Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker successfully kicked a 69-yard field goal on Saturday, August 22, 2026, during a preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This impressive kick, achieved just before halftime, exceeded the current NFL record for the longest field goal, which stands at 68 yards.
Despite the distance, Butker’s 69-yard field goal will not be officially recognized in the NFL record book because it occurred during a preseason game. NFL rules stipulate that only kicks made in regular-season games count towards official records. As a result, Cam Little’s 68-yard field goal from the previous season remains the official longest kick in NFL history.
Butker’s kick was notable for how easily the ball cleared the crossbar, hitting the net behind the goalposts and appearing as though it could have been good from an even greater distance, potentially 75 yards or more. This 69-yarder is tied for the second-longest field goal ever made in any American football game, alongside a 69-yard kick by Ove Johansson in 1976 for Abilene Christian. Cam Little holds the longest overall kick with a 70-yarder during the 2025 preseason.
The opportunity for the long field goal arose after the Chiefs’ defense stopped the Buccaneers on a fourth-down attempt with three seconds left in the first half. Butker also made a 58-yard and a 45-yard field goal in the same game, though he missed a 43-yard attempt in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ 16-15 loss.
The increasing frequency of long field goals, including Butker’s, is partly attributed to a new NFL rule implemented last season regarding K-balls. Teams now receive 60 kicking footballs at the start of the season, allowing them to break in and soften the balls through practice. This contrasts with the old rule, which provided three new, stiff footballs on game day with only an hour for kickers to prepare them. Special teams coordinators, such as Darrin Simmons, believe this rule change adds five to ten yards to kicks and could lead to even longer distances in the future.
