each play depending on the needs, injuries, or opposing lineup. The players you put on offense on 1st and 10 might be very different than the players you field on 3rd and 2. You have punt groupings, field goal groupings, (punter and place kickers are usually different players), receiving a punt, kickoffs, etc.
That is a place kick. It’s used for field goals and extra points. It can also be used on a kickoff if it’s too windy for the ball to stay on the tee. A punt is where the kicker steps forward and drops the ball towards his foot while kicking.
Yes, called the “special team”.
Flutie’s drop kick was an extra point, not a field goal.
Oops. Duh. Looks like 1937 was the last drop kick field goal.
So, then, what’s a field goal?
The same as a field goal, in form.
Field goal: snap the ball from wherever you are on the field to a guy who holds the ball on the ground (Lucy) and someone (Charlie Brown) kicks it through the uprights. 3 points if successful. Other team gets the ball from where you kicked it if not successful.
Extra point: after a touchdown, team snaps the ball from the 2 yard line (in high school and college) or 15 yard line (NFL) to Lucy, Charlie Brown kicks it through the uprights. 1 point if successful.
Uprights:
The field goal is a separate scoring. If the team on offence is close enough to kick it through the uprights, they can send on the kicker. If the kick is good, they score 3 points.
In New York, we play baseball. I played stoop ball and stick ball as a kid, then I played pony league softball. My coach told my parents if I tried out for Little League, I’d probably make it, and they’d only started accepting girls a few years earlier. But my parents thought it was too competitive. They were probably right-- I didn’t realize how the adults behaved when I was a kid. I played left field as a kid, and could throw (accurately) to the infield from deep left, which none of the other girls could do. And I could catch anything. I made a lot of double plays by catching flies, when the bases were loaded, and throwing into 3rd before the runner could get back.
Before anybody thinks I’m totally stupid because I don’t know football.
An extra point takes place after a touchdown. It scores a single point and that’s the only time it happens. It’s an untimed play, taking place between the touchdown and the ensuing kickoff. If you miss going through the uprights nothing bad happens, you still kickoff to the other team on the next play.
A field goal can take place anytime the offense thinks they’re in range. It’s a regular offensive play, and if successful, scores 3 points. However, if you miss the other team can choose to run the ball back (if it’s still on the playing field) or they get the ball at the point where it was spotted for the kick. This means if you miss a long field goal the opposition gets very good field position.
Kickers in the NFL have an good chance of getting it through from about the 40 yard line which equals a 58 yard kick (40 yards + 10 yards depth of the end zone + 8 yards from the line of scrimmage where the ball is usually kicked from). The longest is 63 yards. An extra point kick play starts at the 15 yard line, which equals a 33 yard kick (15 + 10 + 8).
No doubt, football is a complicated game.
Don’t worry — I get the same way when I see cricket talk in my Facebook feed. It’s been explained to me several times, but not being immersed in it, none of it stuck. It’s all a foreign language to me. I feel for the poor fool who asks be to explain baseball to them, as when you start, there’s just all these little things you take for granted and explaining it becomes “well this happens, except if this happens, but if this happens …” It all seems so logical and obvious growing up with it and learning it from watching it on TV and playing pickup games behind the factory, but when I have to lay out all the rules … I just eventually give up.
We won’t go into the mysteries of CFL football. 
Or Conversion Safeties in the NFL.
In the NFL the refs have to get together sometimes to figure out a call. It is incredibly complex at times.
Actually, now, 64 yards, by Matt Prater of the Broncos in 2013.
Fair catch free kick, anyone?
Now there’s a weird corner case. 
For @RivkahChaya’s benefit, it’s an incredibly rare play in football, and most football fans have never seen one attempted. It’s only been tried five times in the NFL in the past 30 years, and the last successful one was in 1976.
I doubt it’s been a hindrance to you in your life.
I’ve completely lost interest in football, so I sometimes wish I could clear out all the crap I know about football so I had more room for useful knowledge.
I don’t really know much about soccer, but someone gave me tickets to the local MSL team once, and I have to say, it was enlightening. They just played straight through, with very few stoppages and a short intermission. The game was over in 2 hours. NFL or MLB games are a 3 + hour endurance test.
So, when Sheldon’s dad’s team scored a touchdown instead of punting, that was actually cake with ice cream. The conventional wisdom was to give up the ball to the other team, and Sheldon’s dad said No, we’re hanging on to the ball, and trying to advance 10 yards. When, instead of merely advancing ten yards, the team scored a touchdown, it really made Sheldon’s dad look like a genius.