Longest Field Goal in NFL

If Sebastian Janikowski's kick and an attempt to a field goal would not have missed the goal for a whopping 76 yards, his name would have probably adorned the National Football League NFL hall of fame. Unfortunately it is not so. Unfortunately this glory went to New Orleans Saints later and Oakland Raiders scion missed the bus. This is one of the stories behind the longest field goal in NFL. There are loads of other incidents and anecdotes revolving these happenings which made history. As interesting as these anecdotes are, knowing about the actual happenings, too, is interesting.

Longest Field Goal in NFL History
You would be surprised to know that the player who eventually, after Janikowski's longest field goal attempt was born with a deformed foot. This moment was etched in the football history by Tom Dempsey of New Saint Orleans, with a 63 yard goal. It was on November 8, 1970, against Detroit Lions. The Tulane Stadium was the witness to this goal. Another close contender for the longest field goal in American Football was Jason Elam of Denver Broncos. Playing against Jacksonville Jaguars, he made history by kicking a 63 yard goal on 25 October,1998. It was in Mile High stadium.

Longest Field Goal in College Football
The NFL is big, but college football is no less in USA. It was almost more than 40 years back that the longest field goal ever was scored in American football history. A Swede, playing for Abilene Christian University Wild cats was the one who made sure that the American football enthusiasts remember his name forever. Ove Claes Johansson hit a whopping 69 yard goal in 1976, against East Texas State University in Shotwell Stadium Texas.

Longest Field Goal in High School
We talked about NFL and college football. Now I'll give you the statistics of the longest goal in high school. Dirk Borgognone, from Reno High School bags the honors for it. He got it against Sparks on September 27, 1985. It was a good 68 yard hit. Alan Saunders is also in this list, in fact he is believed to have hit a longer goal, around 70 yard goal at Oregon Clay High School.

Field Goals in NFL Worth Mentioning
Although the current record is held by Jason Eelam and Tom Dempsey for the longest field goal in NFL, there are several others which missed the hall of fame by a few yards. Let's see who are they -

• Matt Bryant from Tampa Bay Buccaneers - 62 yards
• Sebastian Janikowski from Oakland Raiders - 61 yards
• Dan Carpenter from Miami Dolphins - 60 yards
• Rob Bironas from Tennessee Titans - 60 yards
• Morten Andersen from New Orleans Saints - 60 yards
• Steve Cox from Cleveland Browns - 60 yards

All these field goals are equally amazing and did warrant a mention. In addition to these, in 2006, Cincinnati Bengals kicker Shayne Graham hit a 64-yard field goal at the Pro Bowl skills challenge.

The coaches in NFL are rarely willing to kick and take the risk of a field position. So the conceptions that NFL players hit long field goals is not exactly right. The coaches of college football teams are somewhat willing to take risk of a field position. However, the list of NFL players just mentioned is a proof that some coaches think out of the box, and so we have so many in the list of longest field goal, or in fact longest field goal I NFL! That is all. I hope you found this entertaining enough.