To date, the longest kick to be made in the NFL was 64 yards, a record set by kicker Matt Prater when he played with the Denver Broncos back in 2013. But apparently Baltimore kicker Justin Tucker thinks he could beat Prater’s record. In fact, he thinks he could nail an 84-yard field goal if he was in Denver and the conditions were favorable.
“We think about these things really specifically,”Tucker said. “If conditions are prime, like last season we opened up in Denver, the weather was warm, the field was nice, and you’re up at altitude so the ball just carries. In pregame I think I hit the crossbar from 85, so if the situation is just prime, then maybe 84 and a half yards.”
'If the situation is prime then maybe 84.5 yards' @jtuck9 on the longest attempt he would be willing to try https://t.co/hIIMsXtrrp
— Good Morning Football (@gmfb) August 4, 2016
Tucker kind of sounds like a certain Uncle Rico saying he could “throw a pigskin a quarter mile.”
Tucker is certainly not short of confidence as a kicker, and being among the best in the league it is certainly no surprise. Given that Denver has a pretty high altitude, it is often estimated by NFL kickers that their range is longer in the Mile High City than at normal sea level due to the increased altitude. Tucker, whose career long is a 61-yard field goal in Detroit, could certainly break Prater’s record given his ability and range. While 84 yards might be a bit much on his part, coupled with the fact that in the intense moments of a game, nothing is probably going to meet the perfect conditions the Ravens’ kicker described to even attempt a field goal from such a distance. Unfortunately, with the Ravens not playing in Denver this year, Tucker won’t have the opportunity to test this theory of his.
