Sports History

On This Date: Tom Dempsey Kicks a 63-Yard Field Goal (Nov. 8, 1970)

On Nov. 8, 1970, Tom Dempsey, born without toes on his kicking foot, made a 63-yard field goal on the final play to beat Detroit. It stood for 43 years.

Dempsey’s 63-yard field goal, with Alex Karras (71) lunging and Joe Scarpati holding, Nov. 8, 1970.

Tom Dempsey was born without toes on his right foot and without fingers on his right hand. He kicked with the right foot anyway, in a special flat-fronted shoe.

On Nov. 8, 1970, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans, he kicked a 63-yard field goal on the last play of the game to beat the Detroit Lions. Nobody had ever kicked one longer than 56.

A New Coach

The Saints were 4 years old and bad. That week they had fired the only coach they’d ever had, Tom Fears, and the Detroit game was J.D. Roberts’ 1st as head coach. The Lions were 5-2 and heavy favorites.

Tulane Stadium, the Saints’ home, in the late 1960s. (Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Dempsey was 23 and in his 2nd year. He’d made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. He was big, a straight-on, toe-first kicker like most kickers of the time, and his shoe had a flat, squared-off front.

He kicked field goals of 29, 27 and 8 yards that afternoon. The Lions blocked another from the 24. “The one they blocked was a line drive,” he said. “I scruffed it.”

The Last 14 Seconds

With 14 seconds left, Detroit quarterback Greg Landry called timeout, and Errol Mann kicked an 18-yard field goal. The Lions led 17-16 with 11 seconds to go.

Al Dodd returned the kickoff to the Saints’ 28 and stepped out of bounds with 8 seconds left. Quarterback Billy Kilmer hit Dodd for 17 yards, and Dodd dove out of bounds at the 45 with 2 seconds left. Roberts sent out Dempsey.

“Lion goof lets Saints pull miracle.” (The Detroit News, Nov. 9, 1970, p. 1-D, via Newspapers.com)

The goal posts sat on the goal line in those days. It was still a 63-yard kick.

The Kick

Dempsey asked for 2 things. He asked his holder, Joe Scarpati, to set the ball 8 yards behind the line instead of the usual 7. And he asked his linemen for 1 extra second.

Scarpati set it down at the Saints’ 37. Lions tackle Alex Karras came lunging in, too late. The ball came down over the crossbar at the far end of Tulane Stadium, and the Saints won 19-17.

The Tulane Stadium scoreboard: Visitor 17, Saints 19.

“Miracle 63-Yard Kick by Dempsey Stuns Lions.” (The Times-Picayune, Nov. 9, 1970, Section 3, p. 1, via Newspapers.com)

The Detroit side. (Detroit Free Press, Nov. 9, 1970, p. 1-D, via Newspapers.com)

“We got beaten by a miracle, what else can you say?” said Lions coach Joe Schmidt. He figured Dempsey couldn’t make it again in 20 tries.

Dempsey gets a lift from teammates and fans. (The Town Talk, Alexandria, La., Nov. 9, 1970, via Newspapers.com)

The old record, 56 yards, had belonged to Bert Rechichar of the Baltimore Colts since 1953. Dempsey beat it by 7.

“Boom! It’s A Record By Dempsey: 63 FG.” (The Times, Shreveport, Nov. 9, 1970, p. 23, via Newspapers.com)

The Shoe

Not everybody was happy. Some people said his shoe gave him an unfair advantage. “Unfair, eh?” Dempsey answered, and told his critics to try kicking a 63-yarder without toes.

In 1977 the NFL passed what’s still called the Tom Dempsey Rule: any shoe worn on a kicking foot that’s missing part must have a normal kicking surface. Years later, ESPN tested the shoe and found it gave him no advantage.

43 Years

Other kickers tied the record 3 times. Nobody broke it until Matt Prater kicked a 64-yarder in the thin air of Denver in 2013, 43 years later.

“Prater hits record-setting 64-yarder.” (The Pueblo Chieftain, Dec. 9, 2013, via Newspapers.com)

In 2021, Baltimore’s Justin Tucker beat the Lions with a 66-yarder as time expired, after Detroit had taken a 17-16 lead. The final was 19-17, again. And in 2025, Jacksonville’s Cam Little kicked one from 68.