Prominent NFL Kicker Responds To Accusations Of Cheating
Philadelphia Eagles kicker Jake Elliott
NFC East kickers have appeared in headlines for all the wrong reasons this week.
First, during a Cowboys' win over the Buccaneers on Monday night, placekicker Brett Maher missed a whopping four extra point attempts.
Then, as if that wasn't bad enough, the Eagles are now being accused of cheating on field goals.
Reports of Philadelphia's potential kicking scandal first surfaced last week when NJ.com posted an article featuring this quote from FootballZebras.com.
"In the NFC East clash between the Eagles and Giants, Philadelphia punter Arryn Siposs, who acts as the Eagles holder, was seen picking up a small white object from the field after a field goal attempt by kicker Jake Elliott. When the tape is rolled back, the object was seen directly under the ball when the snap was received, and was subsequently kicked forward naturally during the field goal attempt."
According to rule 11-4-5 in the NFL's most recent rulebook, "No article of any type may be placed on the field, or used in any manner, to assist a player in the execution of a field goal and/or try attempt."
Nearly one week later, Eagles' kicker Jake Elliott is challenging those allegations.
"We’ve always used something that’s within the rules. It’s just literally to mark the spot," Elliott said on Wednesday.
While the "small white object" noted by FootballZebras.com last week could quite literally be anything, Elliott claims that whatever it is, it's not disallowed by the league.
"Everything we’ve done has been completely legal," he said Wednesday.
"When we talked to them, we explained what we’re doing, and they saw what we were doing. Probably 30 teams do it around the league. It’s just a point of emphasis, and someone makes it bigger than it is," Elliott noted.
The Eagles and Giants will meet once again this weekend in the divisional round. Philadelphia, the NFC's No. 1 seed, toppled the New York franchise in both previous matchups this season.
Kickoff is set for Saturday at 8:15 p.m. ET on Fox.
