One of my favorite football subjects is the Fair Catch Kick. Seeing if happen for the first time oh so long ago is what led me to begin exploring the deep parts of the rulebook and its history. Below is my small write up on why this strange kick still pops up from time to time, and a strange way the rules forced players to punt to their own team after a touchdown. But first, the defining rule:

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.

— 2026 NFL Rulebook – Rule 10, Section 2, Article 4

The ability to kick a different style of field goal after a fair catch is still a part of American Football, except at the college level. Its usefulness is mostly gone from the game as it shed most of its old core Rugby rules. Field goals used to be more valuable than a touchdown, now it’s half of a touchdown before the points after. You are assured at least four downs with the ball, turnovers aside. If you are somehow blessed with a kick so shallow that fair catching it puts you in field goal range, I think you’re more likely to take the first down and try for a touchdown. In the modern game, there doesn’t seem to be much utility in taking the fair catch kick option. Successful or not, since it is still considered a field goal kick, you are turning the ball over to your opponents.

The reason this kick still pops up every 5 to 10 years is because of the one unique situation where this kick can become a reasonable option. And, sometimes the only option. A fair catch kick has a special rule about timing.

If time expires during a play in which a player has signaled for a fair catch, the following shall apply:

• (a) If the player makes a fair catch, the receiving team may elect to extend the period with a fair catch kick, but does not have the option to extend the period by a snap from scrimmage.
• (b) If the kicking team interferes with a receiver who has signaled for a fair catch, the receiving team will have the option to extend the period by attempting a fair catch kick or by a snap from scrimmage after enforcement of any applicable penalties.

— 2026 NFL Rulebook – Rule 10, Section 2, Article 5

If your opponent punts the ball with little time left on the clock, and they mess that kick up some how, you may just get your kicker’s name on a pretty exclusive list. The ability to extend a period with an untimed down only exists in a few places in the rulebook: a defensive penalty accepted by the offense, interfering with a receiving team’s ability to catch a kick, double fouls as time expires, and a fair catch kick. It is this ability to get one more play off that has led to the only attempts of the fair catch kick happening at the end of a half. Every attempt in the NFL since 1933 has been at or near the end of a half, either the second or fourth quarter.

The reason for the fair catch kick is a historic one. It comes from the same set of rules that led to Association football’s free kick, Australian football’s mark, and Rugby’s now removed goal from mark. (Yes, the fair catch kick in American football outlived its equivalent in Rugby.) When the game was only about kicking goals, the ability to do so without your opponent getting in the way was golden.

In American football, the fair catch kick was also used in a pretty unique way for a while. Back before the in-bound hash marks were placed on the field, the ball was spotted for scrimmage where it was downed. Even if it was right next to the sideline. This required some interesting player placement, though at the time there were no rules about how little or how many players were on the line. This extended to the extra point after a touchdown. If the player crossed the goal line far over by the sideline, the extra point kick would have to be kicked from there as well. Although they were allowed to walk as far back as they wanted, the kick had to be directly in front of where it scored. This led to some rather interesting angles for kicking. (This is true of Rugby today, if you want to see this in action.)

When the offense made a touchdown, they had two options moving forward. Place kick or drop kick from where the touchdown was made. Or, perform a “punt out”. If you chose punt out, the offense and defense lined up in front of the goal line. An offensive player would stand behind the goal line where the touchdown was scored and punt backwards towards his team. If they could fair catch the ball, they could take their extra point from there.

The fair catch kick is up there with some of the oldest rules still kicking around in the rule book. It’s up there with 10 yards separation on free kicks and the 18 foot 6 inch wide goal posts. It will still look weird when it next comes into play. People will still look around a little confused. But any football history nerd, or deep rulebook nerd, is likely to be pretty excited when they see one happen.