Football rule question

[Alpo]

It is forth down, and you are going to kick.

 

Can you drop kick, or do you have to punt?

 

I don't know if a drop kick would give you any advantage - I just wonder about the rule.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Until 3 minutes ago I didn’t know the difference.

[Alpo]

Don't feel alone. There's a scene in the Burt Reynolds The Longest Yard. They line up for what looks like a normal play at about the 30-yard line, and kick a field goal.

 

One of the guards walks up and asks Burt, "What the hell was that?"

 

Dropkick.

 

"Dropkick? What's it worth?"

 

Three points.

 

"Three points?"

 

Yep.

 

And the guard walks off just shaking his head. "Dropkick. Damn."

[J-BAR #18287]

If a punt goes through the uprights, no score, just a touchback and the ball comes out to the 20 yard line.

 

If a drop kick goes through the uprights it is a score, either a 3 point field goal, or a 1 point after a touchdown.  Doug Flutie made the last one in 2006.  According to Google his was the only one since 1941.

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

 

Who says the Grumpy Lobster Boat Captain never smiles?

Great play!

 

LL

[Abilene Slim SASS 81783]

I learn something new every day!

[Alpo]

You know one would figger that cowboys would listen to country music.

 

 

[El Hombre Sin Nombre]

14 hours ago, Alpo said:

It is forth down, and you are going to kick.

 

Can you drop kick, or do you have to punt?

 

I don't know if a drop kick would give you any advantage - I just wonder about the rule.

The real answer to the question is there ain’t no such thing as a forth down.

[Alpo]

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Rare plays. The one point safety. Never happened in the pro game.

[Ramblin Gambler]

On 3/28/2020 at 8:01 AM, Alpo said:

It is forth down, and you are going to kick.

 

Can you drop kick, or do you have to punt?

 

I don't know if a drop kick would give you any advantage - I just wonder about the rule.

 

Back in the 80's Danny White did a drop kick.  The other team thought it was a short punt and stayed away, meanwhile the cowboys recovered it and got a first down.  It was treated like a fumble, more or less.  I know that rule has changed.  I don't like to wade through the NFL rule book, but my gut says that the other team might get it's choice of taking possession from where it was kicked or where it wound up after the return. 

 

I don't know about the FG, but it seems like that oughta still work.  I wonder why Flutie did his drop kick.  My guess is that the kicker was hurt and Bill felt the drop-kick had a better chance of succeeding than running a play.  Otherwise, there's no advantage to it.  The bounce is too random. 

 

 

 

 

[Loophole LaRue, SASS #51438]

There is something stuck in my memory that this was a"freebie" game that would not affect the Pats' playoff position, and also likely Flutie's last game with the team; Flutie was well-liked, and Belichick gave him a chance to set a record in the Pats' history - which still stands today.  The scoring was inconsequential.  It was also a thumb in the eye of Miami.

 

LL

 

[Ramblin Gambler]

I watched the score and I see it was a PAT.  So it was worth 1 point and was the difference between trailing by 5 or 6.  So yeah I guess it was inconsequential. 

 

[J-BAR #18287]

An athletically gifted cousin about 12 years older than me, whose team won the high school state football championship in the 1940s, tried to teach me the drop kick.  His technique was to get his foot on the ball a microsecond after the ball contacted the ground. No bounce.  Much like a ball held for a PAT.

 

 I did not have his coordination or talent.  
 

But those who mastered it were artists.

[Alpo]

I thought that's how everybody done it.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

13 hours ago, Ramblin Gambler said:

 

 

I don't know about the FG, but it seems like that oughta still work.  I wonder why Flutie did his drop kick.  My guess is that the kicker was hurt and Bill felt the drop-kick had a better chance of succeeding than running a play.  Otherwise, there's no advantage to it.  The bounce is too random. 

 

Flutie had done drop kicks in the CFL. Bellicheck had seen Flutie do them on the practice field. It didn’t matter to the outcome of the game, Miami was beaten. Bill knew it would be one for the record books and told Doug to go for it. And, sure enough, people still talk about it.