Dempsey was born in Milwaukee and attended high school and college in Southern California. He was born with no toes on his right foot and no fingers on his right hand. To accommodate his foot structure, Dempsey wore a custom, flat-front kicking shoe that had no toe box.[2]
NFL career
Dempsey's special kicking shoe
Dempsey was born without toes on his right foot and no fingers on his right hand. He wore a modified shoe with a flattened and enlarged toe surface. The custom made, $200 (equivalent to $1,569 in 2023) shoe[3] generated controversy about whether such a shoe gave a player an unfair advantage.[4][5] When reporters would ask him if he thought it was unfair, he said, "Unfair, eh? How 'bout you try kickin' a 63 yard field goal to win it with 2 seconds left an' yer wearin' a square shoe, oh yeah, and no toes either."[4] Additionally, ESPNSport Science analyzed Dempsey's kick and determined his modified shoe gave Dempsey no advantage.[6]
The league made two rule changes in the subsequent years to discourage further long field goal attempts. The first was in 1974, which moved the goal posts from the goal line to the back of the end zone, adding ten yards to the kick distance, and awarded the ball to the defense on a missed kick at the spot where the ball was snapped. (This was changed in 1994 to the spot of the kick.) Then, in 1977, the NFL added a rule, informally known as the "Tom Dempsey Rule", that "any shoe that is worn by a player with an artificial limb on his kicking leg must have a kicking surface that conforms to that of a normal kicking shoe."[7][8]
Field goal record
Dempsey is most widely known for kicking a 63-yard field goal as time expired to give the Saints a 19–17 win over the Detroit Lions on November 8, 1970, at Tulane Stadium in New Orleans.[9] Prior to 1974, the goal posts in the NFL were on the goal lines instead of the end lines.[10] With time running out in the game, the Saints attempted a field goal with holder Joe Scarpati spotting at the Saints' own 37-yard line. The snap from Jackie Burkett was good, and Dempsey made the field goal as the ball fell just beyond the bar.[11] The win was one of only two for the Saints that season.[12]
Since Dempsey was the only kicker to make a field goal from more than sixty yards prior to the relocation of the goal posts, he remains the only player in NFL history to successfully kick a field goal from beyond his own team's 40-yard line.
In 1983, Dempsey was inducted into the American Football Association's Semi-Pro Football Hall of Fame.[17][18]
After retiring from professional football, Dempsey resided with his wife Carlene, who taught history at Kehoe-France, a private school in Metairie, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. His house was flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.[19]
Personal life and death
Dempsey married Carlene and had three children, one named Ashley.[20]
In January 2013, Dempsey revealed he had dementia. Psychiatrist Daniel Amen made the initial diagnosis of damage to Dempsey's brain. During medical examinations and scans, Amen found three holes in the brain, along with other damage.[21]
On March 30, 2020, Dempsey tested positive for COVID-19 during the coronavirus pandemic.[22] He was one of 15 residents at a New Orleans senior residence to test positive for the virus. Dempsey died on April 4, of complications from COVID-19.[23][24]
^Tainier, Mike (December 9, 2013). "Manadatory Monday: Snow Mess". Sports On Earth. United States: MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
^ abCulpepper, Chuck (December 10, 2013). "Still The One". Sports on Earth. United States: MLB Advanced Media, L.P. Archived from the original on April 10, 2020. Retrieved April 5, 2020.
