Ben Johnson originally called a punt, but Cairo Santos asked to try a 58-yard field goal
posted by u/AFC-Wimbledon-Stan · 2026-10-23 14:05 UTC
(Link/image post, original: https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/ben-johnson-originally-called-a-punt-but-cairo-santos-asked-to-try-a-58-yard-field-goal）
## Top comments
1. u/EvaporatingOlaf · 2026-10-23 14:09 UTC
Kicking is so much different than when I first started watching in 2004. I used to get nervous about 45 yard kick attempts.
2. u/AFC-Wimbledon-Stan · 2026-10-23 14:11 UTC
If you play old Madden games, basically can’t make anything over 55 unless you have an insane kicker
Now? You have guys who can hit 63+
It’s crazy
3. u/Number1TSMHater · 2026-10-23 14:26 UTC
I'm not saying kickers haven't gotten better, they have.
But the K balls are juiced, and have been the past few years. Much like the baseballs were juiced in 2019 and everyone was hitting more home runs in MLB. Guys who couldn't kick certain distances for their whole career now can, and every kicker can kick further.
I'm not saying it's a good or bad thing, and it affects everyone so it's fair, but I really think the K balls are playing a huge factor in the increase in kicking distance we're seeing.
4. u/shershae · 2026-10-23 14:34 UTC
Brett Kern(retired punter) talked about this on the radio last year. They used to only get a few hours to "break in" the K balls. Now they get days. The things he said they do to these balls is ridiculous. They basically change the shape to get them as close to a sphere as possible. He said it instantly added 10 yard to every kickers range.
5. u/StarWarsMonopoly · 2026-10-23 15:00 UTC
QB's also didn't used to get that much time to break in game balls either.
Steve Young talks about how jealous he is that QB's can do it now, because he used to complain to the league all the time about how slick and difficult the game balls were to throw compared to practice balls
6. u/xSaviorself · 2026-10-23 15:20 UTC
I was always a heathen as a QB who loved brand new game balls. Fuck your worn-out shit I want to feel the goddamn leather rip my skin off as a chuck it and you better not have clean hands when you come back to the huddle.
7. u/Flipflops2981 · 2026-10-23 15:47 UTC
Maybe a dumb question but does each team get their own K ball for the games?
8. u/shershae · 2026-10-23 15:53 UTC
I beleive each team provides all their own balls. Regular and K balls. Otherwise the opposing team could tamper with them.
9. u/Rcmacc · 2026-10-23 16:01 UTC
Why isn’t it like baseball where the league just provides the balls?
10. u/cartoon_villain · 2026-10-23 16:20 UTC
When the MLB wasn’t providing the balls, the nonsense teams were getting up to with baseballs genuinely lead to the deaths of players if they were hit by a rogue ball in the head. Forced the MLBs hand in taking control of the balls.
That’s never happened in the NFL, but if teams started using juiced balls to kick line drives at guys and killing them with onside kicks, league would’ve probably stepped in. Basically, there’s been no reason to
11. u/cbm80 · 2026-10-23 16:33 UTC
Injuries and even death are why they eventually mandated batting helmets. Nothing to do with the balls, which remain potentially lethal.
12. u/cdskip · 2026-10-23 17:06 UTC
The balls were absolutely a concern. Primarily because pitchers were tampering with the ball in ways that made it less visible, on top of moving unpredictably.
After Ray Chapman's death in 1920, alongside banning the spitball and other methods of tampering with the ball, they put in rules about removing discolored baseballs from play, and began keeping the ball whiter and more visible during play.
13. u/Beschuss · 2026-10-23 16:17 UTC
More balls used in a baseball game and more things you can do to a football vs a baseball. Baseball also has a history of things going horrifically bad if pitchers can do what they want to their balls https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray_Chapman#Death
14. u/Rcmacc · 2026-10-23 16:19 UTC
Right fewer balls are used so wouldn’t that make it easier for the league to provide them?
15. u/evilr2 · 2026-10-23 14:40 UTC
In 2017 the NFL banned defensive players on kicks running and leaping and using leverage to jump for player safety for offensive linemen. Longer kicks require a lower trajectory and the longer attempts would get tipped at the line of scrimmage. Now the defenders can't get high enough to tip those balls so kickers can focus more on distance without worrying too much about the trajectory of the ball being too low.
16. u/Shlomer_Simpstein · 2026-10-23 14:55 UTC
I might be wrong but I can't remember an injury happening like that. Plus, it's awesome when giant guys leap over other giant guys to block a kick. Bring it back!
17. u/StarWarsMonopoly · 2026-10-23 15:04 UTC
Well, the last time they really significantly changed kicking rules it was because they had multiple seasons in a row where kickers were just not missing (XPs and FGs).
They responded to that by moving FG's back and it led to a drop in successful kicks.
Now it seems like the kickers have really caught up, so maybe in a few years we'll see them try to shake things up so that they're not automatic (because the thing that really pissed the NFL off was that the public discourse around kicks was that it was time to get up and go to the bathroom/grab a beer, so they were losing peoples attention, which means commercial revenue was threatened)
18. u/w0nderbrad · 2026-10-23 15:24 UTC
They should legalize goaltending for FGs. Imagine the drama of a 60 yard game winning FG and fucking wemby is out there trying to swat it.
19. u/P7AC3B0 · 2026-10-23 16:10 UTC
Corners are now allowed to sit on the shoulders of a lineman in order to block kicks. Up to 3 players are allowed to "totem pole" at once, however the top player must be wearing a large trenchcoat that reaches at least the knees of the lower-most man.
If the coat is not long enough, a flag may be thrown for "you're not fooling me," which carries a 5 yard penalty.
20. u/Suddenly_Bazelgeuse · 2026-10-23 15:45 UTC
Is that actually illegal right now? If a player can jump high enough to block the kick on the way down, what would be the penalty?
Unsportsmanlike conduct: non-humans on the field. Half the distance to the goal. Automatic first down.