havefun888 The Fair Catch Free Kick, and 4 Other Obscure-but-Real N.F.L. Rules

The N.F.L. rule book is long.

Some of its rules are simple and well known: “The game is played by two teams of 11 players each.” Some are a lot more tangled. (Could someone please explain clock runoff?)

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And some are so obscure that they hardly ever come into play at all. Until they do, often spectacularly.

On Thursday night, one of these arcane rules popped up in a game, to the surprise and delight of viewers. Here’s a look at what happened, and some other times when the weirdest corners of the rule book have been dusted off.

The fair catch free-kick field goal

On Thursday night in a game against the Denver Broncos, Derius Davis of the Los Angeles Chargers made a fair catch at his own 38-yard line — meaning no one could tackle him, and his team would get the ball at the spot of the catch.

There was a penalty called against the Broncos on the play, moving the ball to Denver’s 47-yard line. And this seemingly normal set of circumstances set up a play that had not been accomplished in 48 years.

There is a rule that says that any time a team makes a fair catch, it has the right to a free kick of the ball, which the opponent is not allowed to attempt to block. Of course, this almost never comes up: Why would you give the ball away to your opponents?

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