The Free Kick (A kickoff type fieldgoal attempt)

In light of the previous thread on the drop kick, I thought it might be fun to explore another seldom-used rule. The Free kick.

So, what is the free kick? When a team kicks off or punts, the receiving team is allowed to call a fair catch. If they do, they then have the opportunity to call for a free-kick field goal try. If they call for it, the ball is placed at the line of scrimmage with a holder (no tee allowed). The opposing team must back off ten yards as if it were a kickoff. Outside of that, all the fieldgoal rules apply.

When might it be used?
A team is down by two and is receiving a punt with 7 seconds left on the clock, and the have pinned the other team on their own 5 yard line. The punt is decent, but not great, and is fair caught at the fifty. Now, either you can try a Hail Mary, or you try a free kick. The free kick is a 60 yard field goal attempt. Iffy, yes, but we've seen several NFL kickers put it through the uprights on kickoffs from the 30, let alone the 35.

It hasn't been successfully done in quite some time. But it has been attempted.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZAB_mwVDEQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oQ4NEhWVUE

Teams can air out a long ball and take 5 seconds off the clock. Or even take a safety to take seconds off a clock.

A free kick is best used on a botched punt or short kickoff with little time left in a game when a team is down 3 points or less with no time outs.