When Did the Goal Post Move to the Back of the Endzone

During the first NFL season in 1920, the goalposts were located at the goal line of the endzone. In 1927 the NCAA would move their goalposts to the back of the end line. With that change being made by the NCAA, the NFL would follow suit and move theirs to the end line as well.

When the NFL moved the goalposts to the end line, fans saw a major drop in field goals and more games ended in ties. With this happening, the NFL would develop their own rule in 1933. This rule would move the goalposts back to the goal line.

In 1966, another change emerged when it comes to the goalposts. The rule meant the goal post would be offset from the goal line. It would also need to be 20 feet in the air.

Each goal post would also change in color. The NFL would make it mandatory that all goalposts should be painted bright gold. During this time, the NFL would also make a change to the style of the goal post.

They would make the goal post a slingshot shape, which would eliminate the two post version. Having the two posts on the ground level of the endzone was becoming a safety risk. By changing the goal post style to a slingshot look, it would eliminate a lot of injury concerns.

The NFL would still keep the goalposts in the same location at the goal line. With the safety of players being a concern it brought more changes to the NFL's goalposts. This brings the question of when did the NFL move the goalposts from the goal line to the end line of the endzone?

In what year did the NFL move the goalposts to the end line?

Before the 1974 NFL season, the goalposts would be moved back to the end line of the endzone. This change would be implemented to push teams to scoring touchdowns instead of settling for field goals. Changing the location of the field goalposts would be a great fix for the NFL.

In 1973, the NFL would see 543 successful field goals on 861 attempts. After changing the location of the goalposts those numbers would drop. The NFL would only see 335 field goals made and 553 field goals attempted in 1974.

THE KICK -- Matt Bryant kicks a FG late in the fourth quarter to send the 1994 NJCAA championship game into OT, where the Cardinals claimed a 24-17 win against NEO for their first national title. The game was played at Rose Stadium in Tyler. @Matt_Bryant3 pic.twitter.com/swdgdYl0Jr
— TVCC Sports (@TVCCsports) January 30, 2021

NFL teams would enjoy the new location of the field goal posts as it would open the passing game closer to the endzone. To this day, the field goal posts remain the same. Nothing has changed since 1974. The posts are still bright gold, still in the sling shot shape, and still sit at the end line of the endzone.

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