Stud NHL defenseman nails a 50-yard field goal attempt at Buccaneers practice facility
We all know that NHL players are in excellent shape from the intense strength and conditioning training and the all of the cardio work they do. Some players even grew up as multi-sport athletes when they were younger. The same can be said for NFL football players. Patrick Mahomes, QB for the Kansas City Chiefs, is a prime example, having played both baseball and football.
We don't quite know what Victor Hedman's background was before he decided to pursue hockey, but I'm sure if he wanted to, he could have been a kicker in the NFL. The 6-foot-7, 240-pound defenseman was at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' practice facility on Thursday and actually drilled a 50-yard field goal kick.
Just for reference here, when an NFL team goes for an extra point following a touchdown, the ball is placed at the 15-yard line. The kick from ball holder to uprights is about 33 yards. Even then, sometimes kickers miss from that distance. Hedman just nailed one from 17 yards further out. To take it a step further, the longest field goal kick to be completed in NFL history was a 66-yard kick by Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, in a game against the Detroit Lions in September of 2021.
Now, it goes without saying that nailing one of these kicks in practice is very different from doing it under pressure in a game setting. Nevertheless, Tucker has devoted years of his life to mastering his craft. For Hedman to come in with presumably no training and do what he did, it's probably the equivalent of an NHLer coming in and hitting a homerun over the green monster at Fenway.
Obviously, we don't know how many attempts Hedman had before the camera started rolling. I'm sure he was run through a practice routine before they began filming, but either way, this is pretty impressive.
| POLL | ||
1 SEPTEMBRE | 49 ANSWERS Stud NHL defenseman nails a 50-yard field goal attempt at Buccaneers practice facility Do you think you could kick a 50-yard field goal? | ||
| Definitely | 10 | 20.4 % |
| Probably not | 39 | 79.6 % |
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