Chargers’ Harbaugh relishes rare fair catch kick after win: ‘My favorite rule’

The Los Angeles Chargers ended the first half of Thursday’s victory over the Denver Broncos with one of the rarest plays in football.

Cameron Dicker nailed a 57-yard fair catch kick to cut the Chargers’ deficit to 21-13 at the end of the second quarter.

The fair catch kick rule allows a team that’s just made a fair catch to attempt a free kick from the spot of the catch. The attempt can’t be blocked, and, if converted, it’s worth three points.

“It’s my favorite rule. I wanted it so bad,” Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said postgame, according to Lindsey Thiry of ESPN.

The Chargers were in a position to attempt a fair catch kick after Broncos cornerback Tremon Smith committed a fair catch interference penalty that gave Los Angeles 15 extra yards following a Denver punt.

A team may attempt a fair catch kick if it calls a fair catch when the clock expires at the end of either half.

“I have been trying to get one in every game,” Harbaugh added, according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post. “When Cameron Dicker made it, it got the momentum back. This was our chance.”

Veteran Chargers edge rusher Khalil Mack admitted he had no idea what was going on when his team lined up for the fair catch kick at the end of the second quarter, per Thiry.

Dicker said he wasn’t aware of the rare kick until joining the Chargers in 2022 along with special teams coordinator Ryan Ficken.

New England Patriots kicker Joey Slye was previously the last player to attempt a fair catch kick in 2019 as a member of the Carolina Panthers. However, no one had converted it since Ray Wersching drilled a 45-yard attempt in 1976 with the then-San Diego Chargers.

Dicker added that Ficken and his players watch Slye’s 60-yard attempt from 2019 every Friday, according to Kris Rhim of ESPN.

Only seven of the 27 recorded NFL fair catch kicks have been converted. Dicker’s 57-yarder is the longest successful fair catch kick in pro football history, topping Paul Hornung’s 52-yard kick back in 1964.

This wasn’t the first fair catch kick for Harbaugh, who also had the San Francisco 49ers attempt one back in 2013. Phil Dawson didn’t convert his 71-yard attempt at the end of the second quarter.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton said at halftime that his team practices fair catch kicks, according to ESPN’s Benjamin Solak.

Dicker’s rare conversion quickly went viral on social media and generated immediate reactions from several NFLers, including future Hall of Fame defensive end J.J. Watt.

“Watching a fair catch kick is like seeing Santa. Always heard the legends, even started to lose hope throughout the years. … But then you see the proof,” Houston Texans tight end Dalton Schultz wrote. “It’s real, baby!”

With the 34-27 win, Los Angeles swept its season series versus Denver for the first time since the 2010 campaign. The 9-6 Chargers also took the 6-seed in the AFC playoff picture from the 9-6 Broncos. Payton’s outfit is now the No. 7 seed.

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