Doug Flutie Converted Unusual Extra Point at End of 2005 Season

Published on August 15th, 2024 2:01 pm EST
Written By: Dave Manuel


Did you know that drop kick extra points are allowed in the NFL?

With the vast majority of extra point attempts, the kicker will line up and kick the ball through the uprights for an extra point.

The NFL rulebook, however, DOES allow for drop kick extra points, as long as the kick takes place behind the line of scrimmage.

These drop kick attempts aren't tried very often.

The last successful drop kick extra point came on January 1st, 2006, in a game between the Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots.

Prior to that? The last drop kick extra point was attempted in 1941.

A very rare play indeed.

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The game between the Patriots and Dolphins featured two of the greatest coaches of all time - Nick Saban and Bill Belichick.

The game was meaningless - the Pats were locked in at the #4 seed, while the Dolphins were guaranteed to miss the playoffs.

The game was important for one reason - it was to be the last game for Doug Flutie, who was 43 years old and planning on retiring at the end of the season.

The Patriots had something special planned for Doug Flutie.

Late in the game, after the Patriots had scored a touchdown to make it 25-19, the team lined up in a very unusual format. It looked like they were going for two points.

The ball was snapped to Doug Flutie, who proceeded to drop the ball on the ground before kicking it through the uprights.

The crowd went crazy, as they had just witnessed something that hadn't been successfully completed since 1941.

Doug Flutie had just hit a dropkick extra point.

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Doug Flutie, who had an exciting career playing in both the NFL and CFL, pulled off something special and unique in his very last NFL game, much to the pleasure of Bill Belichick, who was absolutely beaming after Flutie successfully pulled it off.

When will we see another drop kick extra point in the NFL?