The NFL’s K-Ball epidemic has gotten ridiculous

Kicking in the NFL is out of control this season, and there’s one pigskin-wrapped culprit: The K-Ball. These are the unique balls teams are allowed to use for kickoffs and field goals, with the idea being that they add more consistency and reliability to kicking. It means kickers can use a similar ball in-game to those they use in practice, thereby increasing the reliability of kicks. This isn’t a new addition to the NFL, but a 2025 rule change that largely went ignored is now having a profound impact on kicking.

It’s unclear exactly when the league began allowing kickers to use unique balls, other than it being simply part of the game. This was changed in 1999 when rumors spread of teams going to enormous lengths to intentionally doctor the K-Balls. It was alleged that some teams left their kicking balls in saunas for hours prior to a game, some would bake them in an oven, others might add them to a cement mixer with aggregate in an effort to scuff up the surface as much as possible to create more friction off the foot — and there was even one account of a team filling a ball with helium.

The NFL decided that doctoring footballs to this extent was too much, and instituted a rule ahead of the 1999 season that meant teams could still manipulate the K-Balls prior to kickoff, but only for 90 minutes ahead of the game. This short preparation time meant that minor work could be done to the ball for kickers, but not enough to drastically alter results. At least, that was the case until 2025 — when proposal G-2 passed in March at NFL owners meetings.

Filed by Baltimore, Cleveland, Houston, Las Vegas, Minnesota, Philadelphia, and Washington — proposal G-2 would dramatically increase the amount of time teams had to work on their K-Balls. Instead of receiving the ball 90 minutes before the game, teams now had access to 60 special K-Balls for use throughout the season, and they were allowed to prep these under the same guidelines as the original 90 minute rule. This meant they could work on roughing up the surface or increasing the sweet spot of the ball, but stopped short of allowing teams to fill the balls with gasses other than air, or make comical adjustments like bake the footballs, as was rumored.

Originally this was seen as a small tweak. So small that nobody really paid attention when the league announced the rule changes for 2025. Nine games through the season we’ve seen a profound impact on kicking range, with kickers gaining anywhere from five to seven yards on the routine kicks, and even more when it comes to attempting field goals previously thought impossible. This was on full display Sunday as Cam Little of the Jaguars set a new NFL record with a 68-yarder in the Allegiant Stadium dome in Las Vegas. There’s no questioning Little’s enormous leg, but the K-Ball change is having a profound impact around the NFL.

Through nine weeks of the NFL season there have been six field goals made from 60+ yards. A total of 22 kickers have made field goals from 55 yards or more this season. In 2024 only three players made kicks of 60+ and 28 made kicks of 55 yards or more over the course of 17 games. There is a very real chance we could see half the league make 60+ yard kicks this season, and all 32 kickers in the NFL will have at least one successful attempt from 55 yards or more.

It’s reached a point where Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio is saying there needs to be asterisks applied to these mammoth kicks.

“These kicking balls that changed this year, have drastically changed the kicking game, field goals in particular. It’s almost like they need an asterisk era, like it was 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 have changed the ball, the NFL has drastically changed the field goals.”

Special teams coaches bristled at the idea that kicking has been fundamentally broken by noting the number of kick attempts from 50+ yards is lagging behind 2024, but that argument is quite literally moving the goalposts. The concept of a 50-yard field goal has never been a wild outlier in the modern era, but routinely attempting kicks from 55, or even 60 yards is unheard of.

What we really have is a perfect storm. The NFL wants the drama of longer, bigger kicks — and that’s been accentuated in a season where offense is down around the league. We’re seeing far more drives stall out just past midfield, and now the idea of attempting a kick from 60-yards has become more favorable than sending out the unit for a short punt. The problem with just accepting these long kicks as a new normal are twofold:

Defensively teams are still at a disadvantage when it comes to blocking kicks considering the severity of incidental contact, as well as the rules surrounding how a kick can be blocked

There is an inherent advantage to kicking inside a dome when it comes to long kicks, with sustained winds and gusts having much more of an impact on long attempts

There have always been variances in kicking in the NFL. Some stadiums are subjected to more win, air temperature plays a role, as well as the field surface. All of these are accentuated even more when it comes to longer, and longer kicks.

It’s not hyperbole to suggest that we could see a field goal from 70+ yards this season. That’s the trend we’re headed in, and Little’s 68-yard make on Sunday was only the beginning. The NFL is going to need to make a decision this offseason on how far they’re willing to let K-Ball preparation go, because I’m not sure anyone actually wants to see this much foot in football.

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