Monday, September 13, 2010

September 13, 1992: Go for it!

SAN FRANCISCO - It's called "football" for a reason. Sure, there's a lot of passing and tackling, and it doesn't really resemble the sport the rest of the world calls football, but American football still has "foot" in its name, and there's at least some kicking.

Since the NFL debuted in 1920, there had always been kicking. Specifically, punting. A team gets stopped offensively and they kick the ball away, hoping to gain field position. It's so common that it's taken for granted.

Until September 13, 1992. That day, Buffalo's Chris Mohr and San Francisco's Joe Prokop didn't step on the field in Buffalo's 34-31 victory over the 49ers. Since those two are their respective teams' punters, that was a milestone. The game between the two high-powered offenses was the first in NFL history to not feature a punt. The two teams combined for more than 1,000 yards of offense and six turnovers, leaving no time for an appearance by the punters.

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