The NFL saw something Thursday that hadn't been achieved since 1976 -- a fair-catch free- kick conversion, when Cameron Dicker of the Los Angeles Chargers made a 57-yard kick before halftime of his team's 34-27 win over the Denver Broncos.
What is a fair-catch kick? We are so glad you asked, because the delightful bits of football ephemera light up the eyes of football nerds everywhere.
An esoteric rule allows for teams to attempt a free kick -- with nobody rushing in to block -- if the play comes after a fair catch, even with no time left on the clock. It's a rare circumstance; seldom is a team in range of making a kick after a punt, and seldom does a punt end a half to establish the perfect laboratory.
Here's the rule-book wording: "After a fair catch is made or is awarded as the result of fair catch interference, the receiving team has the option of putting the ball in play by a snap or fair catch kick (drop kick or place kick without a tee) from the spot of the catch or succeeding spot after enforcement of any applicable penalties (3-9 and 11-4-3). This includes the 15-yard penalty enforced from the receiving team's 20-yard line as applicable if the fair catch is made or awarded in his end zone from fair catch interference or illegal contact with the receiver after he has made a fair catch."
That's a lot of words, but on occasion, the circumstances are just right. And the Green Bay Packers have been an active participant in the history of the strange rule.
On Thursday, Dicker was able to line up for a 57-yard kick with no time left on the clock in the first half after a fair-catch interference call moved the ball 15 yards closer from the spot of what looked like a half-ending punt.
The fair-catch kick hadn't been attempted in an NFL game since 2019 and hadn't been converted since Ray Wersching of San Diego drilled a 45-yarder against Buffalo on Nov. 21, 1976.
Here's where the Packers come in.
If Mason Crosby had successfully converted a free kick on Dec. 28, 2008, against Detroit, it would have marked the longest field goal in NFL history. But his 69-yarder at the end of the first half wound up JUST short, perfectly on line with the uprights.
Rookie backup quarterback Matt Flynn held the ball with the Lions 10 yards back in kickoff formation. With the wind behind him, Crosby came about 3 yards short.
"When I hit it, I thought it was going," Crosby said. "The wind killed it right there at the end. We talked about those types of situations and we kind of worked through it."
The Packers still won the season-finale, 31-21, sending the Lions to an 0-16 record for the year.
Mac Percival of the Chicago Bears converted on a fair-catch kick with 20 seconds left, a 43-yarder that gave the Bears a 13-10 win over the Packers on Nov. 3, 1968.
It's the second-to-last fair kick conversion in NFL history before Thursday.
Donny Anderson sent a punt just 28 yards from his own 15-yard line, allowing Chicago's Cecil Turner to make the fair catch while falling forward at the 43. Because the kick is taken from the spot and there's no need for a snap, fair-catch free kicks are seven yards closer than a traditional field-goal kick that requires a snap.
It's possible the Bears wouldn't have even considered the strategy ... except Green Bay's Paul Hornung had executed a fair-catch kick against the Bears in 1964 from 52 yards just before halftime. Percival said in a 2011 interview that he doesn't believe the Bears knew about the rule at the time.
Hornung's make from 52 yards was part of a 23-12 win over Chicago on Sept. 13, 1964.
It was Hornung's first game back after a year suspension for gambling, and he hit three field goals (plus two extra points) to account for the winning margin. The 52-yarder tied a club record at the time and was made possible by a fair catch from Elijah Pitts with 8 seconds left. Bart Starr held the kick, and it gave Green Bay a 17-3 lead at the break.
The 52-yarder marked the longest successful fair-catch kick in NFL history before Dicker.
The rule was just as unusual in the 1960s as it is today. Green Bay Press-Gazette reporter Lee Remmel's recap of the Packers win demonstrated the confusion that arose from the Hornung attempt.
"That's been in the rule book a long time," Vince Lombardi said after the win over the Bears when reporters inquired about the kick.
"But the only time you can use it is in the last two or three seconds of the first half or the last few seconds of the game. Every training season, a league representative visits camp and explains, 'Remember, after every fair catch, you are entitled to a free kick.'"
"We never practiced the play," Hornung said. "I didn't even know what the heck we were doing. I hadn't been confronted with the rule since I've been in the league. Of course, the league explains it to us ever year.
"Jerry Kramer said, 'Ask for a free kick right away,' so I said to the referee, 'If I make this, is it three points?'" He said 'Yes' and then we were all squared away."