WATCH: Dustin Hopkins somehow recovers his own kickoff
Kickers aren’t usually known for making plays down the field on kickoffs. They sometimes make tackles on long returns as the last man between the returner and the end zone, but recovering a kickoff is usually unheard of from kickers. Dustin Hopkins did just that for the Washington Football Team against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
After Antonio Gibson took a short pass 73 yards to the house for a touchdown to cut Buffalo’s lead to 21-7, Hopkins lined up to kick off for Washington. The kickoff bounced off of the ground straight up into the air, and then hit off of multiple players before ending up at the bottom of a pile of players. At the bottom of the pile was Hopkins, and with him was the ball.
The conditions in Buffalo included a lot of strong wind. That might have had a little bit of an impact on the ball’s path after it originally bounced off of the field.
Hopkins’ recovery gave Washington great field position
Due to Hopkins recovering the ball down the field on the kickoff, Washington took over on Buffalo’s 24-yard line. Washington then drove down the short field, and quarterback Taylor Heinicke scrambled to his right, finding the endzone from four yards out. The score cut Buffalo’s lead to 21-14.
Washington struggled from that point on, as Buffalo took over and led 36-14 by the end of the third quarter.
Hopkins first found his footing in the NFL in 2015 with Washington. He made 25 of his 28 field goal attempts that season, connecting on 39 of his 40 extra points. Hopkins is currently in his seventh season in Washington. Entering the game, he had made 157 of his 187 career field goal attempts (84 percent). He has also made 173 of his 182 extra point attempts.
The Bills actually selected Hopkins at 177th overall in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Hopkins had a productive collegiate career at Florida State. With the Seminoles from 2009 to 2012, Hopkins made 88 field goals and 202 extra points. In his Florida State career, Hopkins made 78.6 percent of his field goals, 97.6 percent of his extra points, and accounted for 466 points.