The Last Doink of the Goal-Line Era

With the NFC trailing 10–9 in the third quarter, Falcons kicker Nick Mike-Mayer attempted a 45-yard field goal. The kick struck the upright and crossbar. No good. It would be the last missed field goal or extra point ever attempted with the goalposts on the goal line.

NFC head coach Tom Landry: “That ball that hit the upright and crossbar sure made a big difference didn’t it?”

As if the uprights wanted a final word, Mike-Mayer made his next field goal attempt cleanly, then nailed the crossbar on the following kickoff, resulting in a touchback. The NFC lost 13–15. Garo Yepremian, kicker for the undefeated 1972 Dolphins, made the last field goal of the goal-line goalpost era for the AFC, cementing Mike-Mayer's doink as the last game-losing miss of the pre-Off the Upright era.

Starting with the 1974 season, goalposts moved to the back of the end zone, making field goals harder and doinks slightly less likely. This Pro Bowl is the last game outside Off the Upright's explicit tracking scope. Our verified footage goes back to a 1975 Super Bowl, with consistent regular season coverage from 1988 onward. No video of this kick has been located; it is documented via the official NFL game book and contemporary newspaper accounts.

Is this the oldest doink in the NFL?

Definitely not. Goalposts have been part of football since the 1920s, and kickers have been hitting them for just as long. The NFL didn't start tracking doinks as a stat category, so there's no official record of which kick first struck iron. What makes this doink significant isn't that it was the first, but that it was the last of its kind. Every doink before this one happened with the goalposts on the goal line. Every doink after happened with them 10 yards further back. This is the dividing line.