The Chargers and kicker Cameron Dicker made NFL history on Thursday night against the Denver Broncos, scoring three points at the end of the first half with the successful execution of a rare fair-catch free kick field goal.

So what is a fair catch kick? It’s Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh’s favorite rule in football.

The NFL rulebook states: “After a fair catch is made or awarded as a result of a fair catch interference, the receiving team has the option to recover the ball by a snap or a fair catch kick (drop kick or place -Kick without) bringing into play a tee shot) from the spot of the catch or the subsequent spot after enforcing all applicable penalties.”

The kicks are counted as field goals by the NFL.

Read more: Chargers make history with rare fair catch against Broncos

Circumstances that would make attempting such a kick advantageous to a team do not occur often. According to the NFL, only seven such attempts were successful.

Dicker’s 57-yard throw is the longest successful fair catch in league history, as the Chargers, along with the Green Bay Packers, were the only teams to achieve this feat twice.

Here’s a look at every successful fair catch kick.

November 6, 1921

Kicker: Curly Lambeau
Team: Green Bay Packers
Opponent: Evansville Crimson Giants
Distance: Unknown

That day, Packers player-coach Lambeau rushed for at least one touchdown, kicked four extra points and “shot the oval like a bullet and with deadly accuracy,” according to the Green Bay Press-Gazette.

He also made the NFL’s first known fair catch kick.

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Evansville’s Frank Fausch singled from the Giants’ 10-yard line late in the second quarter and sent a “sky-high” kick from about 25 yards to Green Bay’s Grover Malone.

“Malone signaled a free catch and Lambeau finished the play with a nifty place kick,” the Press-Gazette wrote of the play that gave the Packers a 22-0 lead en route to a 43-6 victory.

November 26, 1933

Kicker: Ken Strong
Team: New York Giants
Opponent: Green Bay Packers
Distance: 30 meters

Strong, another triple-threat player, recovered after fumbling twice early in the game. In the third quarter the lead was 14-0, a short punt from the Packers was fairly intercepted by New York’s Dale Burnett at the Green Bay 30. The Giants elected to take the free kick and Strong’s attempt ended up “straight into one of the uprights.” according to the New York Times. New York earned a 17-6 victory.

September 13, 1964

Kicker: Paul Hornung
Team: Green Bay Packers
Opponent: Chicago Bears
Distance: 52 meters

In his first game back after a season suspension for his role in a gambling scandal, Green Bay superstar Hornung “ran, kicked and passed his way back into the hearts of Green Bay Packer fans” and won 23-12 in the season opener, according to the New York Times.

Green Bay’s Elijah made a fair catch on a Chicago punt with seconds left in the first half. With legendary Packers quarterback Bart Starr as his defender, Hornung made his first fair catch kick in more than 30 years…just barely.

“Hornung’s kick went just over the crossbar when Roosevelt Taylor jumped high and nearly pinned him to the ground,” wrote the New York Times.

Read more: When it comes to rules, sometimes they play the odds

The 52-yarder was considered the longest fair-catch kick in NFL history until Dicker broke the record Thursday night.

December 4, 1966

Kicker: Fred Cox
Team: Minnesota Vikings
Opponent: Atlanta Falcons
Distance: 40 meters

As time expired in the first half of the Vikings’ 20-13 loss to the Falcons, Cox made a 40-yard fair catch as time expired, but that was hardly his claim to fame. He played in all four of the Vikings’ Super Bowl appearances in the 1970s and remains the team’s all-time leader in points scored (1,365) and field goals made (282).

He also invented the Nerf football.

November 3, 1968

Kicker: Mac Percival
Team: Chicago Bears
Opponent: Green Bay Packers
Distance: 43 meters

The only game-winning free kick in NFL history came after Chicago’s Cecil Turner called for a fair catch of a Packers punt at Green Bay’s 43-yard line. Percival then scored on his kick with 26 seconds left to give the Bears a 13-10 victory.

Chicago coach Jim Dooley told the Chicago Tribune after the game that offensive line coach Abe Gibron had reminded him of the obscure fair-catch-kick rule a few games earlier.

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“When the Packers had second down and 10 at their 15-yard line, Abe said, ‘Let’s make the fair catch when they punt so we can take the free kick,'” Dooley said.

November 21, 1976

Kicker: Ray Wersching
Team: San Diego Chargers
Opponent: Buffalo Bills
Distance: 45 meters
Wersching’s free kick came as time expired in the second quarter and was his second field goal in the Chargers’ eventual 34-13 win. The fourth-year kicker made just four of eight field goal attempts in nine games this year and was released in the offseason.

Wersching played 11 seasons for the San Francisco 49ers, winning two Super Bowls with the team and retiring as the all-time leader in points (979, now second to Jerry Rice’s 1,130), field goals (190) and extra points (409).

December 19, 2024

Kicker: Cameron Dicker
Team: Chargers
Opponent: Denver Broncos
Distance: 57 meters
With time running out in the second quarter, LA’s Derius Davis called for a fair catch at the Chargers 38 following a punt from Denver’s Riley Dixon. Davis was unable to catch the ball, but officials called Denver’s Tremon Smith for interference, granting the Chargers an opportunity to exploit the obscure fair-catch-kick rule in the Broncos’ possession.

With punter JK Scott as his holder, Dicker had no trouble making the 57-yard kick in a situation that, he later said, special teams coach Ryan Ficken had actually brought up during team meetings leading up to the game.

“The look on (Denver’s) sideline was funny,” Dicker said after the game. “They were confused about what was going on.” We talk about it every week, so it was normal for us.

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It was the first successful fair catch kick this century, following previous attempts by the Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, Packers, 49ers and Carolina Panthers.

The kick allowed the Chargers to get within 21-13 at halftime and potentially sparked a second-half surge that ended in a 34-27 victory.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.