Originally Posted by DeepPurple
In high school or college and with a less experienced kicker I could see the hash marks might be a consideration. However, in the NFL the hash marks are only 7 yards apart, so the ball is spotted no more than 3-1/2 yards from center of the field at anytime and we've got a kicker who's been kicking in the NFL since 1989. If you need more yards to get in field goal range and have no timeouts, you throw to the sidelines. Plus the excuse of the referees having to change footballs shouldn't be an excuse, they've been using special kicking balls for at least five years.