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Chargers' Cameron Dicker made a rare fair-catch free-kick field goal from 57 yards out, the longest in NFL history. Only seven free kicks have been successful in the league.
Los Angeles Chargers kicker Cameron Dicker made the NFL's first fair-catch free kick field goal in nearly 50 years during his team's win over the Denver Broncos.
It was the NFL's first successful free-kick field goal since Ray Wersching of the then-San Diego Chargers connected from 45 yards out against the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 21, 1976.
Dicker and the Chargers took advantage of a seldom-used play called the fair-catch kick, which allows a team that has just made a fair catch to try a free kick for three points. The kick is attempted from the line of scrimmage, and the defenders all must stand 10 yards away.
The fair catch kick rule states that, after a player has made a fair catch or has been awarded a fair catch as the result of a penalty such as kick catch interference, their team can attempt a kick from the spot of the catch; [1] [2] the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) rulebook also allows a kick to be made if the down following the fair catch or awarded fair catch ...
Those points began the Chargers' comeback as they rallied for a 34-27 victory, finishing the game on a 24-6 run. For football obsessives like Harbaugh who relish oddities and unprecedented feats, Dicker's kick was delightful. The seldom-used rule allows a team that has just made a fair catch to try a free kick for three points.
At the end of the 1st half, the Chargers kicked a rare "free kick" field goal, making it the first successful one in 48 years. With the win, the Chargers swept the Broncos for the first time since 2010 when they still played in San Diego.
NCAA rules on fair catches are similar to NFL and NFHS rules, except it does not have the fair catch kick option, and a fair catch from a kickoff that is caught between the receiving team's goal line and its 25-yard line is a touchback. The NCAA abolished the fair catch in 1950 but reinstated it in 1951 without the fair catch kick option.