Chargers’ Dicker takes advantage of obscure rule and makes NFL’s first fair catch in 48 years

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) – Of all the rules in football, Jim Harbaugh considers the obscure fair-catch kick to be his favorite.

The Los Angeles Chargers coach had the opportunity to try one Thursday night for only the second time in his career.

This time, his kicker got three points from one of the most unusual plays in sports.

Cameron Dicker made the first successful fair-catch kick in the NFL since 1976, connecting from 57 yards just before halftime against the Denver Broncos.

“I’ve been trying to get one of those every game. Cam Dicker stepped up and made it. That was huge and got the momentum back,” Harbaugh said.

Those points began the Chargers’ comeback as they combined for a 34-27 victoryand finished the game on a 24-6 run.

For football obsessives like Harbaugh, who revel in quirks and unprecedented feats, Dicker’s kick was delightful.

The rarely used rule allows a team that has just made a fair catch to attempt a free kick for three points. The kick is attempted from the line of scrimmage and the defenders must all stand 10 yards away.

The play almost never happens because teams are almost never in the position to make such a kick possible. Only five NFL teams had previously attempted the kick in the 21st century, and none had successfully executed it since Ray Wersching did it for the San Diego Chargers 48 years ago.

“It’s cool. I didn’t know that was the case,” Dicker said of reaching the rare milestone. “It was fun going out there. It was fun to be in that scenario. With the penalty, I thought it would happen’.

The Chargers seized the opportunity created when Denver’s Tremon Smith committed fair-catch interference on what would have been the final play of the first half as Los Angeles’ Derius Davis attempted to punt at the Chargers’ 38.

Smith said he was “well aware” of the fair-catch kick rule when the Chargers subsequently fielded it.

“I’ve been playing a long time,” Smith added. “It’s just a stupid punishment. … The returner did a good job of selling it. He knows he’s running into me even if he didn’t want to catch the ball. But like I said, stupid punishment.”

The flag moved the ball to the Denver 47 for an untimed down, and Harbaugh took a timeout before electing to attempt the fair-catch kick.

With JK Scott holding the ball, Dicker launched it comfortably through the posts.

Dicker said special teams coach Ryan Ficken goes over the play often during the season and they practice it sometimes on Fridays. Harbaugh also credited Ficken, who brought it up again during meetings leading up to this game.

“When you look at (Denver’s) sideline, it was funny. They were confused about what was going on. We talk about it every week, so it was normal for us,” Dicker said.

Many of the Broncos said they actually knew what happened and were disappointed to be on the wrong side of history.

“It’s something we talk about in our special teams group and it’s one of those situations you go through in training camp,” Denver receiver Marvin Mims said. “So we all knew what was going to happen and they executed to perfection.”

Dicker’s 57-yarder was also the longest fair-catch kick in NFL history, surpassing Paul Hornung’s 52-yarder for Green Bay in 1964.

The last fair-catch kick in the NFL was attempted in 2019, when Carolina’s Joey Slye missed from 60 yards in a game played in London.

Harbaugh also tried it with the San Francisco 49ers in 2013, but Phil Dawson missed from 71 yards just before halftime.

“I wanted it so bad I tried it,” Harbaugh said looking back. “I was also really happy because coach Ficken went over it this week. We took a timeout and got things dialed in. It had to be on their side of the 50. That was our chance.”

The play is extremely rare because most fair catches are made well outside normal field goal range. The Broncos’ punt would have stranded the Chargers beyond Dicker’s considerable range, but Smith’s penalty created a rare opportunity — and Dicker didn’t miss.

“I was definitely confused,” Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa said. “I was ready to get into the locker room, but I’m glad we had a shot. I was just kidding that you can play for 20 years and still have no idea what’s going on on the field. So it was a good moment. It was an important swing in momentum.”

Wersching, who kicked for the Chargers and 49ers over 15 NFL seasons, made a 45-yard fair-catch punt at halftime for San Diego against Buffalo on Nov. 21, 1976.

“It doesn’t happen much,” Denver coach Sean Payton said. “We practice it all the time. In that situation, the penalty put them in field goal position, so it’s disappointing.”

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AP sportswriter Joe Reedy contributed to this report.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/NFL

Greg Beacham, Associated Press