A teenage high school American football player with a powerful leg is getting a lot of attention in the US media after kicking a field goal further than the best record in the professional National Football League (NFL).
At a high school game in the state of Washington on Thursday, 17-year-old Austin Rehkow kicked a 67-yard (61.3-meter) field goal as time was expiring to send the game into overtime. His team eventually won by a score of 62-55.
Rehkow’s kick, which was captured on video, is quickly becoming popular on YouTube.
The kick beat the NFL record by 4 yards (3.7 meters). That record was tied earlier this year by San Francisco 49ers kicker David Akers.
According to the National Federation of High Schools Record Book, Rehkow’s kick is tied for the second-longest in American history. In 1985, a teenager from the state of Nevada kicked a 68-yard field goal that has never been topped.
Rehkow’s Thursday night kick set the record for his state.
The American sports channel ESPN reported that Rehkow has a scholarship offer from Eastern Washington University, which he received before Thursday’s incredible kick.
"I kicked it and I was a little bit worried it was going to be a little bit left," Rehkow told the television show “Good Morning America,” just hours after he connected on the game-tying kick.
"It started to straighten out for me, and from 67-yards out it's kind of hard to tell if it goes over the bar or is just short of it. I really just had to wait for the refs to put their arms up for me. To get it with no wind, and especially to [get a chance to] win the game, it's a special feeling."
