NFL "Knowing the Rules" Moments REACTION!! | OFFICE BLOKES REACT!! 

6:58 You blokes just witnessed one of the most rare things in the NFL. Bill Belichick smiling.

The reason they let Flutie attempt the drop kick instead of just kicking a field goal is because this was Flutie's last game in the NFL, he had been practicing the kick for years, and was pretty damn good at it, and he had been begging his coaches to let him kick one for years. Belichick just said, "fuck it, let the guy kick one". Flutie made it and is the now in the record books as the only player to make one in like 80 years. We will almost certainly never see another in our lifetime as a regular field goal is much, much more of a sure thing than a drop kick (and scores the same), which is why no one even practices them anymore....except Flutie, apparently.

The point of the Doug Flutie drop kick, is that since American football evolved from rugby, a lot of the old rugby rules still apply, even though nobody uses them. A drop kick is still legal in American football, it's just rarely done.

10:43 "Free kick after fair catch rule" I was a high school football official for 7 years and we had this rule at the high school level as well. The times where it would make sense to use it are very rare. Like here, for example. There's only 4 seconds to halftime, so you're only going to be able to do one play. The team has to have just received a punt via a fair catch. If that condition is met, the receiving team can inform the officials they want to attempt a free kick from the fair catch yard line. Both teams must line up as if for a kickoff - with the defenders at least 10 yards from the kick. The kicking team can't use a kicking tee, and if the kicker puts the kick through the uprights, it's a field goal. It's an uncontested free kick because the defense can't rush the kicker. In seven years, our crew never encountered one of these requests.

The rule about the player stepping out of bounds is that on a kickoff, the kicker cannot kick the ball out of bounds. It's a penalty. Punts can go out of bounds and the ball is played from that spot. But it's different on kickoffs. Can't kick it out of bounds, or it's a penalty and the ball goes to the 40. So by putting a foot out of bounds when picking up the ball, the kick is considered out of bounds, and it's a penalty on the kicking team.

I can't wait to see the Blokes hop into the batting cage. It'll be in history books, im sure.

A free kick can be attempted anytime after a punt and the receiving team has signaled a fair catch. An uncontested kick can be attempted from the spot of the fair catch. These are usually tried at the end of a half with little risk to the tryer. A missed attempt can be returned or possession reverts to the defense at the spot of the kick if time remains

Okay guys. Here's a couple things. The drop kick (when using it for the after touchdown extra point) is worth 1 point just as the standard extra point kick would be. So there was no advantage to it in this case. They just decided to let Flutie try it. On the free kick, any time a team is receiving a kickoff or punt they can elect to make a Fair Catch. The receiver signifies the fair catch by putting one arm above his head and moving it side to side. Once that call is made he can't be hit or interfered with. The other side is he also can not advance the ball. If a team makes a fair catch at any time in the game they do have the option of the free kick. The ball must be a place kick or drop kick. If a place kick it can be held by another player like on a normal field goal attempt. A successful free kick by either method is worth 3 points like a field goal. Back when Flutie made his drop kick extra point, the extra point attempts were all made from the 2 yard line. It would be snapped back to a holder on the 10 and kicked from there. The rule has since been changed. Now a team having scored a touchdown has to declare whether they are going to attempt a kick for 1 point or another play where they have to run or pass the ball and get into the end zone, worth 2 points. 2 point tries still are placed at the 2. Extra point kicks are now snapped from the 15. So they are held at the 23 making it a 33 yard kick (with the 10 yards of the end zone). One other thing that might be confusing to some folks on the out of bounds play. The penalty when the player steps out and then touches it is against the kicking team not the receiving team. Any kick off out of bounds is a penalty for the kicking team and the receivers get the ball at the 40. This is also a rule change. The receiving team used to have the option of taking the ball at the spot where it went out (it would have to be a horrible kick). That happened primarily when the kickers tried an onside kick (squib the ball 10 yard to try to recover it themselves). The receivers other option with the old rule was to force the kicker to re-kick the ball from 5 yards further back. Sorry this was so long, but these can be confusing rules. Stay safe and well.

The free kick in question was a fair catch kick. The rules states that if a team takes a fair catch on a punt instead of attempting to return it, the returning team can opt to take an unopposed placekick from the spot of the fair catch. This is usually done if time is about to expire in the 1st half and the ball is spotted over the halfway line. They are rarely successful, but it is better than trying nothing at all.

That drop kick was an extra point (1), same as they would have gotten had they done it normally with the center hiking it to the holder.

The drop kick by Doug Flutie was a point after the touchdown. The six and one you guys were saying. Nowadays the football is place kicked instead of drop kicked. The opposing team probably thought the Patriots were going for a two-point attempt and Flutie just dropped kicked it through the uprights for the extra point.

I've watched football my entire life and there are still times where I have no idea what the rule is! So many rules in American football, especially in the kicking game.

Watching these guys react to this is like the first time I took my girl to her football game!

The reason the drop kick was so amazing for one most people don't even know it's part of the NFL and second the quarterback not a "kicking specialist", which they have on the bench. I have no doubt in 2021 if it were done in a game the majority of fans wouldn't even think it's legal it's so rare.

Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker made a 70 yard FG during 'Monday Night ' warmups in Mexico City, so it's not impossible, but that city is very high altitude.

On the free kicks, it was almost halftime, so the team probably figured that was their best opportunity to get points on the board

You don’t see drop kicks in American football anymore because the shape of the ball makes it hard to get a good bounce needed to do it right. They were more common when the ball was rounder and gave a better bounce

As has been explained, drop kick or place kick(held by a teammate) is the same -1point after touchdown. The placement method is almost always used (as he said, drop kick went out with leather helmets) because it’s easier to get accuracy for the kick when someone holds it relatively steady.

That first one though. I think that when the rule was made, it would apply during the natural flow of the game, but the Green Bay player knew the technical definition, and manufactured a penalty.

You can only try that free-kick field goal after a fair catch after the other team kicks off to you. You have to try it on the next play. With seconds left in the 1st half they figured it could do no harm or might get 3 pts.

American football is often called, derisively, Lawyer Ball. And many of the referees are actual lawyers.

Drop kicks are entirely legal for field goals and extra points (same value as a place kick - 3 points for a field goal, 1 for an extra point), but teams don't do it anymore because the ball is a lot more pointed than a rugby ball and the bounce isn't very predictable. The intentional safety is a fairly unusual tactic but it's not really so much a "knowing the rules" moment. It's trading two points for field position (instead of trying to punt from the back of the end zone - and risking a blocked kick since the punter can't stand as far back from the line of scrimmage as usual - they get to kick it away from the 20 yard line). It did result in my favorite strange scoreline ever in a college game in 2004, though: Iowa beat Penn State 6-4. 4 is the most difficult score to achieve in a football game, except for 1; it can only be done with two safeties or defensive scores on conversions. The fair catch kick is an NFL-only rule (college football doesn't have it). Basically, if you take a fair catch on a punt (the return man signals by waving his hand over his head; he can't be hit but can't advance the ball once he catches it), you have the option to take a free kick from that spot (even if time has run out on the half) instead of a normal play. You can score a field goal on the kick, but because the defending team has to stay 10 yards back, you can plausibly attempt them from considerably further away than a normal field goal. It's only attempted at the end of a half or game because if you try it and miss, the opposing team gets the ball at the spot of the kick if they don't attempt a return (same as any other field goal). You'll see one attempted every few years or so. One that wasn't shown here (it's legal in the NFL but hasn't happened; the only two instances of it I know of are in college football) is the conversion safety. On the conversion after a touchdown, what would be another touchdown on an ordinary play is worth 2 points (and can be scored by either team, if the defense forces a turnover) and a field goal is 1. But a safety on a conversion is also worth 1 point. The Fiesta Bowl between Oregon and Kansas State after the 2012 season featured one: an Oregon kick attempt was blocked, Kansas State recovered it outside the endzone, retreated into the endzone, and was tackled there, scoring a 1-point safety for Oregon. The other was also after a turnover on the conversion attempt (between Texas and Texas A&M in 2004). But the defensive team can theoretically score a safety in such situations as well, if they somehow manage to force the offense back 98 yards. (That's the only way to reach a score of exactly 1 in a game. It's never happened and quite probably never will. But in theory, it can be done.)

6 for the td 1 for the “extra point” normally there is a holder that catches the ball and sets it up for the kicker but in that drop kick its normally when they might punt the ball on a 4th down or something that they do that. Rarely done on an extra point. Technically its a less accurate kick because your kicking a moving ball. So thats why its never done when points are possible.

The Free Kick is one of the most obscure rules that even the die-hard fans don't know. It's pretty rare. I don't think I've seen it happen 3 time in my lifetime. It's if on a kick-off if the ball is kicked in the air and the receiving team makes a fair catch without the ball touch the ground, the receiving team can the do a free kick from the spot where the ball was caught. If they can kick the ball between the goal post it's worth 3 pts, much like a field goal. The difference from a Field Goal (FG) is that the defense can not rush or attempt to block the kick and the offense doesn't have to snap the ball and the ball is kicked from the line of scrimmage, so the kicker can get as much of a running start as he likes to get more power behind his kick. This doesn't come up often because most of the time when a team does a kick off they kick it as deep as they can. However they may occasionally try an onside kick where the kicking team kicks it short, but at least 10 yards, in attempt to recover the ball before the receiving team does.

Here's the rule about free kicks. If one team punts the ball, and the other team's player calls for a fair catch and actually catches it, the receiving team has two options. The first option -- and this is the one that is employed 99.999999% of the time -- is to simply take the ball at that spot and begin their next drive with a first and ten. The super rare option is for the team to put the ball on the ground and have their kicker attempt to kick it through the goal posts for three points. In that situation, the other team cannot rush the kicker. They have to stand back ten yards and watch. The kicker cannot use a tee. He needs to have a holder hold the ball for him. The kicker is allowed to run up, so he can, as suggested, get more oomph behind the kick. The reason this is so rare is that it's pretty silly to try it...UNLESS there are only a few seconds left on the clock. That's probably what you guys didn't notice -- the clock. In addition, there is the added strategy involved whereby the other team KNOWS this might happen, so with only a few seconds left they won't punt the ball so as to allow the other team to MAKE the fair catch. Instead, they'll kick it right out of bounds. So that's why it's so rare to see. I don't think a free kick has been made in the NFL since the late 1960s or early 1970s.

Y'all have the dopest intro music on the web! I enjoy your reactions too. Love from Texas.

Yeah, the drop kick isn't a loophole as much as it's a technically legal play that you will never see because it's needlessly risky for no payoff. It occurred in that play because the kicker was retiring and it was the last game of the regular season. (New England and Miami's post-seasons were already set-in-stone, more or less)

Love you guys! A dropkick is the same as a placed kick, after a touchdown it's one point if it's a kick instead of a touchdown it's 3 points.

The rules related to balls kicked "Out of Bounds": RULE 6 - ARTICLE 3. FREE KICK OUT OF BOUNDS.The kicking team may not kick the ball out of bounds or be the last to touch the ball before it goes out of bounds between the goal lines. If the receiving team is the last to touch the ball before it goes out of bounds, the receiving team puts the ball in play at the inbounds spot. Penalty: For a kickoff out of bounds: The receiving team may elect to take possession of the ball 25 yards from the spot of the kick or at the out-of-bounds spot. Because of the rule above, if an out of bounds receiving team player touches a free kicked live ball that is still in the field of play, that ball is immediately deemed out of bounds, resulting in the receiving team having the choice of the penalty options stated in the rule above.

That kickoff play is taking advantage of 2 seperate rules. the first rule is that it is a penalty to kickoff out of bounds. The second rule is that if a player possesses the ball and steps out of bounds, then the ball is out of bounds. Combine these two rules, and take possession of the kickoff while out of bounds, and the kickoff itself becomes out of bounds and is a penalty.

The "drop kick" is a throwback to rugby in the rules. The main reason no one uses it anymore is that the ball MUST touch the ground before contact of the kick. It is extremely inaccurate because you can never tell how the ball will bounce off the ground. If you don't drop it perfectly, the kick will never work lol

Yesssss more nfl! My fav videos from u guys

Fun fact, I was at both of the first two games (taking the kick off out of bounds) I didn’t know what they were doing the first time, I didn’t know that was a rule. But I had the perfect view of it the second time and knew exactly what was going on that time haha. Everyone around me was baffled

I’m American Football they tend to know the rule book very well. It’s the subjective rules, like pass interference and the infamous “what is a catch?” That causes trouble

The out of bounds rule on a kick off or punt isn’t as much of a loop hole as you’d might think for a few reasons. 1. Normally if the guy gets the ball he’ll want to run it back to make something happen because those plays tend to give a more open field to make some magic happen; 2. Normally the kickoff team should be breathing down the guys neck by the time he gets the ball especially if it’s already hit the ground; 3. most kickers don’t aim that close to the sidelines too heavily unless there is a strategic reason to do so. In the cases I saw in the highlight reel, the receiver had plenty of time to plan to put his feet out of bounds. It’s fairly unusual for the timing, placement, and defense not being there yet to all come together in order to accomplish that. Probably mead the Pinter hit a monster punt out distancing the defense running down field, which is normally good except when that happens.

I was at the New England at Denver game. It was Monday night Football. I remember thinking about the strategy coach Belichik used leading up to that point in the game. So brilliant.

touchdown = 6 (then you can choose to go for 2 points by getting the ball into the endzone on the next play. Or, you kick a "extra point" for 1 point. In the video they lined-up like they were going to go for 2 points, normally for the extra point someone would be kneeling down, waiting for the ball to be hiked to them, hold the football on the ground for the kicker... but instead did the drop kick for the single point. You notice he had to drop the ball and let it hit the ground before kicking it, you can't just kick it from the air. The only reason why anyone would ever do this is is because it is a historic rule left over from rugby/early american football and this career long kicker wanted to go out in style.

From a kickoff the ball is live once it goes more than 10 yards and either team can recover it. If the ball is kicked directly out of bounds before it's touched in the field of play before the endzone it's a penalty and the ball is placed at the 40 yard line. It's a rule to force the kick off into the field of play (different from punts when you can kick it directly out of bounds and the opposing team takes possession at that spot). Just the same as when attempting to catch a pass, if your feet are out of bounds, the ball is out of bounds. In these cases if they recovered the ball they would've taken possession inside their own 5 yard line, by stepping out of bounds before touching the ball they automatically gain 35+ yards of field position, it's brilliant awareness

I learned something today about something that I thought I knew pretty well.. thanks

I'll take that bet . Knowing Me Knowing You is a song by AABA , and made during their breakup period .

A "kicked" point after attempt or, PAT, is worth 1 point, whether drop kicked or with a place holder. A run or pass into the endzone after scoring a TD is worth 2 points but, as long as a drop kick is NOT attempted as a PAT, it's just like a field goal and worth 3 points, just like Rugby and, just like Rugby, the ball can be drop kicked from anywhere or anytime during an offensive possession, meaning, behind or beyond the line of scrimmage.

React to some more nhl, like “the beauty of hockey”

The New England Patriots safety play was a strategic gamble that paid off. You usually never want to give up a safety on purpose because the other team gets 2 points, AND they get the ball back. There were less than 3 minutes left in the game and they were down by 1 point. After the safety they were down by 3 points.. still just one field goal from a tie. They were willing to give the other team the two points and be down by 3, because afterwards, when they punt the ball back to the other team, they felt that they would have pushed the other team back further, with the hopes of getting the ball back. Had they just tried to punt the ball instead of giving up the safety, the other team would have had much better field position to possibly kick a field goal to go up by 4, in which case the Patriots would have to score a touchdown to go ahead, rather than kick a field goal to tie, with only minutes left in the game.

Basic football scores; 6 points for touchdown, 3 points for field goals kicking the ball over and through the uprights either with drop kick or with holder, 2 points for a safety, and points for points after goal, 2 points for crossing the goal line with ball instead of 1 point kicking ball over and through uprights. Drop kicks are not as reliable for kicking the ball over longer distances, the kicker has to wait for the ball to touch the ground before kicking it, otherwise it is a punt, and footballs take weird bounces if the timing is not perfect. Using a holder to hold the ball on the ground for the kicker allows for a stronger kick, and allows for a larger variety of trick plays. Free kicks rarely happen, but when they do it is at the end of a half, when a receiving team catches a punt with little or no time left. If the receiving team fair catches the punt, they can get a free kick from where they catch the punt. If they catch the ball in their kickers accurate distance, they get a free kick to try to score three points. If they are too far away for a possible kick, the receiving team can try to score on the run back, or do a fair catch and try a Hail Mary. That’s why many offensive teams decide to not punt the ball on fourth down deep into their own territory and opt for giving away a safety instead. Lots of special trick plays happen at the end of half’s.

Of course I got the Alan Partridge reference.😆 DAN, DAN, DAN, DAN, DAN....

"Viewers who pick the best (most watched) videos of the month get a complimentary hat (or similar)" - sounds like a great idea! Keep the best videos coming.

Always excited to see a new nfl reaction!

Oh yeah, I got the reference! My dad was a big ABBA fan, so I caught it immediately lol

I've watched the NFL my entire life and you on the right schooled me on that first one

I’m going to keep saying it. Thanks for getting Manly again ! That’s what made me love you Blokes in the first place !

The free kick rule - the team kicking off the ball to the other team (done on a tee) has a chance to score on that kickoff. This would be considered a try, so no tee can be used, which is why you see a holder for the ball as well. Hasn’t been done before, but the reason why the kicking team chose to attempt the try anyway was because it was the ending of the half anyway so they thought, “maybe the kicker can pull off a miracle and give us 3 more points before the half”.

For a freekick like that one right before half. the punt returner may call a fair catch and on the ensuing play the other team may come out and have an uncontested or freekick. I only know that because i returned punts and we were in that situation once before and my coach said do not try to return it under any circumstances. we didn't end up opting for that option but it is available but very seldom implemented. doesn't only have to be done right before the half but it really is the only time it makes sense as if you miss the ball will be either returned or turned over at the spot of the kick if you miss the kick

My dream is for a Superbowl to be won on a successful last-second fair catch kick, just to watch most of America wonder WTF just happened.

More sports videos! Love to hear you guys chat on it.

A field goal just is a dropkick... it's the same rules; the ball has to touch the ground before your foot hits it, but someone else is allowed to hold it and since our rules are so different from rugby it just makes sense to use the field goal formation most times because the kickers are just so crazy accurate that way.

Not sure if you guys check old comments but I just found your channel. To answer the question at 5:24, there r a lot of ref related controversies in the nfl related to missed penalties and places where it’s ref discretion like pass interference. In that case it’s the refs call whether the defender interfered with the receiver and it’s a huge penalty cuz it moves the ball to the spot of the foul (way up the field where the receiver is). There is definitely a video on them you guys could check out

A free kick can be taken at any time off of an opposing teams punt and your fair catch. You'd kick it from that spot. The reason why it's so rare is because it's basically only ever going to be a option if; 1. There is not enough time left in the half/game to run a play to get you closer for a field goal (less than 10 seconds at least). 2. The opposing team is punting deep enough in their own end to give you a reasonable distance to attempt it (inside their own 10 at least). So the amount of times the above scenario comes up is probably only a couple times a season and even then you'd need a kicker with a great leg. Most teams just try their luck on the return or a Hail Mary pass.

Flutie's drop kick was for a field goal, which is three points. For most field goals, the center snaps the ball to a holder, who holds the ball on the ground for the kicker. One reason the drop kick fell out of favor is that they made the balls narrow and pointy (which makes them easy to throw), and a ball of this shape won't take a reliable bounce. Using a holder is a much more reliable way to kick a field goal. A rugby ball is rounder and less pointy, so drop kicks are a lot easier than in American football. Also, play in rugby is continuous, so there's probably no way to use a holder even if the rules allowed it. The free kick came after a punt that was caught for a fair catch. The rules allow the receiver of a punt to signal for a fair catch by raising his hand. The opposing team isn't allowed to tackle him, but he's also not allowed to advance once he's caught it. There's a seldom-used rule that allows the receiving team to take a free kick for a field goal attempt after a fair catch.

If you fair catch on a kickoff, as the receiving team you can take a free place kick from the spot you receive the ball. Almost never done. In this case time was almost gone in the half and the distance was almost makeable. Drop kicks can be attempted for extra points (1) after a touchdown or for a field goal (3).

Because the football was redesigned in the 1920s and 1930s to make the forward pass easier, it has a point on the end instead of being rounded like a rugby ball. That makes it almost impossible to dropkick cleanly and consistently. So most team kick an extra point or field goal from a stationary position on the ground with a second person holding the ball. A drop kick can theoretically be done anytime. It can get three points as a field goal, or one point as a conversion after a score.

I actually learned some new to me rules watching this, so thanks for that. NFL "What Team are you on?" Moments

Drop kicks can be done in any situation in which a place kick would normally be done. So one point or three points.

A lot of quarterbacks used to also be either kickers or punters, so the dropkick made sense. It's been decades since any QB has been a kicker though, so no one drop kicks any more. The last QB/K I can think of was Danny White on the Cowboys in the 1980s. If you've ever seen the old Burt Reynolds movie The Longest Yard, the QB kicks a field goal on a drop kick in that movie.

Prior to the start of every NFL game, a couple refs will visit each teams locker room. If a team is planning on doing something like this, they'll talk with the refs and tell them of their plan and sometimes even remind them or show them where in the rule book its stated.

Golf is the WORST for obscure rules and regulations.

Re: the "free kick" vs standard field goal attempt... In a standard field goal attempt, the kicker has to kick the ball on a much higher arc to avoid the other team's linemen jumping up to try to tip or block the kick. So that takes a bit of the distance off the ball.

The free kick is only allowed after fair catching a punt. It usually only happens near the end of a half as teams would rather try for a touchdown, which is 6 points, over the free kick, which is 3 points. A free kick is essentially a field goal but the other team can’t try to block it

The ultimate football oddity. Look up 1-point safety Oregon vs. Kansas State. This can also happen in the NFL.

The reason why drop kicks aren't done is because kicking is a pretty specialized skill in most places where gridiron football is played. In rugby not only is kicking a larger part of the game, but kids grow up playing soccer and are more natural at/are comfortable with kicking and that kind of dexterity to begin with. We don't don't really give a shit, so in football it's rare to have more than two players comfortable kicking at all (the kicker and the punter) on any given team. So given the fact you aren't likely to have a competent kicker on the field at any given time to just throw a drop kick down on the fly, and you have the luxury of fielding a specialized kicking unit with very little penalty (other than burning a few seconds getting them onto the field), there's not really a point to it. It doesn't count for more points (it equals the same amount of points as any other field goal or extra point), and there really isn't a single situation where a drop kick is in any way more advantageous that running a conventional play or kicking a field goal. This was just a case of a encyclopedic coach in Belichick giving a fellow legend a fun retirement gift and letting him do something no one else had done in 65 years.

Doug Flutie is the Quarterback. They lined up for a rare two-point post touchdown conversion. Instead, Flutie - not a special teams kicker - made a drop kick one point post touchdown conversion.

Lads, it's got to be "NFL Bad Lip Reading" next! This is a potential goldmine...

Free kicks happen after safeties (always) and, per the rules, can happen after a fair catch. It’s rarely done after a fair catch unless it’s a short field goal attempt and there’s not enough time left to run any plays ( and you’re behind by 3 points or less).

It’s usually a place kick. It’s one pt. 2 points has to cross the goaline as a play

Watching this is just making me say sit down and watch a game.

For the free kick. If a fair catch is called on a punt the receiving team has the right to take a "free kick" from the line of scrimmage instead of attempting to drive up the field for a touchdown. If the kick is good it is worth 3 points like a regular field goal. In both the cases in the video time was expired or almost expired in the half so there was no downside to attempting the kick. Edit: After reading a number of the other responses I feel the need to expand this for accuracy. In this case "free kick" is actually a misnomer, the announcers should have called it a "fair catch kick" since that is what is actually being done per the NFL rule book. Some other American football rule books do define this as a free kick. In the NFL a free kick is how the ball is put back into play after a safety.

The "out of bounds on a kickoff" rule basically states that any kickoff kick that goes out of bounds via a sideline is a foul and the receiving team has the choice of a re-kick or taking the ball at the 40 yard line. (Guess which one teams always choose?) The way kickers could avoid this foul is to kick somewhere near the middle of the field, but then the receivers can put their best runner there. Kickers prefer to take the risk of getting too close to the sideline to giving the ball to a star runner quickly. So why does the receiver stepping out of bounds count even though the ball is still in-bounds? The rule defining out of bounds states the ball is out of bounds if it touches the ground outside the field of play, or ANY OBJECT OR PERSON out of the field of play. By putting one foot out of bounds, the player became part of the out of bounds area. The ball touching him in that state is a foul just like if it had rolled out of bounds on its own.

You get a free kick when the receiving team takes a fair catch on a kickoff. The receiving team then can elect to play on or to take a free kick. Most always teams play on in order to score a touchdown. But, at the end of halves or games teams may fair catch the kickoff and attempt a desperation free kick field goal

The free kick a 10 minutes is from a little applied rule that says a team may elect to take a free kick from the spot of any fair catch. Because is would result in a possession change on top of the fact most fair catches occur at a teams own end of the field, it's rarely attempted. Only once has one being tried that wasn't at the end of the 2nd or 4th quarters (i.e. a loss of possession, being forced to start over on the ensuing kickoff, or the end of the game) with little or no time to improve field position to take a conventional field goal from closer. So this is a sensible option. Opponents can't contest the ball, you're allowed to run up to it like a kickoff, it really is a chance for 3 free points. It's happened about 25 times over the years, about a quarter successful, mostly from the 60s to the 80's. Last successful one was in 55 and was the longest NFL field goal for a little bit.

On the safety play the reason it was crazy it is usually something you never want to happen because the other team gets 2 points and the ball

BTW, Belichick, coach of the Patriots, has used some obscure plays that have created controversies when fans don’t know the rules. One of the most famous was several years ago when he used players in different positions to be receivers. The summer after, the NFL met and created a rule that teams have to announce the player’s jersey number as an “eligible receiver.” Belichick is the most versed in the history of the game and the ever changing rules. Of course, Spygate didn’t help his reputation as he should have known that filming the opposing team had just been declared against the rules in the Summer of 2007 and yet one of his staff was caught doing it after that. But he is considered the mad genius of football.

That's my boy, Cobb! Go Cats! Randall's a former U of KY Wildcat!

I got the ABBA reference....then again I'm ancient too LOL

It is 6 points for the TD with1 point after unless you go for a throw or run into the end zone for 2 points. A field goal is 3. A safety when the offense (especially the QB) are lined up in the end zone and the defense is able to stop the offense in the end zone. That is 2 points. A drop kick is difficult to control as it is done quickly and by thenQB who doesn’t usually have that skill set. But he had been practicing it a long time.

With all these rules, there will always be loopholes no matter what you make the rule. But for the vast majority these are good rules.

When the ball is "kicked off it sets on a tee. With the free-kick it's on the ground and held by a team mate.

In order to get a free kick, you have to take a fair catch on either a punt or kickoff with no time left on the clock

drop kicks are harder to do and the angle it comes off the ground is much much lower than a standard place held kick. So a drop kicked ball can be blocked easier because it doesn't go high over the line of players trying to block it. So instead of coming off the foot at like a 70 degree angle, it comes off at a lower 40 degree angle. That's also why it is hard to kick a held field goal from 60+ yards, you have to angle the kick lower to get more distance and less height. People can kick field goals with nobody trying to block it from 60 yards, but to do with people who are tall and can jump they can block easier than a kick that goes well over their head.

1st and 2nd clips - Out of bounds kickoffs are a penalty, the receiving team gets to put the ball at their 40 yard line (normally a return/touchback puts it around the 25). By "receiving" the ball out of bounds, the returner effectively turned a legally kickoff into an out of bounds kick. It's a fairly obscure rule that you don't see exploited very much. 3rd clip - That was a PAT (point after touchdown) attempt by an old player about to retire, the rule for kicking in the NFL is that the ball needs to be on the ground or have just bounced off the ground when you kick it. Typically during PAT or field goal tries, the ball is snapped to a holder who holds the ball upright on the ground for the kicker. In this case a quarterback took the snap, dropped the ball to the ground, and kicked it just as it bounced back up. There's no benefit to "drop kicking" it's actually quite a bit more difficult, but that was the only one since 1941 so it was interesting to see. 4th clip - It was 4th and 10, the offense was down by 1 point deep inside their own territory, and there was 2:51 left on the game clock. Typically there are two options for a team in that situation, go for it, attempting to convert a 4th in 10 from inside their own 5 yard line, and punting the ball away and trying to come up with a stop on defense to regain possession. There are problems with both options. Converting a 4th in 10 is difficult (maybe about a 10% chance of success) and failing to convert would almost certainly lose the game, as the defense would get the ball 5 yard from your end zone needing just a field goal to go up 4 points or TD to go up 8. Punting would make it more difficult for the other team to score, but they'd still get the ball with good field position needing perhaps 10-20 yards to be within field goal range, and punting from your own end zone is difficult -- your punter is rushed because they need to punt closer to the line of scrimmage and the defense has an easier time blocking kicks. The offense chose a third option, intentionally taking a safety, giving the other team 2 points and the ball, but improving their field position by about 30 yards before punting the ball away. The 2 points gave the other team the lead by 3 so if their defense could come on the field and get the ball back, a FG would still be able to tie the game. This isn't necessarily an obscure rule, but it displayed out of the box thinking by the coach. 5th and 6th clips - This is a little known rule, but following fair catches in the NFL, the receiving team gets the option for a "free kick" where they can try a field goal and the defense needs to be at least 10 yards away from the line of scrimmage. There might be one attempt like this every few years, most punts that are either returned, or fair caught well outside of field goal range, and kicking the ball turns possession over to the other team so it needs to be done at the end of a half to make sense. 7th and 8th clips - Basically the same as the 4th clip, the offenses deliberately took safeties, in these cases it was as much about killing time as it was punting from better field position. The last clip was from the end of the Super Bowl in 2013 so it was quite dramatic. There used to be a way to even further exploit this rule by blatantly holding (which is a penalty) everyone on the defense will the play was occurring. The penalty for holding in the end zone is a safety, which is the offenses plan anyways, so there's no real reason not to hold, and it allows for significant more time to be killed off the clock. The loophole was successfully exploited a few times and they changed the rule several years ago so that teams wouldn't intentionally hold.

Refs in the NFL are notorious for getting it wrong.

They had scored a touchdown, the drop kick gave them 2 more. Just like a 2 point conversion. So they got 8 total. The only time I’ve ever seen that.

Love Partridge. Couldnt not say Ah Ha after knowing me knowing you

You can attempt a free kick following a fair catch. You will really only see them at the end of the half or game, because if you miss, you sacrifice possession.

Another fun fact is that the NFL distance record for a successful field goal has been broken several times in high school football. NFL record: 64 yards; HS record: 68 yards

I'm surprised they didn't have the playoff games from Belichick where he kept switching which linemen/TE's who were eligible receivers. I thought it was an awesome use of the rules. He'd send in for example #80 and #81 as eligible WR's. The refs then announced their numbers to the other team per the rules. Then on the next play he left them in, but made #80/81 NOT eligible and added two more linemen #75/79 and made them eligible instead. Then he kept changing them around each play. So basically, the defense couldn't react fast enough to who was or was not going to be eligible and New England had a huge advantage.

Watching this is making me realize how goddamn complicated American football is lol

A free kick is when you call for a fair catch and then ask to kick a field goal from that point. The good: you get an unopposed kick. The Bad: you give up your chance with the ball.

Number 18 on gren Bay is from my home town.

A few years ago the NFL refs went on strike. The replacement refs they brought in were absolutely horrendous. During the strike period though, one of the head NFL refs made sure the other ones were staying up-to-date on the rules for when they would go back to work. Due to the awful quality of the backup reffs that were brought in by the NFL, the NFL gave it into the strike demands. I have noticed after that horrendous debacle that people don't complain about the refs nearly as much as they used to.

Pretty hard to drop kick a football, try it! The drop kick for the extra POINT is worth 1 point, the same as the extra point with the with the ball holder (place kick).

A lot (or at least some) NFL referees are attorneys, so they're used to learning complex laws and rules.