On Saturday night, Tom Dempsey unfortunately lost his battle with the coronavirus in New Orleans. He was 73 years old.
Dempsey had been battling Alzheimer’s and dementia since 2012. He had tested positive for the coronavirus over a month ago. His family had to put him in hospice care after his oxygen levels dropped severely.
In 11 seasons, Dempsey played for 5 teams, which were the Saints, Eagles, Houston Oilers, Buffalo Bills, and the L.A. Rams. He played for the Eagles for 4 years, which was his career high amount of seasons with one team.
In college, Dempsey was actually a defensive linemen. He was 6’2″ and 225 pounds. He certainly didn’t seem like a kicker, but turned out to be one of the greats.
In 1970, Dempsey set a record with a 63 yard field goal. It was a a game-winner against the Lions, who were a very good team that season. No other kicker passed 60 yards until 1984. Matt Prater, the current kicker for the Lions, broke the record in 2013 with a 64 yarder, but Dempsey is tied for the 2nd longest kick ever.
During the time that Dempsey was in the NFL, kickers had started to convert to a method of kicking with the laces of their shoes (like soccer). Dempsey preffered to kick like he always had, with his toes. In showed to be a very good method of kicking, as Dempsey is one of the great kickers to this day.
In fact, Dempsey’s record-setting kick was so surprising to fans and the league back then, so the NFL moved the FG posts 10 yards back. It didn’t change much, as multiple kickers have hit over 60 yards. The point however is that Dempsey changed the league from his historic kick.
When Dempsey had made the 63 yard FG in 1970, the second highest was 56 yards. In other words, Dempsey had the record at that time by 7 yards.
Tom Dempsey inspired many players and fans. In fact, when Panthers former kicker Graham Gano hit a 63 yard FG to win against the Giants in 2018, he talked about how Dempsey inspired him to follow his dreams of a kicker. Dempsey had also showed many fans that anything is possible, especially since he was able to convert to a defensive linemen to a kicker in a short amount of time.
