In Writing with Hitchcock (2001), Steven DeRosa noted that Hitchcock supervised them through every draft, asking that they tell the story visually. He told Roger Ebert in 1969: Once the screenplay is finished, I'd just as soon not make the film at all.
A drop kick is a type of kick in various codes of football. It involves a player dropping the ball and then kicking it when it bounces off the ground.
The drop kick remains in the NFL's official rule book, even though it hadn't been successfully converted in decades. According to the Hall of Fame's site, ex-Bears quarterback Jim McMahon begged his coach for a chance to attempt a drop kick in a game. But his coach, Mike Ditka, denied the request.