Is it legal to goaltend a field goal in football?

If you can get up that high, go for it.

I know you can't jump on anyone's back to do it; however, if you had a really tall arse guy, I don't see the problem.

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I don't know what the rule is, but the rules should allow it

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I don't either, but I can't see how it could be any different than a blocked kick, just at a different point in the trajectory.

You are legally allowed to do this, if and only if, you catch the ball in the air but you MAY goaltend it from entering between the goalposts and crossbar. You also obviously have to be within the field of play.

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It is most certainly legal. I don't remember which team, think it could've been UGA with AJ Green, but they put him back there on a long kick to try to block it if it was low enough over the crossbars.

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Right. I wanted Georgia Tech to do it with Calvin Johnson, but they never did. 6'5" with a 45" vertical is about the best you can do. But even someone like him could only get a foot or two over the bar, so it's only worth a try on the long field goals.

Per the NCAA rulebook:

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I. Team A attempts a field goal from Team B’s 30-yard line. A Team B player in the end zone leaps above the crossbar and bats the ball in flight. The ball goes out of bounds in the end zone.

RULING: Foul for batting the ball in the end zone. During regulation play, postscrimmage kick enforcement gives a safety by penalty. In extra periods, enforcement of the 15-yard penalty is at the previous spot
and Team A retains possession.
II. Team A attempts a field goal from Team B’s 30-yard line. A Team B player in the end zone leaps above the crossbar and bats the ball in flight. The ball goes into the end zone and is recovered by Team A.

RULING: Foul for batting the ball in the end zone. The result of the play is a touchdown.
III. Team A attempts a field goal from Team B’s 30-yard line. A Team B player in the end zone leaps above the crossbar and bats the ball in flight. The ball goes into the end zone and is recovered by Team B.

RULING: Foul for batting the ball in the end zone. The result of the play is a touchback, safety.
IV. Team A attempts a field goal from Team B’s 30-yard line. A Team B player in the end zone leaps above the crossbar and bats the ball in flight. The ball goes into the field of play.

RULING: Foul for batting the ball in the end zone. During regulation play, postscrimmage kick enforcement gives a safety by penalty. The ball remains alive, and Team A may elect the result of the play. If Team A recovers, does not score and accepts the penalty, or if the play occurs in an extra period, enforcement is at the previous spot.

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VII. Team A attempts a field goal, and B23, in the end zone, goes above the crossbar and catches the ball.

RULING: Legal play.

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tl;dr version: batting ball=safety or penalty in OT
catching ball=ok

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It's not legal in college or the NFL.

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Amazing to me that people just post random incorrect information as fact when it is so easy to look shite up.

If I were even considering a fake field goal and the defense put a guy back there to "goal tend" I think I would have to go for the fake.

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NFL

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Legal in the NFL in 1970 . . . but not much longer

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Oakland, which had gone to the three previous A.F.L. championship games, started 2-2-1 that year, the first season after the merger. In Week 6 against the Steelers, Blanda replaced an injured Daryle Lamonica and threw three touchdown passes in a 31-14 win. The next week, against the Chiefs, in a wild game that featured a brawl at the end, Blanda kicked a 48-yard field goal with three seconds left to salvage a 17-17 tie. (That's the one where Hank Stram put 6-foot-10-inch Morris Stroud under the crossbar to leap and try to block the kick. This was within the rules at the time, but not for long).

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