26/09/2025
🗓️Flashback Friday: Epic Kicks & NFL Origins on September 26! 🏈
Throwback to September 26 in NFL history where humble beginnings meet boot legends. From the league's first spark to record-shattering legs, here's the magic:
1920: The Dawn of Pro Football
The Rock Island Independents demolished the St. Paul Ideals 48-0 in Rock Island, IL, before just 800 fans at Douglas Park. This was the first-ever game featuring an American Professional Football Association (APFA) team—the precursor to the NFL, formed that summer to organize the wild west of pro ball. No helmets, muddy fields, and pure grit: the birth of what we'd call the world's biggest sports league today.
1967: Jim Bakken's Field Goal Frenzy
St. Louis Cardinals kicker Jim Bakken etched history with a then-record 7 field goals (on 9 attempts, distances: 18, 24, 33, 29, 24, 32, 23 yards) in a 28-14 Week 2 rout of the Pittsburgh Steelers at Pitt Stadium. All those kicks powered the Cards' offense in an era of straight-on styles and no domes—Bakken missed just twice but owned the day. Fun fact: 7 FGs has been matched 9 more times since, but Rob Bironas holds the all-time record with 8 in a 2007 thriller.
2021: Jamal Agnew's Wild Return Turns Prater's Shot Clock
In Week 3's Arizona Cardinals-Jacksonville Jaguars clash, Cards kicker Matt Prater's ambitious 68-yard FG attempt at halftime fell short right into the hands of Jags return wizard Jamal Agnew deep in the end zone. Agnew weaved 109 yards the other way for a TD, tying the NFL record for longest play from scrimmage (shared with Antonio Cromartie & Cordarrelle Patterson). Jags led 13-7 at half, but Cards pulled out a 31-19 win.
2021: Justin Tucker's Record-Setting 66-Yarder
Just hours later on the same day (Week 3 double-dose!), Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker drilled a franchise- and then-NFL-record 66-yard walk-off FG as time expired, stunning the Detroit Lions 19-17 at Ford Field. It was Tucker's fourth make of the game (plus 39, 50, & 32 yarders), bouncing off the crossbar for drama.
September 26: Kicking off eras and rewriting record books. Which one's your fave? Drop it below!
