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Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little wasn't going to part with everything for the Hall of Fame
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- Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little wasn't going to part with everything for the Hall of Fame
That football isn't going anywhere but Cam Little's trophy case at home.
The Jacksonville Jaguars kicker got it away from a fan in Las Vegas . He's not parting with it now, even for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton.
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The ball Little drilled 68 yards through the uprights at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Nov. 2 to set the NFL record for the longest field goal is safe at his home, along with the ball he kicked 70 yards for a field goal during a preseason game against Pittsburgh at EverBank Stadium.
"Keeping the football but giving them the jersey," Little said on Nov. 5 at the Miller Electric Center, several hours after the team announced that he is the NFL Special Teams Player of the Week for his three field goals and three conversions in a 30-29 overtime victory over the Las Vegas Raiders . "That ball is special. That's the coolest part about it, is it going through the uprights."
The Hall of Fame also wanted Little's cleats, but he just broke in a new pair and said he'll go about his normal routine of wearing cleats for five or six weeks.
So they're going to have to settle for his No. 39 jersey in Canton to commemorate the moment, which came on the final play of the first half.
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Little used the same ball throughout the game
A kicker might be inclined to take a ball like that out of play but Little used it the rest of the game to kick a 32-yard field goal in the third quarter and a 48-yard field goal with 16 seconds left to sent the game into overtime.
Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little watches his 68-yard field goal attempt go through the uprights at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas during the Jaguas 30-29 victory over Las Vegas on Nov. 2.
But it almost wound up in a fan's home, or possibly on eBay. The ball sailed over the net and into the stands on Little's second field goal and when stadium security tried to retrieve it, the fan refused to give it back.
Since kickers get three "K-Balls" to use during the game, he had to use a backup for the ensuing kickoff and for a conversion early in the fourth period until the fan was finally convinced to give the ball back in exchange for another ball.
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Little was able to use it for the game-tying field goal, from 48 yards out.
The NFL allows kickers to use a ball for three games, but Little isn't tempting fate again. He wanted to keep using the ball he kicked his 70-yarder in the preseason but holder Logan Cooke and long snapper Ross Matiscik wouldn't allow it.
"I wanted to keep using it," Little said. "Logan and Ross [said] 'we're not keeping that in the game. You're taking that one home.'"
Jaguars holder, snapper, never lost faith in Little
Little missed his previous two field-goal attempts entering the Vegas game, the first time in college or the NFL that he missed two in a row. He also missed a conversion for the first time at either level, and dating back to his senior year in high school in Moore, Okla., a streak of 194 in a row.
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But the coaching staff resisted calls to bring in other kickers for tryouts.
"Everyone's trying to get us to lose confidence in him," coach Liam Coen said. "We have never lost confidence in him. He hasn't missed a kick in practice in three weeks. It's not like he hasn't been hitting it good."
The two players who must execute a play before Little can kick the ball, Matisck and Cooke, said every kick that Little missed sounded just as good as every kick he's made.
"They all sound good ... they all had the same sound," said Matisick. "One thing about Cam is that he is going to swing his leg."
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Cooke said his only words to Little before the kick were, "Let's hit this puppy."
"In the grand scheme of things, it takes all three of us," Cooke said. "But he's the one who kicked it."
Special teams coordinator Heath Farwell said the three specialists, who frequently fish and play golf together, have developed a tight bond over the past two seasons.
"Those guys work together like brothers and they love each other and spend so much time together," Farwell said. "They have so much invested interest in each other on the field and off the field."
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Little's record almost tied on Monday night
After the Jaguars' victory, Little speculated that with the number of talented kickers in the NFL, the record might not last long.
Then he got a FaceTime phone call from a teammate on Monday night and asked if he was watching Dallas play Arizona . Little wasn't, and was told Brandon Aubrey of the Cowboys was lining up for a 68-yard field goal attempt
"I was playing [video] games with one of my buddies," he said. "I don't like watching football outside of [playing] football. And I was like, 'there goes my record.' He's [Aubrey] a stud. I had full confidence in the guy."
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Farwell was also watching.
"No way," he said of what he was thinking about Little's record when the play unfolded. "Not for one day."
The kick was wide to the left and Little's spot in NFL history is secure for another week.
"There's so many talented kickers ... it wouldn't surprise me if it gets broken again," Farwell said. "Hopefully our guy breaks it again."
Little is the 30th Jaguars Player of the Week
Little has made 40 of 46 field-goal attempts (87.0 percent) and 44 of 45 conversions (97.8) in two years with the Jaguars. He was drafted in the sixth round from Arkansas and made 27 of 29 field-goal attempts as a rookie in 2024. He had a streak of 17 consecutive field goals, the final 10 in 2024 and his first seven this season.
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Little is the youngest player, at 22, to reach 40 career field goals in the NFL. His award is the 30th NFL Player of the Week Award in Jaguars history.
"Just a cool moment for him, a cool moment for the specialists in general," Farwell said. "I feel like we were a different team coming out at half."
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars Cam Little drove hard bargain with Hall of Fame
