Tom Dempsey

Thomas Dempsey (born January 12, 1947) is a former American football placekicker in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints (1969–1970), Philadelphia Eagles (1971–1974), Los Angeles Rams (1975–1976), Houston Oilers (1977) and Buffalo Bills (1978–1979). He attended high school at San Dieguito High School and played college football at Palomar College. Unlike the "soccer style" approach used by nearly all place kickers today, Dempsey used a straight approach to kick the ball.

He is most widely known for his NFL record 63-yard field goal, kicked in the final two seconds to give the New Orleans Saints a 19–17 win over the Detroit Lions on November 8, 1970 at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans. This record still stands as of 2011, although it has been equaled twice; the first on October 25, 1998, by Jason Elam of the Denver Broncos against the Jacksonville Jaguars, at Mile High Stadium in Denver, and the second on September 12, 2011, by Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders against the Denver Broncos, at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver. In a preseason game in 2002, Ola Kimrin kicked a 65-yard field goal, but as it was a preseason game, it is ineligible for the NFL record.

Prior to 1974 the goal posts in the NFL were on the goal lines instead of the end lines. With time running out in the game, the Saints attempted a place kick with holder Joe Scarpati spotting at the Saints' own 37-yard line. The snap from Jackie Burkett was good, and Dempsey nailed the field goal with a couple of feet to spare. The win was one of only two for the Saints in that otherwise-forgettable season. Dempsey's kick shattered the old mark of 56 yards set in 1953 by Colts' kicker Bert Rechichar.

Dempsey was born without toes on his right foot and no fingers on his right hand. He wore a modified shoe with a flattened and enlarged toe surface. This generated controversy about whether such a shoe gave a player an unfair advantage. When reporters would ask him if he thought it was unfair, he said "Unfair eh? How 'bout you try kickin' a 63 yard field goal to win it with 2 seconds left an' yer wearin' a square shoe, oh, yeah and no toes either". In 1977, the NFL added a rule, informally known as the "Tom Dempsey 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."

In 1983, Dempsey was inducted into the American Football Association's Semi Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Dempsey has since retired from football and currently resides with his wife Carlene, who teaches history at Kehoe-France, a private school in Metairie, Louisiana. His house was flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.