Strong-legged Scaccia drills another long field goal

Fabrizio Scaccia, the only player on the 49ers roster currently playing pro football, has added another lengthy kick to his collection.

Playing for the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League during the NFL lockout, the rocket-footed Scaccia made a 57-yard field goal in a 72-37 win against the Utah Blaze on June 4. It was the longest field goal in the AFL this season and one yard shy of tying the franchise record. The goal posts in the AFL are nine feet wide — NFL goal posts are 18 feet, 6 inches across.

“In arena football when a coach tells you to kick it that far, you kind of play it as a punt — you just kick it far as you can,” Scaccia said. “… But he told me, ‘I have faith that you can make it.’ We were on the one-yard line and the snap was good, the hold was perfect and I just laid into it and it went in for me.”

Scaccia could be an intriguing candidate to make the 49ers’ roster when the lockout ends, particularly with the NFL’s offseason rule change moving kickoffs from the 30- to the 35-yard line. The Niners’ Brad Seely has never had a kickoff specialist in his 18 years as an NFL special teams coach, but Scaccia, with his leg strength, would seem to be a possible candidate for such a position.

In 2009, Scaccia made a 68-yard field goal, the second-longest in organized football history, while playing for the semi-pro St. Lucie (Fla.) Bobcats. Last year, playing with the Sacramento Mountain Lions, he tied a UFL record with a 54-yard field goal and made 12 of 16 attempts. His shortest miss was from 48 yards.

In the AFL this season, Scaccia leads the league in PAT percentage, having made 70 of 78 extra points (.897). He has only made 2 of 8 field goals, with misses coming from 30, 32, 36, 44, 46 and 51 yards. Scaccia said four of his misses have caromed off a goal post.

“If you’re hitting the pole in arena league, it’s going to be good in the NFL,” Scaccia said. “But, yeah, it’s tough when you look and say ‘Oh, this guy is 2 for 8.’ … It’s definitely frustrating because you’re that close.”

Scaccia spent the final two weeks of the 2010 season on the 49ers practice squad and signed a futures contract after the season. He will leave the AFL if the lockout ends before the Rattlers’ season concludes. The Arena Bowl is scheduled for Aug. 12.

• Niners legendary quarterback Joe Montana was involved in an accident on an all-terrain vehicle over the weekend which will prevent him from appearing before the Santa Clara City Council on Tuesday, according to KGO-TV.

Montana, who was riding his ATV on his ranch near Calistoga, was not seriously hurt, but did receive stitches above his eye.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, Montana was scheduled to appear before the city council to discuss his plans to develop a luxury hotel and entertainment complex near the 49ers’ proposed new stadium in Santa Clara.

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