Longest Football Throw: How Can You Get there?

Are you wondering who holds the record for the longest football throw and how did they do it? You're at the right place, in this post, we'll see the top 5 NFL players who were able to beat the 70 yards distance with their strong throwing arms and techniques.

We'll also have a look at how you can follow some of the lessons to try and emulate these great players to get on top of your game. Let's have a look at the top 5 longest football throwers in the NFL.

1. Randall Cunningham (1993)

If you are an American Football fan, you must've heard about the famous Randall Cunningham throw in the year 1993. He was able to throw 76 yards in the air and is considered the top player in the game to have achieved this feat.

2. Brett Favre (1997)

During the Quarterback Challenge of 1997, Brett Favre was able to throw the ball at an astonishing distance of 75 yards. After Randall Cunningham, he holds the record for the longest football throw in NFL.

3. Drew Bledsoe (1997)

It was during the same event that Drew Bledsoe was able to almost achieve the same distance of 75 yards as Brett Favre but he fell short by 1 yard and ended up at 74 yards.

4. Kordell Stewart (1998)

Quarterback Challenge 1998 featured great quarterbacks, even during this event, Brett Favre and Drew Bledsoe were able to repeat their throwing prowess but Kordell Stewart was also able to match Drew Bledsoe at 73 yards.

5. Josh Allen

Josh Allen is at number 5 in the list but number 1 overall when it comes to throwing capabilities. He has reportedly thrown the ball 80 yards in the air. Now that's no small feat to achieve as a quarterback.

These were the top 5 longest football throwers, there might be others in the list who have achieved the same but these names are the most common when it comes to NFL. Now that you know about them, let's have a closer look at what you, as a quarterback, can do to improve your throw power and achieve your longest throw.

How Can You Throw To Your Maximum Capacity?

When throwing the football further there are a few critical movements that have to happen in order to really generate a lot of power behind the throw. This is something have been looking over with increased curiously leading up to the release of our throw 60 program (link).

The Arm Path

The most important thing to consider is the arm path. Most quarterbacks screw up the arm path in one way or another when throwing the football further because it is different than throwing the ball underneath. There ends up being more time loading in the lower body and the release point is different. Therefore, the loading of the arm has to directly correspond in order properly sync up with the rest of the body.

The Wrist

Additionally, after loading the football the elbow wants to come straight forward and through with limited action happening in the wrist other than some turning forwards. If the wrist bends too much or the elbow doesn’t come through immediately the ball will end up too far behind the head or towards the midline. This limits the amount of centrifugal force that can be created from the wrist and hands.

Neutral Position

Lastly, when the ball is actually coming out of the hands the wrist wants to be in as close to the neutral position as possible. The more the knuckles are facing towards the sky the better. Also, the elbow wants to be above the shoulder if possible and the forearm perpendicular to the ground.

Hip & Shoulder Dissociation

Now with the trunk, there should be an emphasis on creating or maximizing hip and shoulder disassociation. The better the rotation the hips can generate while the front shoulder maintains closed the more force that can be generated when the front shoulder opens. The force from the trunk is created by aggressively pulling back the elbow into the side of the body while the back arm is being accelerated forward.

The Lower Body

The last critical part of the body that is critical to throwing the ball further is the lower body. The most common mistake I see here is not properly loading the back hip. If you want to throw the ball with force and velocity it starts with loading the back hip but this is something that is fairly easy to correct.

Weight Distribution

Next, is the weight distribution, how well do you shift your weight from the back leg to the front leg and when does the weight shift happen. In order to throw the football with a lot of force, there must be a rotational and forward component to the weight shift that happens slightly before the arm initially comes forward. 

The Weight Shift

The last part of the throw is when all the weight shifts up and onto the front leg. It is important to recognize the force is coming upwards but not as quickly as many quarterbacks transition upwards. First, the weight wants to be coming forward with rotation and as the ball is being released there should still be enough force behind to allow for strong force production upwards. A common mistake is to translate the force upwards before the forward and rotational components.

Conclusion

This was all about the longest football throw, If you want to learn more about throwing the ball further check out our throw 60 program. This is really a focus on developing mechanics but wanted to specifically address throwing distance issues because most quarterbacks suffer from a lack of throwing distance capabilities overall.

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