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Last week, NFL officials were warned to look out for holders attempting to use a small foreign object to help in placing the ball when holding for a field goal or extra point attempts.
After Dallas Cowboys kicker Brett Maher uncharacteristically missed four consecutive extra point attempts on Sunday (he was 50 of the 53 prior to the game), many fans wondering if the new point of emphasis may have played a part in his failures.
It turns out, according to Pro Football Talk, it did.
All season, Cowboys holder Bryan Anger has plucked a blade of turf that is painted white and sets it down as a sightline to ensure he sets the football at Maher’s preferred spot. Before the second attempt, an official ruled Anger could not use the grass blade as a tool.
“I hadn’t seen any memo or discussion about it,” said Cowboys special teams coach John Fassel. “I didn’t even know about it until our holder came up to tell me what happened. Supposedly, it was emphasized all season, but it’s never been brought up to me my whole career. It’s not an excuse by any means, just very unique to have that happened.”
Interestingly, the Cowboys are reportedly sticking with Maher (we think) even though they previously cut him in 2019 for also being bad at kicking.
Adding even more intrigue to the issue, the NFL reportedly issued the warning to officials after a Week 14 game when Eagles emergency holder Britain Covey was clearly seen picking something up off the ground after a kick.
The Eagles take on the Giants this weekend and apparently Philadelphia kicker Jake Elliott still hasn’t gotten the memo.
Jake Elliott is the NFC special teams player of the week
He had career high 5 field goals. He is just the second Eagles kicker to make 2 50+ yard field goals in a game
Jake has the most 50+ yard FGs (20) in Eagles history and has made 8 of his last 9 FGs from 50+ yards pic.twitter.com/URrjjjdNBI
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) January 11, 2023
“We’ve always used something that’s within the rules,” Elliott told NJ.com. “It’s just literally to mark the spot. It’s part of the playing surface, like a piece of grass or something like that.”
Elliott continued, “When we talked to them, we explained what we’re doing, and they saw what we were doing. Probably 30 teams do it around the league. It’s just a point of emphasis, and someone makes it bigger than it is. Everything we’ve done has been completely legal.”
Here’s the thing: it’s not – something Jake Elliott might be surprised to find out come Saturday afternoon.