Field goal ( football ) A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play ( " from the field " ) . Field goals may be scored by a placekick or the now practically extinct drop kick . The drop kick ( which is similar to a punt , except the ball must first bounce off the ground once before being kicked ) fell out of favor in 1934 when the shape of the ball was changed to be more aerodynamic due to the increasing popularity and effectiveness of the passing game . Prior to 1934 , the ball was more round shaped and easier to kick like a soccer ball . The new shape made drop kicking extremely inaccurate due to the unpredictable way the ball would bounce due to its oblong shape . The ball must pass through the uprights , that is , over a crossbar that is off the ground and between upright posts that are apart , to count . It is one of the several methods of scoring in those two sports . Because a successful field goal is worth only three points , as opposed to touchdown s which are worth six , field goals are usually attempted only during specific situations . Strategy . Because a field goal is worth only three points , while a touchdown scores at least six ( usually seven with the extra point , and potentially 8 with a two - point conversion ) , teams will generally attempt a field goal only in the following situations : Except in desperate situations , a team will generally attempt a field goal only when keeping a drive alive is unlikely , and their kicker has a significant chance of success , as a missed field goal results in a turnover at the spot of the kick ( in the NFL ) or at the line of scrimmage ( in the NCAA ) . In American high school rules and Canadian football , where a missed field goal is treated the same as a punt , most teams still opt not to attempt field goals from very long range , since field goal formations are not conducive to covering punts . Even under ideal conditions , the best professional kickers historically had difficulty making kicks longer than 50 yards consistently ( the NFL record is 63 yards and the CFL record , 62 yards ) . If a team chooses not to attempt a field goal on their last down , they can punt to the other team . A punt cannot score any points in American football unless the receiving team touches the ball first and the kicking team recovers it ( though it can result in a single in Canadian football ) , but it may push the other team back toward its own end . The longest field goal kick in NFL history is 63 yards , a record shared by Jason Elam , Tom Dempsey , and Sebastian Janikowski . High school , college and most professional football leagues offer only a three - point field goal ; however , some professional leagues have encouraged more rare kicks through " four - point field goals " . NFL Europe encouraged long field goals of 50 yards or more by making those worth four points instead of three ( much like Australian rules ' Super Goal or basketball ' s three - point line ) , a rule since adopted by the Stars Football League . Similarly , the sport of arena football sought ( unsuccessfully ) to repopularize the drop kick by making that worth four points ; it failed , since only one kicker ( Brian Mitchell ) was able to do it with any semblance of proficiency . ( In six - man football , where there is no offensive line , all field goals are worth four points instead of the usual three . ) The overall field goal percentage during the 2010 NFL season was 82 . 3 . In comparison , Jan Stenerud , the only pure kicker in the Pro Football Hall of Fame , had a career field goal percentage of 66 . 8 from 1967 to 1985 . How field goals are kicked . When a team decides to attempt a field goal , it will generally line up in a very tight formation , with all but two players lined up along or near the line of scrimmage : the placekicker and the holder . The holder is usually the team ' s punter or backup quarterback . Instead of the regular center , a team may have a dedicated long snapper trained especially to snap the ball on placekick attempts and punts . The defense will likewise line up all or nearly all of its players near the line of scrimmage to try to block the kick . If there is a significant likelihood of a miss and the strategic game situation warrants it , the defense may leave one player well behind the line of scrimmage to return a missed field goal ; as with other kicks , a missed field goal can be returned for a yardage gain up to and including a touchdown . The risk in this is that if there is a return , then unless there is a score the defense will take over at the spot where the returner is brought down , which may be a considerably worse position than where they would have taken over had they not returned the kick . Thus , teams will usually return a kick only towards the end of a half or in a particularly desperate situation . The holder usually lines up seven to eight yards behind the line of scrimmage , with the kicker a few yards behind him . Upon receiving the snap , the holder holds the ball against the ground vertically , with the stitches away from the kicker . The kicker begins his approach during the snap , so the snapper and holder have little margin for error . A split - second mistake can throw everything off . The measurement of a field goal ' s distance is from the goalpost to the point where the ball was positioned for the kick by the holder . In American football , where the goalpost is located at the back of the end zone ( above the end line ) , the ten yards of the end zone are added to the yard line distance at the spot of the hold . In the early days of the sport , placekickers approached the ball straight on , with the toe making first contact with the ball . The technique of kicking the ball " soccer - style " , by approaching the ball at an angle and kicking it with the instep , was introduced by kicker Pete Gogolak in the 1960s . The Hungarian - born Gogolak , reflecting his roots in European soccer , observed that kicking the ball at an angle could cover more distance than kicking straight on . Successful field goals . The method of resuming play after a successful field goal , if there is any time left in the half , has some differences between American and Canadian football . In American football the scoring team kicks off to the opposing team . In Canadian football the scored - against team has three choices : scrimmage from its 35 - yard line , kick off , have the scoring team kick off . Missed field goals . A missed field goal is said to be " no good " . If it misses to the kicker ' s left it may be called " wide left " and conversely " wide right " if it misses to the kicker ' s right . It may also be described as being " short " if it is aimed correctly but does not have the distance to go over the cross bar and through the uprights . If a field goal attempt is missed and does not go out of bounds , the defense has the option to return it as if it were a punt . This type of play usually occurs during an extremely long field goal attempt when , anticipating that the kicker will most likely miss , the defense lines up a player downfield in the end zone to catch the ball . The longest play ever in NFL history was a 109 - yard missed field goal return by Antonio Cromartie of the San Diego Chargers on November 4 , 2007 , against the Minnesota Vikings . If a ball caroms off one of the goal posts or the crossbar , but lands in the field of play , the ball is considered dead and cannot be returned . ( This is not the case in arena football , where large " rebound nets " surround the goal posts for the explicit purpose of keeping the ball in play . ) However , if the ball caroms off one of the goal posts or the crossbar and continues into the goal , the score counts . Situations where the defense does not return a missed field goal vary between leagues and levels of play : Returning a missed field goal is much more likely in Canadian football than in American rules for a few reasons . First , since the goal posts are on the goal line in front of a 20 - yard endzone ( rather than at the back of a 10 - yard endzone ) , a missed field goal is much less likely to go out of bounds while in the air . Also , returning the ball out of the end zone allows the defense to avoid giving up a single point , which may be crucial in a tight game . Moreover , the wider field of the Canadian game makes the average return longer . However , many CFL coaches judge that conceding a single and taking possession at the 35 - yard line to be a better gamble than returning a missed field goal and avoiding a single . Blocked field goals . Occasionally , the defense will succeed in blocking a field goal . If a blocked field goal is in or behind the neutral zone , it is treated like a fumble and can be advanced by either team . Beyond the neutral zone , a blocked kick is treated like a punt and can be advanced only by the defense , unless a defensive player fumbles the ball , after which an offensive player can advance it . History . In the early days of football , kicking was highly emphasized . Longest field goal records . As recorded in Guinness World Records : The record for a field goal is 69 yards . It was kicked by Ove Johansson of the Abilene Christian University Wildcats in the 1976 game against East Texas State University Lions in Shotwell Stadium , Abilene , Texas . NFL . Longest field goal attempt ever in an NFL game was by Sebastian Janikowski ( Oakland Raiders ) of 76 yards . It was just before the end of the first half and it missed . In the history of the NFL regular season , only nine field goals have been made from at least 60 yards . They are : Prior to Dempsey ' s 1970 kick , the longest field goal in NFL history was a 56 - yard field goal by Bert Rechichar in 1953 . A 55 - yard field goal , achieved by a drop kick , was recorded by Paddy Driscoll in 1924 , and stood as the unofficial record until that point ; some sources indicate a 54 - yarder by Glenn Presnell in 1934 as the record , due to the inability to precisely verify Driscoll ' s 55 - yarder . In a pre - season NFL game Denver Broncos vs Seattle Seahawks on August 29 , 2002 , Ola Kimrin kicked a 65 - yard field goal .