As an older member of the community, I remember when home teams provided the footballs on game day and not the League. This allowed in theory ample time to outright manipulate the balls prior to the game. In fact, Raider punter Ray Guy was accused by the Houston Oilers in 1977 of putting helium into the footballs to explain his unworldly punting hang time and distance.
The Oilers confiscated the Raiders game balls used by Guy after a game and sent them to a lab at Rice University to be analyzed. The lab found ordinary air in all the balls. Bum Phillips apologized to Guy and the Raiders, and Guy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014 as a punter. Sometimes, people are simply better at things...particularly over time.
As noted, 60+ yard field goals are not that rare in history despite our recency bias. I remember the legends of Tony Franklin and Russell Erxlaben kicking 60+ field goals in the 70s. Franklin in fact kicked two 60+ FGs during a single game in the Disco era...which led to a mini boom in barefooted kickers in the NFL as somehow having an edge.
The trend of increasing distance and accuracy of kickers has been around for some time. I would suspect it has likely accelerated a bit in recent years as coaches attempts more 60+ field goals (remember, you need to look at attempts as well) and the increased presence of more domed temperature-controlled stadiums and predictable footing from artificial surfaces.
As an older member of the community, I remember when home teams provided the footballs on game day and not the League. This allowed in theory ample time to outright manipulate the balls prior to the game. In fact, Raider punter Ray Guy was accused by the Houston Oilers in 1977 of putting helium into the footballs to explain his unworldly punting hang time and distance.
The Oilers confiscated the Raiders game balls used by Guy after a game and sent them to a lab at Rice University to be analyzed. The lab found ordinary air in all the balls. Bum Phillips apologized to Guy and the Raiders, and Guy was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2014 as a punter. Sometimes, people are simply better at things...particularly over time.
As noted, 60+ yard field goals are not that rare in history despite our recency bias. I remember the legends of Tony Franklin and Russell Erxlaben kicking 60+ field goals in the 70s. Franklin in fact kicked two 60+ FGs during a single game in the Disco era...which led to a mini boom in barefooted kickers in the NFL as somehow having an edge.
The trend of increasing distance and accuracy of kickers has been around for some time. I would suspect it has likely accelerated a bit in recent years as coaches attempts more 60+ field goals (remember, you need to look at attempts as well) and the increased presence of more domed temperature-controlled stadiums and predictable footing from artificial surfaces.
Put me down as a skeptic.