Thanks for the background on Gajan.. & Forgive me if I've already mentioned this is in other threads;.. I was really consumed with sports history as a kid.. I remember going to book fairs in elementary school (pre-internet era) snatching up anything I could related to NFL history & trivia. An NFL accomplishment that has always stayed in my mind is Tom Dempsey's 63 yd FG. A guy born missing toes & fingers who became a record-setting pro athlete is a beautiful thing. And I think that last-second kick was only one of two wins for New Orleans that season..
Dempsey was still kicking in the straight-on era, so even with the squared off shoe, it may have been even more difficult (compared to contemporary soccer kicking), bcuz he had a smaller kicking foot surface for accuracy & aim (opposed to the side of a shoe used now ?)
I remembered a bit of flap when someone at the time questioned whether it should be allowed for Dempsey to use his squared shoe. I looked it up and it turns out it was Tex Schramm who protested. He got himself in a bit of a pickle for his position.
Tom Dempsey's 63-yard field goal ranks among greatest moments in New Orleans Saints history
Excerpt:
In the fallout to Dempsey's Day, nothing matched the decision of Tex Schramm, president of the Dallas Cowboys, to "protest the use of Dempsey's kicking shoe.''
Schramm made a fool of himself. He said the shoe was illegal (even though it had been approved by the league in 1969). He likened the kicking surface to "the head of a golf club with a sledgehammer surface.''
The league had looked into Dempsey's shoe and ruled it was lighter than the regulation shoe used in the league.
The upshot: Commissioner Pete Rozelle told Tex Schramm to apologize to Tom Dempsey.
Today, Dempsey's shoe and the ball he kicked 63 yards occupy a prominent spot in the Saints Hall of Fame in the Superdome.
