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Garrett Courtney


eeally

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I was at that game. My girlfriend was with me, and she had to be somewhere. When I saw that UNT was in an obvious punting situation, I said, "Now's a good time." As we walked out of the stadium, I heard the crowd ROAR. When we got to my truck and turned on the radio, I learned that I had just missed seeing the longest field goal I would ever see live in a game situation. :(

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You missed it on the list.....but the longest NT field goal ever was by Iseed Khoury, in 1977 (against Richmond). His was 62 yards.

Neat list, btw.

Iseed, or as I know him, Sid played for the Mean Green men's soccer team and I believe he scored quite a few goals. For several years now he has been a teacher and womens head soccer coach at Denton High School. He was my daughters first competitive soccer coach and is still quite accurate with his right foot. On several occasions I've seen him kick a soccer ball from about 30 yards out and hit the crossbar repeatedly. The kids always get a kick out of it and he's a great coach.

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62 yards Iseed Khoury, North Texas (W 47-14) v Richmond, 10/1/1977 (2" tee)

Iseed was a terrific soccer player, too, back when North Texas had a men's soccer team. He's now a teacher and the girls soccer coach at Denton High School.

Iseed Khoury: A two-sport star at North Texas, Khoury played three years on Fry's Mean Green football team as a placekicker and played four years of soccer. In football, Khoury became North Texas' all-time career leader in extra-point conversions (69 of 70, .985), which included a stretch of 60 without a miss. He holds the North Texas record for the longest field goal (62 yards in 1977.) He ranks fourth in UNT school history with 26 career field goals. When the North Texas soccer program earned intercollegiate status in 1976, Khoury was the team's No. 3 scorer with 14 goals and two assists. He led the nation in goals scored (36) in 1974.

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Iseed was a Hayden Fry find. As Iseed tells the story, Coach Fry heard about this foreign born student that could really kick a soccer ball. Fry went to see for himself, and asked Iseed if he (Iseed) thought he could kick a football. It was the first football Iseed had ever seen. And yes, thank you, he could kick it. And the rest is history.

Iseed also tells of spliting time between the Soccer team and the Football team. And of needing to travel by airplane to make the two schedules work. He was often in an airport with either a soccer uniform or a Mean Green (when the green was the correct color) football uniform on as he boarded the airplane.

I see him frequently on Tuesdays.

Great assett to Denton and of North Texas

GO MEAN GREEN

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62 yards Iseed Khoury, North Texas (W 47-14) v Richmond, 10/1/1977 (2" tee)

Iseed was a terrific soccer player, too, back when North Texas had a men's soccer team. He's now a teacher and the girls soccer coach at Denton High School.

My kids have gone to his summer soccer camp for the last couple of years. He is terrific with the kids.

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I was wondering if anyone remembered a game at Fouts back in I think the 87 or 88 season. Corky Nelson was HC, and I THINK we were playing Arkansas State. I just remember that day the wind would literally gust up to 45-50 mph at time, (no, im not kidding) but it seemed always steady around 20. UNT was down and on a 4th down at one point he sent in the field goal squad to attempt some insane distance (at least for the time). I might be wrong, but I want to say it was close to 69 yards or more, thinking if got that wind behind it, it could have a chance. Needless to say, it didnt make it, and UNT lost. I remembered at the time if he would have made it, it would have been the longest FG in NCAA history. Anyone recall that day or how far it was?

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I was wondering if anyone remembered a game at Fouts back in I think the 87 or 88 season. Corky Nelson was HC, and I THINK we were playing Arkansas State. I just remember that day the wind would literally gust up to 45-50 mph at time, (no, im not kidding) but it seemed always steady around 20. UNT was down and on a 4th down at one point he sent in the field goal squad to attempt some insane distance (at least for the time). I might be wrong, but I want to say it was close to 69 yards or more, thinking if got that wind behind it, it could have a chance. Needless to say, it didnt make it, and UNT lost. I remembered at the time if he would have made it, it would have been the longest FG in NCAA history. Anyone recall that day or how far it was?

I don't specifically recall that one, but there was another field goal attempt during that same time frame when we were kicking into the wind from fairly close. Keith Chapman kicked it fairly high, and the ball lost forward momentum quickly due to the wind. As it reached the goalposts, it was dropping more than flying, and I swear the headwind was so strong that the ball literally crossed through the uprights coming almost straight down and then was blown back before dropping below the crossbar. No good. Surreal.

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Guest GrayEagleOne

Perhaps I'm wrong, but I always thought Iseed was from Iran. And that was before I knew or cared where Iran was.

Iseed was born in Nazareth, Israel and was living in Jerusalem when he came to the states.

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---The day Khoury kicked the 62 yard one, Russell Erxleban kicked the 67 yard one. I suspect there was a Norther that had a big effect on it... I remember one day (maybe this one and maybe not) that Erxleban (UT), Von Schamen (OU), Little ( Ark), and Franklin (A&M), a high school kid and maybe Khoury all kicked field goals in the neighborhood of 60 yards and this may have been that day 10-1-77 If not it, he super windy day may have been 10-16-76, the same time the ACC kid kicked the 69 yd one, and Franklin for 63 and 65. The wind was unbelievable but cool but not that cold yet.

---It was an era of a lot of unbelievable kickers and a few had some unbelievable wind help. That is six kickers out there that could kick 60 yards and all playing in Texas or schools that regularly played in Texas (Arkansas and OU). Frankin had an unfortunate result, He was later badly injured if not killed when kicking for the Philadelphia Eagles... He had car wreak... drinking at the time. Texas Football's cover in 1978 had Franklin and Erxleban on it and an article on kickers... I still have it.

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Frankin had an unfortunate result, He was later badly injured if not killed when kicking for the Philadelphia Eagles... He had car wreak... drinking at the time.

I think you are confusing Franklin's fate with Steve Little. Franklin lives in San Antonio and is a finance director for an auto dealership, according to a "where are they now" article on the Philadelphia Eagles website.

Steve Little played for 2 1/2 years with the St. Louis Cardinals. On the day he was released from the Cards in 1980, six games into the season, Little was involved in an automobile accident that left him paralyzed. He passed away in 1999.

In the era that Erxleben, Franklin and Little played in, not only were they allowed to kick from a 2" tee, but they were also allowed to substitute in an old, "blown up to the max" football that aided in gaining distance. Also, missed field goals were brought back to the 20-yard line, no matter where they were attempted from, so it didn't hurt the team trying the long FG if the kicker missed. The NCAA changed all three rules in 1978, right after those three graduated, to dissuade teams from similar attempts. It doesn't take away from their accomplishments, but it did give them a bit of an edge.

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I think you are confusing Franklin's fate with Steve Little. Franklin lives in San Antonio and is a finance director for an auto dealership, according to a "where are they now" article on the Philadelphia Eagles website.

Steve Little played for 2 1/2 years with the St. Louis Cardinals. On the day he was released from the Cards in 1980, six games into the season, Little was involved in an automobile accident that left him paralyzed. He passed away in 1999.

In the era that Erxleben, Franklin and Little played in, not only were they allowed to kick from a 2" tee, but they were also allowed to substitute in an old, "blown up to the max" football that aided in gaining distance. Also, missed field goals were brought back to the 20-yard line, no matter where they were attempted from, so it didn't hurt the team trying the long FG if the kicker missed. The NCAA changed all three rules in 1978, right after those three graduated, to dissuade teams from similar attempts. It doesn't take away from their accomplishments, but it did give them a bit of an edge.

--Does close count....?? Guess not if you are Little or Franklin.. I was "working from memory..

That is true about the rules... Now about the only time you see these long attempts of over 40 or 50 yards is at the end of a half or the game when the other team has no time to do anything with the ball from where it is now kicked. It is amazing that so many great kickers appeared at one time. The odd thing about Exleban is that that he also led the nation in punts (unofficially) ... why not officially... I believe that UT had Earl Campbell at the time and they rarely punted so Russel Erxleban did not have enough punts to be considered as the official leader. Too bad for Khoury that there was so much talent at that position when he played or he may have become well known and had an good NFL career.

Leverton the Midland High kid on the 62 yd list made a bad decision when he went to college, I think... He punted for Tennessee after HS.... he should have gone somewhere as a kicker instead I thought... He could really kick far but was too slow at punting and would sometimes get blocked. I saw his long one.

Funny story... about punting and Bum Phillips.... Ray Guy (Raiders) was lightyears ahead of the other punters ... so much so that Bum Phillips once had his return guy bring the ball back to the bench and he hid it and kept it.. He then sent it over to Rice University (in Houston) the next week to test what type of gas was in the ball... He suspected it might be Helium... it wasn't, just plain air. I think a lot of punters used their own but regulation ball then... I have heard they would microwave them to make them bounce better and go farther. Guy is one of two guys I think really should be in the NFL Hall of Fame... Bob Hayes is the other one..... his speed changed the way the game was played especially on defense.

Edited by SCREAMING EAGLE-66
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