Longest Kick in NFL History: Little’s Field Goals and O’Neal’s Punt
Cam Little’s 68-yard field goal, his 70-yard preseason kick and Steve O’Neal’s 98-yard punt answer different NFL record questions.
On November 2, 2025, Cam Little made a 68-yard field goal against the Las Vegas Raiders, breaking Justin Tucker’s 66-yard mark. If “longest kick in NFL history” means the longest successful regular-season field goal, Little is the answer. His record kick came at the end of the first half of Jacksonville’s eventual 30–29 overtime win. NFL.com’s game report documents the play, and ESPN’s record list still places it first.
But a field goal is not the same record as a punt. Steve O’Neal holds the NFL/AFL punting record at 98 yards, set for the New York Jets against Denver on September 21, 1969. Little himself also made a longer field goal—70 yards—in the preseason, where it did not replace the regular-season record. The Jets’ historical account and the NFL’s preseason report establish those separate distinctions.
Record status checked October 9, 2026. These distances belong to different statistical categories, not a single measure of how far a ball flew.
Longest regular-season field goal: Cam Little’s 68-yarder
Jacksonville trailed Las Vegas 6–0 late in the first half. Starting at their own 31 with 28 seconds remaining, the Jaguars gained 19 yards before Trevor Lawrence spiked the ball at midfield. Little then made the record-breaking kick as the half expired. Unlike Tucker’s previous record kick, which struck the crossbar, Little’s cleared it with room to spare. Associated Press reporting confirms the sequence.
The three points did not give Jacksonville the lead, but they mattered in a game decided by one point. Little also made a 48-yard field goal to force overtime and the extra point that supplied the winning margin. The NFL’s follow-up recounts his contribution.
For the earlier milestones and record holders, see our history of the longest NFL field goal.
Why Little’s 70-yard kick is a different answer
On August 9, 2025, Little made a 70-yard field goal against Pittsburgh at EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville. It came on the final play of the first half of the Jaguars’ preseason opener, with the line of scrimmage at Jacksonville’s own 48-yard line. The Jaguars’ account records the play.
The kick counted on the scoreboard in Pittsburgh’s 31–25 victory. It did not count toward the regular-season field-goal record: the NFL’s contemporary report explicitly makes that distinction. Thus, 70 yards answers the preseason question; 68 answers the regular-season one.
Longest punt: Steve O’Neal’s 98-yarder
O’Neal’s record belongs to an earlier league setting. The Jets–Broncos game was an AFL contest in 1969, before the leagues began their merged regular-season schedule in 1970. The Pro Football Hall of Fame’s chronology explains that timetable; the Jets identify O’Neal’s mark as an NFL/AFL record.
Punting from deep in his own end zone at Mile High Stadium, O’Neal sent the ball over Denver’s returner. It landed at the Broncos’ 33-yard line, bounced toward the goal line and left Denver inches from its own end zone. The official 98 yards therefore included the ball’s movement after landing—not 98 yards entirely through the air. The Jets’ account describes that path; Guinness World Records independently lists the distance and date.
The measurement also starts in a different place. The NFL’s Guide for Statisticians measures punts from the line of scrimmage, but field goals from the spot of the kick. Neither number is a direct measurement of airborne travel.
A final distinction: an attempted field goal is not a made one. Sebastian Janikowski tried a 76-yarder for Oakland on September 28, 2008, but it fell short. NBC’s retrospective documents the miss. That belongs in the history of long-distance field-goal attempts, not alongside Little’s successful record kick.