The drop kick is one of the rarest and most unconventional ways to score in football. While it’s technically still legal under NFL and college rules, you almost never see it attempted in a modern game. But it wasn’t always this obscure.
Here’s how the drop kick field goal works, where it fits into the current rulebook, and why it’s largely disappeared from today’s playbooks.
A drop kick happens when a player drops the ball and kicks it immediately after it touches the ground. Unlike a punt, which is kicked in the air, a drop kick must hit the ground first—usually as the ball is descending nose-first—before the kicker strikes it.
In football, a drop kick can be used to attempt:
The ball must travel through the uprights in the same way as a traditional placekick to count for points. Timing, precision, and positioning are key—and that’s where the challenges begin.
Yes. As of 2025, the drop kick remains legal in both NFL and college football, though its use is nearly extinct at all levels.
The NFL’s official rulebook still allows it as a method of scoring a field goal or extra point, but there are some conditions:
In college football, the drop kick is also allowed under similar guidelines, though it's even more uncommon due to differences in special teams strategy and ball shape.
The drop kick was common in the early days of football, especially before the forward pass became a dominant part of the game. Back then, balls were rounder, making them easier to handle on a bounce. That shape was more suitable for drop kicks.
But as the football evolved—both in its physical design and in the style of play—the drop kick became less practical. Modern footballs are more pointed and bounce unpredictably, making consistent drop kicks difficult.
Placekicking with a holder eventually became the more reliable and accurate method, and teams moved away from drop kicks altogether.
The drop kick made a brief return to the spotlight in 2006, when Doug Flutie executed one for an extra point in a game between the New England Patriots and the Miami Dolphins.
It was the first successful drop kick in the NFL since 1941 and caught most viewers off guard. The attempt was successful and entirely legal, but it also underscored how out-of-place the move had become in the modern game.
Since then, it’s rarely been attempted again—and never in a critical game situation.
Theoretically, yes—but it’s unlikely. With modern kicking specialists and highly structured special teams units, there’s little reason to take the risk of a drop kick when a standard field goal attempt is far more controlled.
The only real incentive might be in trick play scenarios or late-game desperation moments. In those cases, a quarterback or punter who’s not usually on the kicking unit might try a drop kick to catch the defense off guard.
But for standard scoring? The placekick isn’t going anywhere.
The drop kick field goal is still part of football’s rulebook, but it belongs more to the sport’s past than its present. While it’s legal and has popped up on rare occasions, the mechanics and reliability just don’t match modern kicking standards.
Still, knowing the rule is useful—not just as trivia, but as a reminder of how much the game has evolved over the last century.
