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Tom Dempsey

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Football Player

The Resume

    (January 12, 1947-April 4, 2020)
    Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
    Kicker for the New Orleans Saints (1969-70), Philadelphia Eagles (1971-74), Los Angeles Rams (1975-76), Houston Oilers (1977) and Buffalo Bills (1978-79)
    Made 252 of 282 points after touchdown and 159 of 258 field goals
    Best known for setting a record by kicking a 63-yard field goal (November 8, 1970)
    Born with no toes on his right foot and no fingers on his right hand

Why he might be annoying:

    He initially had no idea how long the kick was, later admitting 'If I'd known it was 63 yards, I might have messed it up.'
    During the post-game celebration, his teammates played a practical joke by tricking him into thinking he had received a congratulatory phone call from President Richard Nixon.
    There was controversy over whether his modified shoe, with a flattened and enlarged toe surface, gave him an unfair advantage.
    The controversy eventually prompted the NFL to adopt the 'Tom Dempsey rule,' standardizing shoes worn by players with non-standard feet (1977).

Why he might not be annoying:

    His father's advice growing up was, 'There's no such thing as can't. You can do anything you want to do. You just may have to do it differently than other people.'
    His response to people claiming his shoes gave him an unfair advantage: 'Unfair eh? How 'bout you try kickin' a 63 yard field goal to win it with 2 seconds left and you're wearin' a square shoe, oh yeah, and no toes either.'
    An analysis by ESPN Sport Science concluded that his shoe offered no advantage, and that the smaller contact area actually could have increased the margin of error.
    His house was flooded by Hurricane Katrina (2005).
    His record lasted 43 years until Matt Prater kicked a 64-yard field goal (December 8, 2013).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 59 Votes: 44.07% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 11 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 30 Votes: 40.0% Annoying