NFL field-goal trivia

[dj]

I guess the answer is too tricky. It would be D, none of the above. After Owens did it, they made it illegal.

I'm quite certain it's not illegal now. The problem is that if the ball is blocked and recovered by the kicking team, the ball is live and can be recovered by the kicking team on the field or in the end zone for a touchdown.

[gh]

From the SF Chron yesterday, in a piece by a writer who I would trust to vet the facts, if that's worth anything:

<<..Owens was a rookie wide receiver for the 49ers in 1957 when head coach Frankie Albert and offensive coordinator Red Hickey loved how he could consistently outjump defenders for Y.A. Tittle's passes in practice. Somebody on the team dubbed it "the Alley-Oop play," and it worked for two touchdowns against the Rams at Kezar Stadium.

Since then, "Alley Oop" has been Owens' nickname. One of the great leapers in NFL history, he is the only player ever to block a field goal attempt directly in front of the goalpost. He was with the Baltimore Colts at the time, and the block came on a kick by the Redskins' Bob Khayat in 1962.

"After that, they changed the rule," he said, "so the only way you can block a kick is at the line.".....>>

[dj]

Oops, Owens is still correct!

I checked the NFL rule book, and under the section about field goals there is no mention of "goal tending." The index however, has two citations for goal tending, both sending one to page 86.

But p86 has nothing about goal tending and the search for that term offers nothing in the text of the rules. But on p.87 one finds the term "goal-tending" with the hypen. The term is used in the text with a margin note calling attention to GOAL TENDING, but with the two margin words on separate lines!

I blame it all on the unreliability of search engines!!!

[Conor Dary]

I guess the answer is too tricky. It would be D, none of the above. After Owens did it, they made it illegal.

I'm quite certain it's not illegal now. The problem is that if the ball is blocked and recovered by the kicking team, the ball is live and can be recovered by the kicking team on the field or in the end zone for a touchdown.

I think that is only if the non-kicking team touches it beyond the line of scrimmage. Remember that foulup in the Dallas Thanskgiving Day game a few years ago? The Cowboy thought he had to recover it, tried, muffed it and the other team got a touchdown.