Field Goal Kicking

CFL Talk
1

It's kind of interesting to see how the field goal kicker and his measurement for success is so much higher today.

If guy isn't hitting at a consistent clip of around 80% he is probably in jeopardy.

If we look at 3 past greats:

Dave Cutler: never hit 80% once in his 16 years.
Osbaldiston: 5 of 18 seasons hit 80%
Passaglia: 3 of 25 seasons he hit 80% and 2 of those were in years 24 and 25. He actually went 20 consecutive seasons of not hitting 80%.

Makes you appreciate Paul McCallum who has averaged over 80% in his 23 years. Heck Sean Whyte has never been under 80% in his time in Montreal.

2

This is a good thread as it is a topic that should have been discussed by now but I have never seen it on a CFL forum. Cutler was in the 65% range for his career, wasn’t he? I agree completely that the standard for CFL kickers has been raised over the last decade or so. Anything less than 80% accuracy is absolutely unacceptable.

3

I can't find Cutlers average but 10 of his 16 years he was below 60%. He was well below 50% in his first 3 years. I remember him hitting everything. Memory...very selective

http://cflapedia.com/Players/c/cutler_david.htm
4

His numbers are quite amazing - amazingly poor by today’s standards. He made only 54% of his field goal attempts in 1979 and the Esks still managed to win the Grey Cup. His best season was the year before at over 73%. He made only less than 59% of his attempted kicks during his career. The pressure on placekickers has changed enormously over the years and most fans have not really noticed.

5

I suppose it is fair to say though that in Cutlers day they were trying much longer kicks. Pretty much every season his long was well over 50 yards. Those are punts today.

6

They also used a different ball in those days, I believe--the bigger, rounder Spalding JV5. I wonder if that made a difference in the kicking game compared to the smaller Wilson the league uses these days.

7

very true.
It was not uncommon for a placekicker to try from 50 yards out (or more) at that time which undoubtedly brought down their success percentage.
heck, today many coaches rarely attempt 45+ or even 42+ depending on the game specifics.

personally, I miss the suspense of long FG tries.

8

That's no doubt true. However Cutler missed 14 convert attempts in his first four years. 21 missed converts in his 16 years,
I just can't imagine a kicker today surviving that today.

9

During the EE dynasty, they scored so many touchdowns, it made no difference what Cutler did.

3 things stand out for me about Cutler.
He was a rare breed as he was a straight on kicker. ( as opposed to the run at a curve kicker ).
He tied his toe upwards.
In the 75 Grey Cup he kicked a 50 yarder. It was blistering cold that day and the ball had to have been like a slippery rock.
Don Sweet missed a 20 yarder at the end to lose.

10

In fairness to Sweet, Jimmy Jones botched the hold on that ill-fated FG attempt.

11

All about the turf kids...no more natural grass in the CFL anymore. If you know your plant foot is going to lock on artificial turf (even wet its great), you can kick with considerably more confidence....

12

Some stats on 2014 NFL Field Goals and Extra Points.

[url=http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/player/_/stat/kicking/sort/fieldGoalPct]http://espn.go.com/nfl/statistics/playe ... eldGoalPct[/url]
13

there was a similar discussion on a Riders thread some time back,...all pretty interesting

[url=http://forums.cfl.ca/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=82981]viewtopic.php?f=7&t=82981[/url]

mainly discussing some of Milo's woes

14

You’ve got me on this one.
What does that mean?

15

Good point. Straight on kicking was great for distance, but when it comes to accuracy, the opposite was true. “Soccer style” kicking techniques improved and straight-on kicking has largely disappeared in the football landscape

16

Tied the top cleat at the toe (metal cleats in those days were much longer that the turf cleats they use now) to upper ankle ensuring an upward sloped surface meeting the ball. Some kickers (NFL’s Dempsey) flattened off the top of their shoe to provide a more uniform contact with ball.

17

Yes Jones did botch it. That is why I made the point about the slippery rock. In that cold not only were the balls hard, they are also slippery. A snap / hold for Jones or Wilkinson would be difficult.

18

I remember many years ago meeting a kicker and he showed me his flat-toed kicking shoe. You could actually buy them like that in those days.

I was happy to meet Cutler in the Edmonton at one of the Grey Cup events. Great guy. Built like a Mack truck. Legs like fence posts.

19

I used to have square toed soccerfootball shoes.

When I was 13, I once kicked a 50 yard FG by taking a 15 yard fast run and toe punching. Fluke that I hit it square on in perfect stride.

ahh, those were the days.

20

You must of been a huge 13 year old kid...
I finished 2nd in the kick portion of pass punt and kick when I was 12 and the punt only went 73 feet in the air, or about half the distance you kicked the field goal..
You were probably closer to 15 years old,or it was an optical illusion and the kick fell short, but then rolled past the posts. Mindya, the next year kids were kicking it closer to 100 feet, but I doubt a 13 year old could kick a ball 150 feet