James E . Duffy ( American football ) James Eugene Duffy ( January 10 , 1867 – September 16 , 1953 ) was an American football player and lawyer . He played halfback for the University of Michigan football team for seven years from 1885 to 1891 and was captain of the 1888 team . In 1886 , he set the world record by drop kick ing a football 168 feet , 7½ inches . After graduating from Michigan , he was an attorney in Bay City , Michigan and a long - time member of the University of Michigan Board in Control of Athletics . Biography . University of Michigan . A native of Ann Arbor , Michigan ( born January 10 , 1867 ) , Duffy enrolled at the University of Michigan in 1885 . While attending the school as both an undergraduate and law student , he played halfback for the Michigan football team for seven years from 1885 to 1891 . He was the team captain in 1888 , and his brother John L . Duffy was captain of the 1887 team . Near the end of Duffy ' s career at Michigan , the " Chicago Daily Tribune " wrote : " Duffy is an old U . of M . player . Although a swift runner and clever dodger his great strength lies in kicking ability , punting and drop - kicking . " As a rusher , Duffy had great speed . At Michigan ' s May 1888 field day , Duffy won both sprint events , with times of 10 . 4 seconds in the 100 - yard dash and 22 . 4 seconds in the 220 - yard dash . Prior to the 1888 football game between Michigan and Notre Dame , the players competed in a 100 - yard foot race , which Duffy won . Duffy also ran for two touchdown s in the 1888 Notre Dame game which Michigan won by a score of 26 – 6 . As a kicker , Duffy set or tied distance records for his era . On May 22 , 1886 , at a field day in Ann Arbor , Duffy drop kicked a football 168 feet , 7½ inches . " Outing " magazine reported that Duffy ' s kick broke " the best record of the world by 11 feet and 5 inches . " A few days before his record - breaking kick at the May 1886 field day , Duffy had kicked the ball 194 feet in a practice session . On the day of the event , he reportedly broke the record five times . In 1888 , the " Detroit Free Press " wrote : " Included in the team is J . E . Duffy , who holds the world ' s record for the drop kick , he having propelled the ball 168 feet seven and one half inches , at Ann Arbor May 22 , 1886 . It may be explained that a drop kick is made by letting the ball fall from the hands and kicking it at the very instant it rises . Duffy is a tall , well formed muscular player who gets over the ground like a wraith and fights for every point . " On November 22 , 1891 , Duffy also kicked a field goal from the 55 - yard line against Cornell - - a kick that either tied or fell one yard short of the American football record for the longest field goal to that time . Michigan was undefeated in Duffy ' s first three seasons with the team , outscoring opponents 222 to 0 in the 1885 , 1886 and 1887 seasons . With Duffy as captain in 1888 , the team won its first four games , including two wins over Notre Dame , by a combined score of 126 to 20 . For the final game of the 1888 season , Michigan traveled to Chicago to play a game to raise money for charity against the Chicago University Club , a group described as a " picked team " made up of " eastern college experts . " One of Michigan ' s stars , Horace Greely Prettyman , was ejected from the game for slugging . Though Michigan lost the game 26 – 4 , newspaper accounts credited Duffy ' s play . In one instance , Chicago halfback Crawford ( described as " a famous Yale man " ) came out of a heap of players , " dodging between the legs of the big fellows and knocking down the little fellows till Duffy got a full Nelson lock on him and hurled him neck over heels . " Duffy accounted for Michigan ' s only points against Chicago , running for a touchdown in the second half " by good running and dodging . " In Duffy ' s first six years as a varsity football player at Michigan , the team compiled an overall record of 17 wins and 4 losses . In his seventh season , Duffy reportedly served as a player and coach for the 1891 team . While official sources list only Mike Murphy and Frank Crawford as the coaches of the 1891 team , the " Chicago Daily Tribune " reported in November 1891 that the Michigan team was " coached systematically " by Murphy , Crawford , Horace Greely Prettyman and Duffy . The 1891 team finished with a 4 – 5 record , losing more games that year than in the prior six years combined . Duffy received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1890 and a law degree in 1892 . While at Michigan , Duffy was a member of the Chi Psi ( ΧΨ ) fraternity . Legal career . After receiving his degrees , he entered the practice of law in Bay City , Michigan . He was the city attorney in Bay City from 1897 to 1899 and thereafter returned to private practice . Duffy was also a member of the University of Michigan ' s Board in Control of Athletics from its inception through at least 1921 . In February 1917 , he was the only member of the Board who voted against a resolution favoring Michigan ' s rejoining the Western Conference . Honorary degree . In 1921 , the University of Michigan presented Duffy with an honorary degree of Master of Arts . When the honorary degree was presented , Professor John G . Winter praised Duffy as follows : " Mr . James Eugene Duffy , of Bay City , a graduate of Michigan , College of Literature , Science , and the Arts , class of 1890 , and of the Law School in the class of 1892 . Vividly remembered by his fellow collegians of the older day as an athlete of high renown ; a member of the Board in Control of Athletics since its inception , he has been helpful and constant in his devotion to the best interests of his Alma Mater . Honored alike by his associates of the bar and the citizens of his commonwealth , he deserves recognition by the University . "