The NFL “moved the field goal back” in 1974, when it moved the goalposts from the front of the end zone (the goal line) to the back of the end zone (the end line), effectively adding 10 yards to every field goal attempt.

What Actually Moved

  • Before 1974, NFL goalposts were on the goal line , so a kick from the 20-yard line was a 20‑yard field goal.
  • Starting in the 1974 season, the posts were moved to the end line , 10 yards deeper, so that same kick became a 30‑yard field goal.
  • This rule change made all field goals longer and also removed the posts from the middle of end‑zone passing lanes.

Why They Moved Them Back

  • The league wanted to reduce the ease and frequency of short field goals and encourage more touchdown attempts, making the game more exciting.
  • Moving the posts back also cut down on goalposts interfering with pass plays in the end zone.

Extra context: other field goal–related changes

  • In 1972, the NFL had already moved the hash marks to their current spot (aligned roughly with the goalposts), which affected field‑goal angles but not the distance.
  • In later years, rules about where the ball is spotted after a missed field goal (e.g., at the spot of the kick) further discouraged very long attempts, but the core “move back” moment was in 1974.

TL;DR: They “moved the field goal back” for NFL games in 1974 , when goalposts were shifted from the goal line to the back of the end zone, adding 10 yards to every kick.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.