NFL Old School Game of the Week: Dempsey's 63 Yard FG Wins Game For Saints

Tom Dempsey etched his name in NFL history with his 63-yard game-winning field goal as time expired to give the Saints a miraclous win over the Lions.

Up until Sean Payton and Drew Brees came to New Orleans in 2006, the history of the Saints was pretty abysmal.

They did not achieve a winning season until 1987, their 21st season in the NFL, and had won only one playoff game in their first 39 seasons.

Until Payton and Brees lead the Saints to a Super Bowl title in the 2009 season, the greatest moment in Saints history was a kicker with no toes on his right foot and no fingers on his right hand kicking the longest field goal in NFL history.

And oh by the way, it was a game-winner.

On November 8, 1970 , the Saints played host to the 5-2 Detroit Lions, where the only interesting thing about the game was the debut of the Saints’ new head coach.

JD Roberts was taking over for Tom Fears, who had been fired five days before the Lions game after going 13-34-2 since the team’s inception in 1967.

Roberts was taking over a team that was 1-5-1 and only real interesting player was second-year kicker, who despite his disabilities made on to the Saints in 1969 was selected to the Pro Bowl that season.

Despite the feel-good nature of Dempsey’s story, there was some controversy to Dempsey as he used a special shoe that had a flattened and enlarged toe surface.

Some brass in the NFL thought this game Dempsey an unfair advantage but he entered the game with the Lions having made only five of 15 field goal attempts during the season.

If the Saints were to upset the Lions, Dempsey would need to get out of his slump.

The Lions got the ball to start the game and drove to their own 49-yard-line, before punting the ball to the Saints.

The Saints appeared to have something going when quarterback Billy Kilmer connected with Al Dodd for a 43-yard completion, only to have it nullified by a holding penalty on New Orleans.

The Saints punted the ball back to Detroit but returner Nick Eddy fumbled the kick which was recovered by Saints strong safety Hugo Hollas at the Detroit 32-yard-line, leading to a 29-yard field goal by Dempsey to give New Orleans a 3-0 lead with 5:06 left in the first quarter.

The score was still 3-0 in the second quarter when the Lions took over at their own 20 and proceeded to drive 80 yards in 13 plays, ending with a 10-yard touchdown run by Mel Farr that put Detroit ahead 7-3.

The Lions forced the Saints to punt on their next drive to get the ball back at their own 16 when quarterback Bill Munson found tight end Charlie Sanders for a 28-yard completion on the first play of the drive.

But on 3rd-and-8 from the Detroit 46, Munson was intercepted by Saints free safety Joe Scarpati to give the ball back to the Saints, who took over at their own 36-yard-line.

However, the Saints could not do nothing with the turnover and were forced to punt the ball back to the Lions.

But for the second time in the game, Eddy fumbled a punt and once again the Saints recovered, this time by Elijah Pitts to give the ball to New Orleans at the Lions’ 39-yard-line with 33 seconds left before halftime.

Kilmer hit Danny Abramowicz for 20 yards to Dempsey’s 27-yard field goal that cut the Lions’ lead to 7-6 as the first half came to a close.

Bill Munson was intercepted three times and replaced by Greg Landry on the Lions' final drive.

The Saints couldn’t move the ball on their opening drive of the second half, but got the ball right back when linebacker Jackie Burkett intercepted a Munson pass and returned it 16 yards to the Lions’ 44-yard-line.

The Saints drove it to the Lions’ 17-yard-line when Dempsey came on to attempt another field goal, this time from 24 yards out.

But the kick was blocked by Jim Yarbrough, which led to a loose ball that was scooped up cornerback Dick LeBeau who ran it back 37 yards before he was pushed out of bounds at the Saints’ 45-yard-line.

Seven plays later, the Lions were back in the end zone as Munson connected with Sanders on a two-yard touchdown pass to increase the Detroit lead to 14-6 with 5:33 left in the third quarter.

Then on the ensuing kickoff, the Lions surprised the Saints with an onside kick that was recovered by Bobby Williams at the New Orleans’ 38-yard-line.

But on the very next play, Munson was sacked by defensive tackle Mike Tilleman forcing a fumble that was recovered by Dave Rowe at the Lions’ 47-yard-line.

Kilmer hit three passes for 38 yards to help led to a 3rd-and-goal from the two-yard-line when running back Tom Barrington was stopped after a one-yard run, leading to Robbins’ first tough decision as head coach as the Saints faced a 4th-and-goal from the one-yard-line.

Robbins decided to send in Dempsey, much to the dismay of the partisan New Orleans fans, where he kicked a eight-yard field goal(the goalposts were at the goalline in 1970) to cut the Lions’ lead to five points, 14-9 with 22 seconds to go in the third quarter.

It was still 14-9 in the 4th quarter when Burkett picked off Munson for a second time and returned it eight yards to the Lions’ 34-yard-line.

Two runs by Jim Otis for a combined 13 yards and a 13-yard completion to Abramowicz had the Saints at the eight yard-line until a holding penalty pushed them back to the 20-yard-line.

However, the Saints were given a 1st-and-goal at the four-yard-line after a pass interference penalty on Lem Barney.

That is when Barrington punched it for a four-yard touchdown that gave the Saints their first lead of the game, 16-14 with 8:06 remaining.

Williams ran the ensuing kickoff out of the end zone and to the Lions’ 14-yard-line when head coach Joe Schmidt inserted Greg Landry at quarterback in hopes he could lead the Lions to the winning points.

Landry and the Lions drove to a 1st down at their own 25 when confusion broke out.

On 2nd-and-10 from the 25, Landry fired a pass that was tipped by Farr and landed in the hands of receiver Earl McCulloch at the Detroit 40-yard-line.

However, it was illegal for an offensive player to touch the ball and then have a fellow offensive player catch the ball in 1970, so it was ruled an incomplete pass, making it 3rd down.

But the linesman did not flip the card on the downs marker, so it was still 2nd down when Landry could not connect with Farr.

If the officials had seen their mistake, the next play would have been 4th down and the Lions probably would have punted the ball back to New Orleans, but since the downs marker had was at 3, everybody thought it was 3rd down when Landry connected with McCullouch for 10 yards and a 1st down at the Detroit 35-yard-line, saving the officials from any controversy.

Al Dodd's 22-yard kickoff return and 17-yard reception help set Dempsey's heroics.

Landry was able to drive the Lions to the Saints’ 11-yard-line thanks to a 17-yard pass to Sanders and a 13-yard run on a quarterback sweep to set up a potential game-winning by Errol Mann.

Mann come on and drilled the 18-yard field goal that put the Lions ahead 17-16 with 11 seconds to go, seeming assured of victory.

Al Dodd returned the ensuing kickoff 22 yards to the Saints’ 28-yard-line and then got out of bounds after a 17-yard catch, to give New Orleans one last chance at victory as they were at their own 45-yard-line with two seconds left.

Robbins sent in Dempsey in hopes of him making the game-winning field goal, but the chances seemed remote that Dempsey would make the kick.

It was going to be a 63-yard attempt, seven yards longer than the record for longest field goal made in a NFL game, which was held by Bert Rechichar who kicked a 56-yarder for the Baltimore Colts against the Chicago Bears back in 1953.

For Dempsey to make the kick, he was going to need a perfect snap from Burkett, a perfect hold from Scarpati, and take advantage of the wind that was coming out of the south and behind him.

As Burkett snapped the ball back to Scarpati, the Lions did not make a serious attempt of blocking the kick, with the exception of defensive tackle Alex Karras.

Dempsey got the kick away and online, all it needed was the distance.

As the kick sailed through the air, it had a chance of clearing the uprights.

Then, it started to come down and down, and down before landing on the ground, just a couple feet beyond the crossbar for a successful 63-yard field goal to give the Saints a 19-17 win as time expired(double-click to play).

The Saints carried Dempsey on their shoulders after their second win of the 1970 season, but it would thier last as they would lose the rest of their games to finish with a 2-11-1 record while the Lions would finish the season with a 10-4 record, earning a playoff berth as the NFC’s Wild Card team before losing to the Dallas Cowboys 5-0 in the NFC Divisional Playoffs.

The Lions would not return to the postseason for 12 years.

As for Dempsey, he would part ways with the Saints after the season and join the Philadelphia Eagles, where he would kick for four seasons, before tours with the Los Angeles Rams(75-76), Houston Oilers(77), and Buffalo Bills(78-79) until his retirement after the 1979 season.

Ironically in 1977, the NFL adopted a rule that any shoe that is worn by a player with an artificial limb on his kicking leg must have a kicking surface that conforms to that of a normal kicking shoe." This became known as the “Tom Dempsey Rule”.

As for Dempsey’s record, it was tied on three occasions until 2013 when Matt Prater kicked a 64-yard field goal for the Denver Broncos against the Tennessee Titans.

For the record, Prater’s kick was made in Denver and two of other three 63-yard field goals were made in Denver where the high altitude allow for longer field goals to be made more easily.

Still, Dempsey will forever have a place in NFL history with his 63-yard field goal that gave the Saints an improbable 19-17 win over the Detroit Lions.