Johansson’s Record Kick Still Stands 50 Years Later
10/16/2026 8:52:00 PM | Football
The moments that are etched into the memories of sports fans usually happen at the end of the game: a buzzer-beater, a 9th inning walk-off, a hero made on the final play.
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Abilene Christian has won a game in each of the past two football seasons on a last-play field goal: a 54-yarder by Ritse Vaes at Northern Colorado in 2024, and Brandon Perez's 47-yard winner to beat No. 2 Tarleton State on Homecoming 2025.
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It's one of the many reasons Ove Johansson's 69-yard world record field goal is so remarkable. It happened with 2:13 left in the 1st quarter – there were still 51 minutes of football to be played! But the timing of the play merely starts its allure.
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Friday marked the 50th anniversary of Johansson's kick during Abilene Christian's Homecoming game against East Texas State.
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Many stories have been told and retold and embellished throughout the years about what happened on October 16, 1976 at Shotwell Stadium. You didn't really need to use much hyperbole because the fact of kicking a field goal from your own 41-yard line was fantastical enough. ACU sports information director Garner Roberts was the man who's job it was to tell anyone and everyone about the world record kick.
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"Immediately, I started calling people," said Roberts, who worked at Abilene Christian from 1973-98. "Then soon after that, the Shotwell Stadium press box phone started to ring. From 2:13 of the 1st quarter, I hardly saw any of the rest of the game."
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Roberts had gone into the game planning on highlighting a different record broken. Running back Wilbert Montgomery was set to surpass Walter Payton for most career touchdowns in college football history.
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"[Wilbert's record] was obviously expected," said Roberts. "This was totally unexpected."
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Johansson's kick overshadowed Montgomery's record, but Roberts said Montgomery wouldn't have cared one way or another.
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The interest from media around the country was enormous with newspapers running stories and film of the kick airing the next day on CBS' NFL Today, and two days later on Monday Night Football between the New England Patriots and New York Jets during halftime.
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"We had calls from coast-to-coast – literally. The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle and many places in between. Many of them wanted to talk to [Ove]. I went over to his wife April's apartment after the game and we spent, I don't remember how long, several hours doing interviews. It was quite an event."
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Johansson ('77), who was from Sweden originally, grew up playing soccer and had just started kicking a football earlier that year. Â The long-distance boot was only the 4th field goal of his career, and he finished the season with just eight makes.
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Yet the NFL came calling and Johansson was drafted by the Houston Oilers in the 12th round. He played in two games for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1977.
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The lore of Earth's longest field goal continued. It's possible the number of people who say they were at the game exceeds the recorded attendance of 13,000. Liberties have even been taken with who was in on the play.
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"Through the years there's been all sorts of wild stories of people claiming they were on the field on that play, which they weren't. I did an actual news release that named the 11 ACU players who were on the field on that play."
READ MORE: ACU Remembers: Ove Johansson
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Johansson went on to become a successful businessman and sought-after motivational speaker in Amarillo. He and his wife April (Bankes, '77) were married 47 years, and raised two children, Annika (Johansson '06) Spalding, and Stefan Johansson. Ove Johansson died on Sept. 30, 2023. He was 75.
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On Oct. 3 of this year, during a game against West Florida, members of the Johansson family were at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium for a celebration of the kick, which still holds the record for longest field goal in a regulation game. Cam Little of the Jacksonville Jaguars nailed a 70-yarder in 2025, but because it came in a preseason game it is not counted in official statistics and records.
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An 'x' marked the spot at the north 41-yard line with his initials, 'O.J.' and the date, '10-16-1976' to show where Johansson connected with the ball - and his life changed forever.
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Abilene Christian has won a game in each of the past two football seasons on a last-play field goal: a 54-yarder by Ritse Vaes at Northern Colorado in 2024, and Brandon Perez's 47-yard winner to beat No. 2 Tarleton State on Homecoming 2025.
Â
It's one of the many reasons Ove Johansson's 69-yard world record field goal is so remarkable. It happened with 2:13 left in the 1st quarter – there were still 51 minutes of football to be played! But the timing of the play merely starts its allure.
Â
Friday marked the 50th anniversary of Johansson's kick during Abilene Christian's Homecoming game against East Texas State.
Â
Many stories have been told and retold and embellished throughout the years about what happened on October 16, 1976 at Shotwell Stadium. You didn't really need to use much hyperbole because the fact of kicking a field goal from your own 41-yard line was fantastical enough. ACU sports information director Garner Roberts was the man who's job it was to tell anyone and everyone about the world record kick.
Â
"Immediately, I started calling people," said Roberts, who worked at Abilene Christian from 1973-98. "Then soon after that, the Shotwell Stadium press box phone started to ring. From 2:13 of the 1st quarter, I hardly saw any of the rest of the game."
Â
Roberts had gone into the game planning on highlighting a different record broken. Running back Wilbert Montgomery was set to surpass Walter Payton for most career touchdowns in college football history.
Â
"[Wilbert's record] was obviously expected," said Roberts. "This was totally unexpected."
Â
Johansson's kick overshadowed Montgomery's record, but Roberts said Montgomery wouldn't have cared one way or another.
Â
The interest from media around the country was enormous with newspapers running stories and film of the kick airing the next day on CBS' NFL Today, and two days later on Monday Night Football between the New England Patriots and New York Jets during halftime.
Â
"We had calls from coast-to-coast – literally. The New York Times and the San Francisco Chronicle and many places in between. Many of them wanted to talk to [Ove]. I went over to his wife April's apartment after the game and we spent, I don't remember how long, several hours doing interviews. It was quite an event."
Â
Johansson ('77), who was from Sweden originally, grew up playing soccer and had just started kicking a football earlier that year. Â The long-distance boot was only the 4th field goal of his career, and he finished the season with just eight makes.
Â
Yet the NFL came calling and Johansson was drafted by the Houston Oilers in the 12th round. He played in two games for the Philadelphia Eagles in 1977.
Â
The lore of Earth's longest field goal continued. It's possible the number of people who say they were at the game exceeds the recorded attendance of 13,000. Liberties have even been taken with who was in on the play.
Â
"Through the years there's been all sorts of wild stories of people claiming they were on the field on that play, which they weren't. I did an actual news release that named the 11 ACU players who were on the field on that play."
READ MORE: ACU Remembers: Ove Johansson
Â
Johansson went on to become a successful businessman and sought-after motivational speaker in Amarillo. He and his wife April (Bankes, '77) were married 47 years, and raised two children, Annika (Johansson '06) Spalding, and Stefan Johansson. Ove Johansson died on Sept. 30, 2023. He was 75.
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On Oct. 3 of this year, during a game against West Florida, members of the Johansson family were at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium for a celebration of the kick, which still holds the record for longest field goal in a regulation game. Cam Little of the Jacksonville Jaguars nailed a 70-yarder in 2025, but because it came in a preseason game it is not counted in official statistics and records.
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An 'x' marked the spot at the north 41-yard line with his initials, 'O.J.' and the date, '10-16-1976' to show where Johansson connected with the ball - and his life changed forever.
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