Field goal range Field goal range is the part of the field in American football where there is a good chance that a field goal attempt will be successful . A field goal is normally 17 yards ( 7 yards in Canadian football ) longer than the distance of the line of scrimmage to the goal line , as it includes the end zone ( 10 yards ) and 7 yards in which the holder stands behind . In Canadian football , the goal posts are on the goal lines , in front of the end zones . Therefore , if the line of scrimmage is at the 30 , the field goal would be 47 yards ( in American football ) or 37 yards ( in Canadian football ) . Average field goal range . The exact field goal range varies for each team , depending on the ability of the team ' s placekicker . While some weaker placekickers may have trouble kicking field goals longer than 40 yards ( making field goals from beyond the 23 difficult ) , others may consistently make 50 - yarders , making it practical to kick from beyond the 33 . For most NFL kickers , the 35 - yard line is typically the limit of their field goal range . Weather conditions , particularly wind , also have a significant impact on field goal range ; kicking with the wind at the kicker ' s back significantly increases field goal range , while kicking against the wind or with a stiff crosswind will greatly reduce the kicker ' s effective range , while generally there is no advantage beyond assured targeting of a kick if a game is being played indoors . Altitude also has an impact on kicking range ; both the longest punt in NFL history and two of the longest field goals in NFL history took place in Denver , Colorado , which is more than higher in elevation than the next - highest NFL city ( the Phoenix suburb of Glendale , Arizona ) . In high school football , players are permitted to kick off special flat kicking tees up to two inches high . The NCAA banned the use of kicking tees in 1989 . Most of the longer - range field goals in NCAA history were kicked prior to the elimination of tees ; the use of tees allowed the ball to be elevated out of the field ' s grass or turf , reducing friction in the opening milliseconds of the kick and allowing for longer kicks . Kicking versus punting . If a kicker is outside of field goal range , teams will generally punt . However , punting too close to the end zone increases the risk of a touchback , which nullifies most of the effect of the punt . Thus , teams who face a fourth down between the 35 and 40 yard lines ( closer in a crosswind ) often will go for the more risky fourth down conversion rather than risk either the touchback or the missed field goal . Record holders . The longest field goal in recorded football history was 69 yards , set by Swedish kicker Ove Johansson in 1976 . The longest successful field goal in the NFL regular season is 63 yards , and has been accomplished four times - snapped from the defending team ' s 46 - yard line in 3 instances ( Jason Elam , Sebastian Janikowski and David Akers ) , as well as from the kicking team ' s own 45 yard line [ see : http : / / www . youtube . com / watch ? v = hu73YSmtiXU , 47 seconds into the video ] ( Tom Dempsey ) , because goal posts were placed at the goal line up until 1974 . The NCAA record is 67 yards held by 3 kickers , Russell Erxleben of Texas , Steve Little of Arkansas and Joe Williams of Wichita State University . All three of those kickers achieved that feat in the 1977 - 1978 college seasons . Notably , Johansson , Erxleben and Little all failed dramatically when they entered the NFL — Johansson ' s failure was due to an injury , but the other two were highly drafted busts . The CFL record is 62 yards held by Paul McCallum , the NFL preseason record 65 yards held by Ola Kimrin , the independent amateur record ( as well as the record without the aid of a tee ; tees are not allowed in the NFL and have been banned from NCAA since 1989 ) is 68 yards held by Fabrizio Scaccia , and the high school record 68 yards held by Dirk Borgognone ; high school has wider goal posts and treats a field goal attempt that lands short in the field of play the same as a punt , making longer attempts much less risky . The indoor football record , with narrower and higher goal posts , is 63 yards ( set by Aaron Mills ) , which is practically as long of a field goal as is possible in that variant of the sport , since the field in indoor football ( including both end zones ) is only 66 yards . Scaccia , while playing indoor football , attempted a 64 - yard kick that was inches short of success , hitting the crossbar . Longer field goals have been attempted at times ; the longest attempt in the NFL , which was well short and was kicked into the wind , was 76 yards , attempted by Sebastian Janikowski . NFL Europe rewarded kickers that successfully kicked a field goal of longer than 50 yards with a bonus point , making such field goals worth 4 points instead of 3 ; this rule has since been adopted by the Stars Football League . The shortest possible field goal under current strategies is slightly over 17 yards in American football and 8 yards in Canadian football ( Canadian football requires the ball to be snapped at least one yard away from the end zone ) . Theoretically , a field goal could be attempted from a shorter distance as long as the holder stays behind the line of scrimmage ( or , in Canadian football , via a drop kick at any point on the field ) , but in practice this has never happened . Drop kicks . It has been surmised that a drop kick has a slightly longer range than the standard place kick , but since these kicks are so rare , that is not known for sure . During the early NFL era , this was generally true , and drop kicks were the norm for longer field goals ; in fact , the first unofficial NFL record kick of 55 yards , set by Paddy Driscoll in 1924 , was indeed set by drop kick . The only successful drop kick in the NFL since the 1941 NFL Championship game 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 . Flutie had estimated " an 80 percent chance " of making the drop kick , which was called to give Flutie , 43 at the time , the opportunity to make a historic kick in his final NFL game , the drop kick being his last play in the NFL . After the game , New England coach Bill Belichick said , " I think Doug deserves it , " and Flutie said , " I just thanked him for the opportunity . " The kick was executed from 27 yards out ( Flutie stood in a punter position , 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage ) . Drew Brees , a former teammate of Flutie ' s , attempted a drop - kicked extra point from the same position during the poorly - received 2012 Pro Bowl ; his kick , however , fell short .