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Wilson's long kick
How long was it? 58 yards
(Published October 20, 2003)

The Washington Post initially called it 62 yards and others followed suit.

The Common Denominator called it 58 yards, with a page 1 photograph showing Wilson senior placekicker David Rosenbaum about to connect with the ball from inside the 50-yard line.

Then the Post decided to call it a 51-yard kick.

So how long was that point-after-touchdown kick that capped the scoring in the Wilson Tigers’ 41-0 shutout of Spingarn’s Green Wave on Oct. 3?

According to the authorities for the D.C. Interscholastic Athletic Association, nobody keeps records of yardage on PAT kicks. The ball is usually snapped from the 3-yard line, when there are no penalties involved, making the normal one-pointer a relatively short 13-yard kick. The ball must clear the uprights, which are situated 10 yards behind the goal line in the DCIAA.

"All we know is, this was a long kick on an extra point," said Commissioner Al Ferrara of the Washington District Football Officials Association. Ferrara acknowledged being mildly amused by the controversy over the length of Rosenbaum’s kick.

Ferrara said he was at the game but "was holding the sticks on the sideline," rather than officiating, so he didn’t pay close attention to where the ball was spotted for the kick – or why.

"There were two, 15-yard penalties against Wilson and normally the ball would be snapped from the 3-yard line, so that would mean they would snap from the 33-yard line," Ferrara told The Common Denominator. He said all penalties assessed against Wilson "would have been 15-yard penalties."

So, how did Wilson Head Coach Horace Fleming and the Post place the ball on Spingarn’s 41-yard line for the snap? Common Denominator sports correspondent David Steinbacher, who attended the game, said the ball appeared to be spotted at the 38-yard line for the snap. Fleming said his holder normally spots the ball 7 yards behind the line for a Rosenbaum kick. Common Denominator staff photographer Alexis Glenn’s photo shows Rosenbaum kicking from what appears to be Spingarn’s 48-yard line.

"That’s an interesting scenario – I can’t shed any light on that," Ferraro said, commenting on why Rosenbaum kicked the ball from a point that appeared to be 15 yards behind the line from which the ball should have been snapped.

Despite the controversy over where the ball was snapped, Rosenbaum’s kick appears to have sailed at least 58 yards in the air – from the Spingarn 48-yard line, at which the ball was kicked, through the endzone and the uprights, 10 yards behind the goal line. Because the DCIAA doesn’t keep yardage records on conversion kicks, The Common Denominator will continue to refer to Rosenbaum’s successful PAT as a 58-yard kick. David Rosenbaum deserves the recognition for what was, no doubt, one of the longest – if not THE longest – PAT kick in DCIAA history.—Kathryn Sinzinger