Dan Carpenter sets franchise record with 60-yard field goal

A miserable first half for the Miami Dolphins just ended in remarkable fashion, thanks to kicker Dan Carpenter. The third-year man out of Montana just nailed a 60-yard field goal to make it 3-3 at the half against the Cleveland Browns. That’s the longest field goal of Carpenter’s career and the longest in franchise history. The previous long was by Pete Stoyanovich, a 59-yarder in November 1989 at the Jets. Stoyanovich also had a 58-yarder against the Chiefs, the only other field goal longer than 54 yards in club history. Coincidentally, I was discussing Carpenter’s range with him just 10 days ago in advance of his visit to Oakland, where Sebastian Janikowski has a career long of 61 yards. I mentioned to Carpenter that I’d seen him make kicks in warmups that would have easily been good from 60 yards, and he played it down, saying he’d never actually practiced a kick that long. “We really don’t work on anything extreme,” he said. “I mig...