DC Defenders Kicker Matt McCrane Makes 1st 4-Point Field Goal In UFL History

The 2026 UFL season will be a season of firsts across the board, and we already got one of those on Saturday. With 9:08 remaining in the first quarter of the DC Defenders’ Week 1 road matchup against the St. Louis Battlehawks, kicker Matt McCrane connected on a 60-yard field goal — marking the first four-point field goal in UFL history. This year, among other rule changes, teams are given four points for field goals that are made from 60 or more yards. McCrane has kicked for the defending UFL champion Defenders since 2023. Last year (2025), he made 14 of 20 regular-season field goal attempts (70.0%), while going 2-for-3 on kicks of 50 or more yards. He then went 5-for-5 on field goals in the UFL postseason. McCrane previously kicked at Kansas State from 2014-17 and had practice squad/offseason stints in the NFL with the Arizona Cardinals, Las Vegas Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions from 2018-24. He also kicked for the New York Guardians of the legacy XFL in 2020. Other rules changes in what’s the third season of the UFL are the “tush push” being banned, only one foot having to be in bounds for a completion and teams not being able to punt inside the 50-yard line until the two-minute warning of both the first and second half.