Is a drop kick still legal in the NFL?

Believe it or not, the dropkick remains a legal maneuver in the National Football League today. It still exists in the NFL's official rule book. Rule 3, Section 18, Article 1, Item 1 defines the dropkick as, "a kick by a player who drops the ball and kicks it as, or immediately after, it touches the ground."
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Why don't they drop kick in the NFL?

The NFL rulebook says the kicker must contact the ball "as, or immediately after, it touches the ground." That's not legal, Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub said. "It's not considered a drop kick because you have to kick it simultaneously as it hits the ground," Toub said.
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When was the last drop kick in NFL?

The last successful drop kick before Flutie's was converted two weeks after Pearl Harbor, on December 21, 1941, by Ray “Scooter” McLean. After the game, Patriots coach and avid football historian Bill Belichick said, “I think Doug deserves it …
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Why did Doug Flutie do a drop kick?

Belichick and New England probably wouldn't be yukking it up on the sideline if it had been a game against their then-archrival Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots let Flutie give a drop kick a shot because they didn't care one bit about the Dolphins.
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Can you punt a kickoff in the NFL?

A kickoff puts the ball in play at the start of each half, after a try, and after a successful field goal. A dropkick or placekick may be used for a kickoff. … A dropkick, placekick, or punt may be used for a safety kick. A tee cannot be used for a safety kick.
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Drop Kicks (NFL)



Can you dropkick a kickoff?

A dropkick or placekick may be used for a kickoff. Note: During a placekick on a kickoff, the kicking team may use a manufactured tee that is one inch in height and approved by the League. Once the ball has been placed on the kicking tee, the kicking tee cannot be moved.
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Can you dropkick a field goal?

Field Goals and Extra Points

An NFL kicker can use either a drop kick or a placekick to kick the ball through the uprights of the opponent's goal for field goals from behind the line of scrimmage, or to score an extra point following a touchdown.
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Is a drop kick worth 2 points?

In Arena football, a drop-kicked extra point counts for two points rather than one and a drop-kicked field goal counts for four points rather than three.
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What is the only score not possible in football?

Among the non-viable outcomes are 1-1, 1-0, 2-1, 3-1, 4-1, 5-1, and 7-1. Five to 1 is impossible because it can only occur after a field goal and a conventional safety while 7 to 1 is also impossible because a team can only get to 7 after scoring a touchdown by successfully kicking a PAT.
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Has anyone ever drop kicked a field goal?

To date, the only successful drop kick in the NFL since 1941 was by Doug Flutie, the backup quarterback of the New England Patriots, against the Miami Dolphins on January 1, 2006, for an extra point after a touchdown.
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Can you punt a field goal?

A field goal cannot be scored on a punt kick. By contrast, the now very rarely attempted drop kick can be used to score either field goals or extra points in both American and Canadian football.
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Why is it called a pooch kick?

The first pooch kick actually occurred by mistake when 49ers kicker Ray Wersching miskicked a kickoff. Wersching's miskick resulted in a short, low, oddly-bouncing ball that was difficult for the receiving team to field and control.
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What is the shortest punt in NFL history?

(The shortest punt ever was actually negative-7 yards by Sean Landeta of the New York Giants in the 1985 playoffs (returned five yards for a touchdown), and there have been at least two 1-yard punts.)
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Has an NFL game ended 2 0?

There have also been five 2-0 games in NFL history where just a safety was scored. However, none have happened since the Chicago Bears beat the Green Bay Packers 2-0 in 1938.
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Can you kick a field goal on 3rd down?

Once the ball crosses the line of scrimmage, the ball is turned over to the other team. Now, if on 3rd down, a kick is blocked, the ball never crosses the line of scrimmage, and the ball is recovered by the offense, it would then be 4th down, and they would get another chance.
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Can you have a score of 1 in football?

It is one of the oddities of American football that a team can score 2, 3, 4, 5 or even 222 points in a game, but never 1.
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What is the rarest score in the NFL?

The one-point safety is the NFL's rarest scoring play - SBNation.com.
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What is the most common NFL score?

The most common score in NFL history is 20-17, which has happened a total of 269 times. The first occurrence of that result came in 1944, whereas the most recent came in Week 14 of the 2020 season.
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Does a drop kick have to hit the ground?

A drop kick in rugby union is a type of kick that involves someone dropping a ball and then kicking when it hits the ground, in contrast to a punt wherein the dropper kicks the ball without letting it hit the ground first.
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What happens if you punt through the uprights?

Like a field goal, the kick is worth three points if it goes through the uprights. Unlike a field goal, the ball can be dropkicked or held like a placekick.
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Can you score a drop goal in American football?

In other football codes

The drop-kick field goal is a rare but still legal part of American football and Canadian football, other football codes descended from rugby football; in both sports, it can be used to score a field goal (three points) or a conversion (one point).
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When did Doug Flutie drop kick?

Drop kick Flutie! Throwing it back to the time @DougFlutie converted a drop kick vs. Miami in 2006. The game between the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins on January 1, 2006 at Gillette Stadium was pretty meaningless.
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Can you punt the ball twice in the NFL?

If you look at the NFL rulebook, there's a specific note within the kick from scrimmage section that should make this punt legal. To review and clarify from last night: 1. You CAN punt twice if the ball remained (and remains) behind the line of scrimmage after the first one.
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