# Talk:Fair catch kick

It doesn't have to be a fair catch that is caught, but what is called an 'awarded' fair catch.  If you signal a fair catch, and are interfered with, you can accept an awarded fair catch at the spot of touching, for example.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 158.48.6.139 (talk) 19:38, 14 September 2007 (UTC) 

I know of these attempted free catch kicks, but I do not have the documentation to back them up:

San Francisco failed an attempt against Minnesota in the 1989? Divisional playoffs.
New York Giants' PK Joe Danelo attempted one against either Dallas or Washington near the end of the 1978 or '79 season (it was a game with playoff implications, as I remember).
Hopefully, this will jog someone's memory. --Twigboy 18:35, 20 December 2005 (UTC).

I did some googling, and found (link removed).
Your first one: According to the most recent edition of NFL Insider magazine (Feb/Mar 2003), it happened in a 1988 NFC Divisional Playoff Game between the Vikings and the 49ers. John Taylor called for a fair catch at midfield with 8 seconds left in the first half. Bill Walsh requested a free kick and Mike Cofer attempted a 60-yard FG with Barry Helton holding. The kick fell short and was downed by Joey Browner in the end zone. This was apparently January 1, 1989.
Your second one: I witnessed one of the most recent times this odd play occurred. It was a November 1979 game between the Redskins and Giants at Giants Stadium during Phil Simms' rookie year. Trailing 7-3 just before halftime, the Skins pinned the Giants deep in their own territory and forced them to punt. Bobby Hammond fair caught the Dave Jennings punt around the 50-yard line with a couple seconds left in the half. We all watched with amazement as Mark Moseley placed a tee on the 50 and, as his teammates milled around behind him, uncontestedly kicked the ball off the tee toward the goalposts. The kick ricocheted off the left upright and bounced away. No one really knew what had just happened...I remember people in the stands around me asking "Would that have counted if it went through?" It wasn't until we listened to the post game show on the car radio that we learned about this bizarre rule. I can't figure out the day, but it was apparently week 13.
Does anybody else know anything else about these games (especially a date for the second one, or box scores for either game)? --Arcadian 19:29, 20 December 2005 (UTC)
I've completely overhauled the "Known attempts" section, adding about 15 fair catch kicks I've discovered in contemporary game reports.
--Quirkyresearch 00:08, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

User:Quirkyresearch added a complete list recently, but I commented out the information to hide it until we iron out a possible copyvio violation. There is no certainty that user Quirkyresearch is the author of the Quirky Research blog from which the entire "known attempts" section is verbatim. If Quirkyresearch is, indeed, the blog author, then the information must (WP:CV) have some public-domain/creative-commons release so that the information can appear here verbatim. All of that in consideration, we should only link to the full list, but I would welcome the list reappearing in some kind of repackaged form. All said, this is fascinating information provided by Quirkyresearch. I just think the link is more appropriate at this time. —Twigboy 18:40, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

I've given permission to use the material from my site, and am in the process of adding citations for each kick, so editors may restore the list to Wikipedia if they see fit. --Quirkyresearch 16:37, 4 October 2006 (UTC)
Done. —Disavian (talk/contribs) 18:21, 21 January 2007 (UTC)
Fantastic! Even though the article is very NFL-centric, I think it is an excellent resource. Thanks Quirkyresearch and Disavian for your work. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Twigboy (talk • contribs) 02:07, 6 February 2007 (UTC).

I propose moving the Known attempts section to a new article/list (Fair catch kick (National Football League) or other similarly named article). The nonlist portion of the article discusses its use at all levels of football, but the known attempts shifts it to an NFL perspective. I feel that the list is feature-worthy on its own as well. Well referenced by User:Quirkyresearch
Also, I propose formatting in a table, but I will tackle that later.—Twigboy 14:57, 30 April 2007 (UTC)

Support I would title it List of fair catch kicks in the National Football League if you're going to do it or something of the sort. I don't know how this would go at AFD though. If you give it a good well sourced lead like the NFL Draft articles it would help or other featiured lists it would help if anyone tried to delete it. Quadzilla99 22:07, 30 April 2007 (UTC)
Splitting-off an entirely separate article for the NFL doesn't make much sense here, as the rule appears to be pretty consistent among the leagues that use it. We want as little duplicate content as possible. As for the list, I'd still prefer to leave the it as part of this article; the list is not that long and is of immediate interest to the majority of readers of the article. There's also not much of an article without the it. If split, though, use Quadzilla's title.  ×Meegs 08:59, 7 May 2007 (UTC)

The NFL rulebook (at least from '06) does not list Fair catch kicks as a Free Kick. In fact, at points in the book, it mentions "...on the field at snap, fair catch kick, or free kick, or when a snap, fair catch kick, or free kick is imminent." implying that a fair catch kick is NOT a free kick. A free kick is a kickoff, or:
Article 2 A free kick also puts the ball in play:
(a) after a safety (see 3-12-1b);
(b) when there is a replay for a short free kick (6-2-1); and
(c) when enforcement for a foul during a free kick is from the previous spot (6-2-5).
Note: The ball is put in play by a snap in all other cases (7-3-1).
The definitions section also lists:
Article 1 A Free Kick is one that puts the ball in play to start a free kick down (3-2-1,
6-1-1): It includes:
(a) kickoff;
(b) safety kick (6-1-2-a).
The reference to a free kick should be removed from this article, which I will do now.
TheHYPO 03:26, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

I'm going to pull out my rule book, but I think the distinction is this: A free kick is one which begins the play from a certain yard line. A kickoff is, therefore, put into play by a kick at the 30-yard line (and a safety kick is same principle, other than the fact that it's punted and from the 20-yard line). On the other hand, scrimmage kicks include field goals and punts, because a snap begins the play. A fair catch kick does not have a snap, so I think it is a free kick. But I need to investigate that.—Twigboy 03:57, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
OK, I found it in my 1988 rulebook (no ISBN — special-ordered from NFL Properties). I am very sure the rule hasn't changed since. Rule 10, Section 1, Article 6: When a fair catch is declared for a team, the captain must choose ... either: (a) A free kick (punt, drop kick, or placekick without "Tee"), or (b) A snap to next put the ball in play.—Twigboy 04:05, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
Actually I think you're both right.  I just rewrote much of the Safety (football score) article and I did some research as to what was and was not a free kick.  The rule book (particularly the NFL's) is contradictory, not only on the subject of if a fair catch kick is a free kick, but also whether or not a regular kickoff is a free kick.  Given the ambiguity, I prefer the current text because I think it is more in line with the common verbiage used by football fans.  But I'm willing to let TheHYPO convince me otherwise. Dpiranha 16:14, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
After looking further in the rule book last night, it stated that, while a fair-catch kick is a free kick,  it ceases to follow free-kick rules once kicked. Therefore, no requirement to go 10 yards, it's not a live ball after going 10 yards, kicks out of bounds return to the point kicked (and not a penalty, such as a kickoff). This also, presumably, is in place to allow the kick to score, which is not possible on other free kicks. The NFL's online rules digest briefly backs this assertion up. While the rule hasn't changed, perhaps The HYPO's rulebook reflects a revision to avoid ambiguity.—Twigboy 20:28, 3 December 2007 (UTC)
It seems that the original intent of the phrase "free kick" was to describe ANY kick that was NOT put into play by a snap from center. (A kick put into play by a snap from center would be called a "scrimmage kick").  However, the NFL now seems to use "free kick" to describe situations where the kicking team has a free chance to recover the ball (i.e., Kickoffs and Safety Kicks).  A Fair Catch Kick cannot be recovered by the kicking team, which would therefore disqualify it from being a "free" kick.  This usage is bolstered by the "2007 Official Playing Rules Of The National Football League".  The section on Fair Catch Kicks (Rule 11, Section 5, Article 3) states, "The ball is no longer a free kick ball. The kicking team can’t get the ball unless it had been first touched or possessed by the receivers."  It's somewhat of a vague description (what do they mean by "no longer a free kick ball"?  Does it start out as a free kick ball??)  Furthermore, the language from the 1988 rulebook (see above) has been altered, and it now states: "...captain must choose...either: (a) A fair-catch kick (drop kick or place kick without a tee)..., or (b) A snap to put the ball in play".   On the other hand, there is a page on NFL.com [[1]] which says "A field goal can be scored...on a play from scrimmage or a free kick after a fair catch".  And longtime NFL referee Jerry Markbreit used similar phrasing here [[2]] ("free kick option after fair catch") ScottSwan (talk) 06:50, 25 November 2008 (UTC)
The 2008  rule book is similar to the 2007 book - Rule 11 Section 5 Article 3 Suplimental Note 1's Note (yes, a note within the suplumental note) states that a fair catch kick is not a free kick. MrCab  —Preceding unsigned comment added by MrCab (talk • contribs) 00:32, 5 November 2010 (UTC)
As of the 2012 NFL Rulebook, the NFL unambiguously no longer considers the fair catch kick a free kick.  Evidences are:
Rule 3, Section 12 now defines "Free Kick" as "one that puts the ball in play to start a free kick down (3-2-1, 6-1-1): It includes: (a) kickoff; (b) safety kick (6-1-1-b)."
Rule 3, Section 7 defines "Free Kick Down" as a "down that starts with a free kick."  Of course, that is rather circular but what is important is that the NFL saw fit to define free kick downs as separate and apart from a "Fair Catch Kick Down," which is defined on its own in the next paragraph ("A down that starts with a fair catch kick...").  The purposeful separation by this definitional distinction by the NFL is important here, in my opinion.
Rule 6, which defines free kicks, does not mention fair catch kicks.
Rule 10, Article 4 now states that "After a fair catch is made, or is awarded as the result of fair catch interference, the receiving team has the option of putting the ball in play by either: (a) a fair catch kick (drop kick or place kick without a tee) from the spot of the catch (or the succeeding spot after enforcement of any applicable penalties) (3-9-1 and 11-4-3), or (b) a snap from the spot of the catch (or the succeeding spot after enforcement of any applicable penalties)."  Note the absence of the prior reference to a free kick that existed in the 1988 Rulebook as posted by Twigboy in 2007.  Note also that the 2007 version of the NFL Rules cited by ScottSwan that mentions fair catch kicks as "no longer a free kick ball" after the kick no longer exists.
The only evidence in existence now is the webpage that ScottSwan cited in 2008.  However, I think that's just an artifact of the way the NFL used to think of fair catch kicks.  That webpage, obviously, is not part of the rules.  In fact, it's in the section of the NFL website called "Digest of Rules."  In that webpage, the NFL expressly states that, "It is not meant to be a substitute for the official rule book. In any case of conflict between these explanations and the official rules, the rules always have precedence."  From the plain language of the rules (definition of free kick only including kickoffs and safety kicks) and the structure of the rules (free kick down as a separate concept from a fair catch kick down; free kicks and fair catch kicks are covered under two separate rules in Rule 6 and Rule 10, respectively; and consequences of free kicks not applying to fair catch kicks such as recovery by kicking team), it's clear to me that the NFL no longer sees fair catch kicks as a free kick, whatever the original thought was and its evolution.  It seems to me that the NFL does not want it to be confused that the defining characteristic of a free kick is the fact that the free kicked ball is a live ball once it passes the restraining line (10 yards down).  If someone else can make a reasonable arguments under the NFL Rules, then please feel free to educate me and edit my edits accordingly. Luis1972 (talk) 14:52, 5 October 2012 (UTC)

The distances listed for the declined opportunities are inconsistent.  Some examples add the 10 years for the end zone, while some do not.  I don't want to correct it because I'm not sure whether or not to add the 10 yards:
Detroit Lions vs. Baltimore Colts, November 25, 1965.
Tied at 24, the Lions fair caught a punt on the Baltimore 42 with 24 seconds left. ..rather than the 42-yard free kick;  (end zone yardage not added).
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Miami Dolphins, December 25, 1971 (AFC Divisional Playoff).
Homan fair caught a punt at his own 32 as time ran out in regulation. Chiefs' coach Hank Stram feared a Mercury Morris return of a short miss of the 68-yard FG...  (end zone yardage not added, 68+32=100)
Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears, October 30, 2005.
Drummond fair caught a punt at his own 28 with no time left in regulation. The Lions reasonably declined the chance at making an 82-yard free kick, and the game went to overtime. (end zone yardage added, 28+82=110)
Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams, September 24, 2006.
Walters fair caught a punt at his own 33...the Cardinals' field goal unit lined up for the 77-yard free kick... (end zone yardage added, 33+77=110)
PK9 (talk) 20:00, 6 October 2009 (UTC)

The distances appear inconsistent but they are correct given the dates. In the first two cases, the uprights were positioned at the goal line in both 1965 and 1971. I think it was 1973 when the NFL moved the goal posts to the back of the endzone. So there explains the 10 yard differences.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Racerx11 (talk • contribs) 14:52, 14 August 2010 (UTC)
We may want to add this explanation into the article somewhere. 71.156.15.164 (talk) 20:54, 15 August 2010 (UTC)


### Declined opportunities in the NFL
This list includes only fair catches made with no time remaining in a half, or where the fair-catching team attempted a field goal on the next play.
Detroit Lions vs. Baltimore Colts, November 25, 1965.
Tied at 24, the Lions fair caught a punt on the Baltimore 42 with 24 seconds left. However, they inexplicably decided to attempt a 50-yard FG from scrimmage rather than the 42-yard free kick; Wayne Walker's attempt was low, nearly blocked, and came up short. The game ended in a 24–24 tie.
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Miami Dolphins, December 25, 1971 (AFC Divisional Playoff).
Tied at 24, the Chiefs Dennis Homan fair caught a punt at his own 32 as time ran out in regulation. Chiefs' coach Hank Stram feared a Mercury Morris return of a short miss of the 68-yard FG, and decided not to kick. Also playing into Stram's decision was the fact Jan Stenerud missed two field goals earlier in the game, including a 32-yard attempt with 35 seconds left that would have won the game. Stenerud had a 42-yard attempt in the first overtime blocked, and Garo Yepremian later missed a 52-yard attempt in the first overtime. Yepremian then ended the longest game in NFL history with a 37-yard field goal 7:40 into the second overtime, giving Miami a 27–24 victory.
New England Patriots vs. New York Jets, October 12, 1986.
Down 31–24, New England's Irving Fryar inexplicably fair caught a punt deep in his own territory with no time left. The Patriots did not request the kick (the distance was prohibitive and a successful field goal would have had no effect on the outcome), nor did the referees ask them if they wanted one.  Referee Jerry Seeman said after the game that "it's the player's responsibility to come and ask for the extension."
Dallas Cowboys vs. Atlanta Falcons, September 20, 1999.
Wane McGarity fair caught a punt on the Atlanta 47 with no time left in the first half. Dallas coach Chan Gailey knew of the rule, and had specifically instructed McGarity to fair catch the punt if it was inside the 50, but Gailey forgot that he would be able to attempt the kick with no time left on the clock. Instead, the Cowboys went to the locker room.
Detroit Lions vs. Chicago Bears, October 30, 2005.
Tied at 13, Eddie Drummond fair caught a punt at his own 28 with no time left in regulation. The Lions reasonably declined the chance at making an 82-yard free kick, and the game went to overtime.
Arizona Cardinals vs. St. Louis Rams, September 24, 2006.
Down 16–14,  Arizona's Troy Walters fair caught a punt at his own 33 with no time left in regulation. Arizona's Robert Griffith was offside on the punt, but Rams coach Scott Linehan declined the penalty, thinking the game was over. Neil Rackers and the Cardinals' field goal unit lined up for the 77-yard free kick, but the Rams, given another chance to accept the penalty, did so, and downed the ball on the final play of the game.


### Notable?
@Toa Nidhiki05: A New York Times blogger thought at least two of these incidents were notable. I think Wayne Walker’s 1965 attempt is particularly notable. I fell into this rabbit hole when my curiosity led me to search for YouTube videos of attempted fair catch kicks. I've now watched several of them, they are quite entertaining for the both the broadcast-booth commentary and the action on the field. After hearing Pat Summerall recall "Wayne Walker's attempt" in the 1988 49ers-Vikings playoff game, and not finding it on the list in the article, I went off Googling for it and found Fandom's fork. I still haven't tried to track down the "Paul Brown attempt" that Madden recalled. – wbm1058 (talk) 21:01, 4 May 2021 (UTC)

@Wbm1058: I'm not against including some mention of some declined attempts in the "usage" section (like where it mentions a declined Belichick attempt) if they are notable but an entire list of them seems a bit impossible to maintain, especially given the good article status of the rest of the piece. It's also very odd in that NYT cites Wikipedia... if we can find original sources that might be some value in noting maybe one or two more scenarios where a kick was declined. Toa Nidhiki05 21:47, 4 May 2021 (UTC)
The "Paul Brown attempt" Madden recalled in 1988 may have been a real attempt, not a regular FG attempt like the Wayne Walker attempt that Summerall recalled. quirkyresearch has "Horst Muhlmann, Cincinnati vs. San Diego, September 21, 1969. Short and wide from 60 yards at the end of the first half." and "Horst Muhlmann, Cincinnati vs. Kansas City, October 21, 1973. Short from 57 yards at the end of the first half." which aren't on our list. Paul Brown was the Bengals head coach 1968–1975. – wbm1058 (talk) 23:21, 8 May 2021 (UTC)

This review is transcluded from Talk:Fair catch kick/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Dom497 (talk · contribs) 18:30, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
Will begin review later.--Dom497 (talk) 18:31, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
GA review – see WP:WIAGA for criteria

Is it reasonably well written?
A. Prose quality: 

B. MoS compliance for lead, layout, words to watch, fiction, and lists: 

Is it factually accurate and verifiable?
A. Has an appropriate reference section: 

B. Citation to reliable sources where necessary: 

C. No original research: 

Is it broad in its coverage?
A. Major aspects: 

B. Focused: 

Is it neutral?
Fair representation without bias: 

Is it stable?
No edit wars, etc: 

Does it contain images to illustrate the topic?
A. Images are tagged with their copyright status, and valid fair use rationales are provided for non-free content: 
No pictures used
B. Images are provided if possible and are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions: 
No pictures used
Overall:
Pass or Fail: 
Pass!--Dom497 (talk) 23:13, 28 June 2013 (UTC)


### Comments
"...it would be more advantageous to try and score a touchdown unless there is little to no time left in the half." - These doesn't really support a neutral point of view. According to the reference, this is what some one is saying/thinks; so this comes from a one person perspective.--Dom497 (talk) 18:57, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
Good catch; I have noted the comment's originator, Art McNally. Toa Nidhiki05 20:48, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
IMO, its still showing a person perspective. All you really did was add the name who said it. Someone else can say the opposite. I'll ask for a second opinion.--Dom497 (talk) 17:50, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
Sure, but I would argue the person in question (a former NFL director of officiating for over two decades, as noted on the article), is well-qualified to make statements like that. I could modify it slightly to make it clearer he said it, however. Toa Nidhiki05 17:56, 24 June 2013 (UTC)
You know what, its fine as is.--Dom497 (talk) 20:55, 25 June 2013 (UTC)
Though its not really required for GA, I would suggest putting a legend at the top of the first table mentioning what green and red mean.--Dom497 (talk) 18:57, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
Done; I have also added symbols to help meet WP:ACCESS. Toa Nidhiki05 20:48, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
Isn't the publisher for ref 46 ESPN? This ref also follows a different format for the access date so I suggest you fix it to keep it consistent with the other refs.--Dom497 (talk) 19:00, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
Fixed. Toa Nidhiki05 20:48, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
Some refs are missing access dates (Books don't need them as far as I know but some of the LA times and other news papers need them).--Dom497 (talk) 19:03, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
I have added access dates to all newspaper citations. Toa Nidhiki05 20:48, 23 June 2013 (UTC)
Just one last comment. There should be some prose in the section that has the lists (such as just a quick explanation on what the tables mean and the fact that 4 out of 26 are good and none have ever scored points in exhibition games).--Dom497 (talk) 20:52, 25 June 2013 (UTC)
I have given a concise explanation now; unless there is more information needed, it should be complete there. Toa Nidhiki05 03:10, 26 June 2013 (UTC)
Good work; all comments addressed.--Dom497 (talk) 23:13, 28 June 2013 (UTC)
When I read "from the spot of the catch" I was not sure if that was literal or after moving between the hashes.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Kendroberts (talk • contribs) 15:39, 21 December 2024 (UTC) 

All references to "Fair Catch Interference" have seemingly been replaced by "Kick Catch Interference" with a note about the "official name of the penalty".
What I believe to be the relevant portion of the NFL Rulebook that applies here is in the penalties for 10-1-1: Opportunity to Catch a Kick - Interference (emphasis added):

Penalties: (a) For interference with the opportunity to make a catch when a prior signal has not been made: Loss of 15 yards from the spot of the foul, and the offended team is entitled to put the ball in play by a snap from scrimmage. If such interference is a personal foul for unnecessary roughness, the 15-yard penalty will be enforced from the spot of the foul or the previous spot.
(b) For interfering with a fair catch after a signal: Loss of 15 yards from the spot of the [foul.] A fair catch is awarded even if the ball is not caught. If such interference is a personal foul for unnecessary roughness, the 15-yard penalty will be enforced from the spot of the foul or the previous spot.
In the Penalty Summary Section of the NFL Rulebook, there are four references to 10-1-1:

"Interference with a fair catch"
"Interference with the opportunity to make a catch"
"Fair catch interference"
"Interference with opportunity to make fair catch" (both 10-1-1, 10-2-2)
Notably, the phrase "Kick Catch Interference" does not exist in the 2024 NFL rulebook.  I believe it is a simplification of "Interference with the Opportunity to Catch (a Kick)".
While it's debatable which of the above four listed items is the official name of the penalty here, I see no problem with the generalized "Fair Catch Interference" being used, particularly because both the NFL and ESPN game logs note the penalty as "Fair Catch Interference".
Also, note that a simple "Interference with the opportunity to make a catch" would not allow for a Fair Catch Kick to be attempted (10-2-4, emphasis added):

After a fair catch is made or is awarded as the result of fair catch interference, the receiving team has the option of putting the ball in play by a snap or fair catch kick (drop kick or place kick without a tee) from the spot of the catch or succeeding spot after enforcement of any applicable penalties (3-9 and 11-4-3).

"NFL Rulebook | NFL Football Operations". NFL.com. 2024.
"Denver Broncos at Los Angeles Chargers 2024 REG 16 - Game Center". NFL.com. 2024.
"Chargers 34-27 Broncos (Dec 20, 2024) Play-by-Play - ESPN". ESPN.com. 2024.
QuesoMadness (talk) 03:54, 22 December 2024 (UTC)