Certain circumstances are required for an NFL team to catch a fair free kick. That’s why none have been made for almost 50 years.

On Thursday night, spectators got a lesson in a little-known rule: catching the fair free kick.

The Denver Broncos failed to make a play against the Los Angeles Chargers for the remainder of the first half, forcing a punt with eight seconds left. The Broncos received an interference penalty on the kick when they got too close to the returner and made contact with him when he signaled for a fair catch. Time ran out at halftime. That got Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh going.

After the fair catch, the Chargers had the opportunity to attempt a free kick. It was the rare case where it made sense because there was no time left on the clock. It’s also rare that a fair catch on a punt puts the receiving team in range to even attempt the kick, but the Broncos’ 15-yard penalty made it a reasonable 57-yard attempt for Cameron Dicker of the Chargers.

So why not? Dicker had a holder and kicked it like a no-snap kickoff, and he made the 57-yard kick for three points. Ray Wersching of the then San Diego Chargers was the last kicker to fairly catch a free kick, back in 1976. There hadn’t even been an attempt since Joey Slye of the Carolina Panthers in 2019.

It’s not often that you see something in an NFL game that you’ve probably never seen before, but that’s it.

Broncos coach Sean Payton said his team wasn’t surprised by the attempt.

“It’s a fair free kick situation, we practice it,” Broncos coach Payton told Amazon Prime Video as he left the field at the end of the first half. “He’s got the leg. The penalty put them within reach.”

Right at the end of the half, the Chargers scored three unexpected points. It’s good that their coach understands the depths of the NFL rulebook.