NFL: Does a “magic” ball boost goals? The change that redefines FGs

The Silent Impact on NFL Field Goals

In the NFL meetings in March of this year, resolution proposal G-2 went unnoticed, generating no interest among fans or reporters, and with little discussion among the clubs that voted. This resolution, promoted by several teams, allowed clubs to prepare the kicking balls (“K-Balls”) before game day, similar to the process allowed for game balls. However, on Tuesday, Vic Fangio, defensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, brought this previously anonymous resolution to light. Fangio watched as Tampa Bay Buccaneers kicker Chase McLaughlin matched the second-longest field goal in NFL history (and the longest outdoors) with a 65-yard attempt against Philadelphia.

Have they missed something? Not just you, but everyone. We’ve conceded field goals of 65 and 58 yards. These kicking balls, which changed this year, have drastically altered the kicking game, especially field goals. It’s almost like they need an asterisk era, like the live ball era, or the asterisk for those home runs that Barry Bonds or Sammy Sosa or Mark McGwire were hitting. The way they’ve changed the ball, the NFL has drastically changed field goals.

Vic Fangio

Fangio is right that a small change in the preparation of the K-balls has made a big difference for the weekly processes of kickers across the NFL. However, several special teams coaches suggest that Fangio’s comments are an exaggeration. The data does not support his argument that kicking has entered an era equivalent to that of steroids. After four weeks of the 2025 NFL season, kickers have made 56 of 76 field goal attempts from over 50 yards (73.7%), a figure lower than the percentage and attempts in 2024 after four games (61 of 81 attempts, 75.3%). The 2022 season set the mark for the highest percentage of field goals from over 50 yards scored with at least 50 attempts in four weeks: 41 of 53 for 77.4%. A special teams coordinator, who requested anonymity, commented that “there’s really nothing to see here. There could be a little more distance on the ball. Could you argue that maybe there are a couple, 3, 4 extra yards on each ball? But the odds of making the goal haven’t changed at all, so I don’t think it’s going to change the game analysis much.”

The way Fangio initiated the conversation might lead one to suspect that the NFL has manipulated the balls and kickers have modified their cleats. However, if NFL kicking has entered a new era in 2025, it’s a much more practical one. In 1999, the NFL imposed restrictions on how teams could prepare kicking balls. A narrative emerged that teams were manipulating K-balls to gain an advantage, and to add distance to punts to produce touchbacks (which were then at the 20-yard line). There were stories of teams cooking balls in ovens, steaming them in saunas, drying them in dryers, filling them with helium, anything they could do to make them softer and fatter, which allowed the ball to travel further. Therefore, the NFL changed the process to stipulate that the ball manufacturer Wilson would send the K-balls directly to the arbitration team’s hotel, allowing officials to transport the balls fresh out of the box to the stadium on game day. Teams had a 60-minute limit to prepare their three K-balls, using only water, towels, brushes, and sticky sponges. Meanwhile, the other game balls, the Q-balls (quarterback balls), could be worked on all week and used in practice. “We were in a frantic race, and for what reason?” asked the special teams coordinator. “Three new balls from a box, and the equipment managers were striving to prepare these balls for the officials [to inspect] before the game. The guy was sweating, it was a practice.” The coordinator’s story exemplifies why this process was “prehistoric.” During a game after 1999, his specialists told him there was a problem with the K-balls; they were terrible. The coach investigated and found that the opponent’s K-balls had practically not been touched since they came out of the box, because the opponent’s equipment manager injured his back partially breaking only one of the three balls. Therefore, from 1999 to 2024, a kicker’s field goal range could differ from the practice week to game day, because the game balls were not consistent with what kickers used in practice. Due to the rush to prepare the balls before the game and give the officiating crew time to inspect them, the special teams coach said that kickers sometimes didn’t even see the ball until they kicked it. The compressed time frame did not allow clubs to dedicate the same amount of time to conditioning each of their three permitted K-balls, so if the first ball was kicked into the stands on a field goal or extra point attempt, or had to be replaced in adverse weather conditions, and balls 2 and 3 were not as worked, it created a disadvantage. The coordinator and another special teams coach said that the condition of the K-ball is so important that losing the first two could even reduce a team’s field goal range within a game. The permitted materials (water, towel, brush, sponge) remain the same, but this season, NFL kickers no longer see their balls for the first time minutes before the game. Equipment staff can prepare the K-balls whenever they want without time restrictions (the same process as the Q-balls), and kickers can practice with the balls they will use in the game and better know how the ball will feel coming off their foot on game day. The officiating crew still inspects and approves the balls before the game, confirming they are the correct size and PSI and that there is nothing irregular. No scrapes, marks, or oddly-looking seams. And the special teams coach said that if an official discards a team’s K-ball because it has been worked on too much, the league can fine the team, ensuring coaches are careful not to go too far in preparation. A league spokesperson confirmed that teams are subject to discipline for this practice. Each K-ball can be used in up to three consecutive games. “The big difference is that now the preparation of the balls is already done, perfectly,” said a second special teams coordinator in a text message, who was also not authorized by his team to speak. The K-ball proposal was the brainchild of Baltimore Ravens special teams coordinator Randy Brown, a veteran kicking coach who had been seeking momentum to change this process for several years. Brown and the Ravens did not respond to ESPN’s request for comment for its publication.

NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent said the conversation about changing the K-ball process has been ongoing since he took office (since 2014). Vincent said that, unlike more informal conversations in the past, the difference this year was that seven clubs submitted a formal proposal. “When you have a collective group of clubs that say, ‘We think this could be good,’ that makes all the difference in the world,” Vincent said. The first special teams coordinator said there was a motivating factor that gained the support of several clubs. The coordinator said there were several instances last year where the tracking chip came loose inside the ball during the pre-game period to condition the ball and the clubs were “SOL”, stuck with kicking with the defective balls because they didn’t have time to prepare any other replacements. When the chip comes loose inside the ball, the coordinator says it affects the feel of the ball and the way it moves when kicked, and this caused more teams to seriously question the old process. “Why are we in this frantic rush to prepare these balls when the quarterback’s balls are prepared all week?” said the coordinator. The vote in favor of the proposal was 31-1, with the Chicago Bears as the only vote against. Vincent said there was “zero” conversation about the resolution when it was voted on, and that there was no concern among members that the change in K-ball preparation could disrupt the competitive product and make longer field goals too automatic. “Take this, with the adjustments to the rules over the years for the protection of players or playing surfaces, and you should have better and higher kicking percentages,” Vincent said. “And kickers are getting stronger. They are specialized. So, should we be surprised to see field goals of more than 50 yards? No.” But the second special teams coordinator said consistency in the K-ball process has helped boost field goal performance. “The ball is flying 5 yards further because the balls are well-rolled,” he wrote to ESPN in a text message. Vincent said he is happy with the current state of the league’s kicking game, and during this week’s quarterly meeting of the competition committee, the group discussed the excitement that special teams plays have created, including blocked kicks and an increase in kickoff returns. “After four weeks, I came out of here in the Art McNally Gameday Central, like, holy crap, we had three game-winning field goals today!” Vincent said. “And they’re not just game-winning. They’re not like 30-yarders, they’re kicking that thing from over 50, and they’re going in.” Vincent also said that the competition committee discussed the K-ball preparation change for “10 seconds” during its quarterly call. The NFL meeting slides examine a “potential K-ball effect” and tracked field goal percentages and distances and punt yardage from 2021 to 2025, to monitor any impact of the K-ball update.

The slides cite a “continued increase in long field goal attempts, although 2025 looks like 2024” and “no evidence that the punt game was affected by the K-ball rule change”. “The data speaks for itself,” Vincent said. “Something we will continue to monitor.”