With about 11 seconds left in the St Martinville-STM game, SM punted from their own end zone. The STM player caught a fair catch at the SM 43 yard line. The STM coaches opted for a free kick. They lined up at the 43 like they were kicking off. St Martinville defended as though it were a kick off, in other words, no rush on the kicker. Had the ball gone through the uprights it would have been 3 points and a win for STM. The announcer, an ex-official explained that the option of a free kick is a rule following a fair caught punt. He said it's a rule in HS, college and the pros. By the way, the kick was wide left.
I saw that in a game with the Packers and I forget who the other team was years ago. The Packers called for a fair catch on the punt and then instead of sending their offense on the field they lined up a kicked a field goal for the game winner. The wierd thing was that the Packers didn't line up in a regular field goal kicking formation. Since they had a free kick they lined up like they were going to kick off but when the ball went throught the uprights it counted just the same as a regular field goal.
The free kick is just another relic of Football days gone by, like the drop kick. When I was in HS, I could hit 40-45 yard drop kicks like they were nothing, with a beautiful trajectory and end over end spin. No one does it anymore, as a wet field is not conducive to success and the soccer styles in field goal kicking nowadays seem to get better distance. I love to watch tapes of old FB games and the drop kick that died in the sixties.
