Ravens kicker Justin Tucker is the NFL’s all-time leader in field goal percentage and he’d like to put his name on another league record.
During an appearance on SiriusXM NFL Radio with Alex Marvez and Gil Brandt, Tucker said that he would like to kick a field goal from beyond 64 yards to break Matt Prater’s record for the longest make in NFL history. Tucker has made longer kicks than that in practice and said that going from as far as 75 yards doesn’t require a major shift in his approach.
“I’ve never attempted a 75-yarder in a game, but should the opportunity arise, not a whole lot would be different between a 75-yard attempt and a PAT,” Tucker said. “And I know a lot of people will probably be scratching their heads, [because] I think it’s drilled into every football fan’s mind that a longer kick requires lower trajectory. We make these analogies to golf, how it’s like you’re driving a ball off a tee box when you’re trying to kick a ball from farther away, but the difference in the trajectory, I think, is manageable if you’re hitting a good ball. Those first six to eight yards are the most important. That’s where a potential blocker could get his hand on the ball, six to eight yards out. I don’t think the trajectory is significant enough.”
Putting that theory to the test will likely require the Ravens to have the ball at the end of a half or game with little choice but to take a stab at letting Tucker take a shot at the record book. That’s not a particularly far-fetched scenario, so he may get his chance before the 2017 season is out.