Ingridiron football, asafety (American football) orsafety touch (Canadian football) is a scoring play that results in two points being awarded to the scoring team. Safeties can be scored in a number of ways, such as when a ball carrier istackled in his ownend zone or when afoul is committed by the offense in its own end zone. After a safety is scored in American football, the ball is kicked off to the team that scored the safety from the 20-yard line; in Canadian football, the scoring team also has the options of taking control of the ball at its own 35-yard line or kicking off the ball, also at its own 35-yard line. The ability of the scoring team to receive the ball through akickoff differs from thetouchdown andfield goal, which require the scoring team to kick the ball off to the scored-upon team.[1] Despite being of relatively low point value, safeties can have a significant impact on the result of games,[2] and Brian Burke ofAdvanced NFL Stats estimated that safeties have a greater abstract value than field goals, despite being worth a point less, due to the field position and reclaimed possession gained off the safety kick.[1]
Safeties are the least common method of scoring in American football[3] but are not rare occurrences[2]—a safety has occurred around once every 14 games in the history of theNational Football League (NFL), or about once a week under current scheduling rules.[2] A much rarer occurrence is the one-point (or conversion) safety, which can be scored by the offense on anextra point ortwo-point conversion attempt: these have occurred at least twice inNCAADivision I football since 1996, most recently at the2013 Fiesta Bowl, though no conversion safeties have occurred since 1940 in the NFL. A conversion safety by the defense is also possible, though highly unlikely. Although this has never occurred, it is the only possible way a team could finish with a single point in an American football game.[A]
In American football, a safety is scored when any of the following conditions occur:[4][5][6]
In Canadian football, a safety touch is scored when any of the following conditions occur:[7]
After a safety is scored, the ball is put into play by afree kick. The team that was scored upon must kick the ball from its own 20-yard line and canpunt,drop kick, orplace kick the ball. Prior to2024, a tee could not be used in the NFL; a tee has always been legal inhigh school orcollege football. Once the ball has been kicked, it can be caught and advanced by any member of the receiving team, and it can be recovered by the kicking team if the ball travels at least 10 yards or a player of the receiving team touches the ball.[8][9]
After scoring a safety touch, the scoring team has the option of taking control of the ball and beginning play from its own 35-yard line, kicking the ball off from its 35-yard line, or accepting a kickoff from the team that conceded the score.[10] When the scored-against team kicks off, it comes from the 35-yard line under amateur rules and from the 25-yard line under CFL rules. If a kickoff is chosen it must be a place kick, and the ball can be held, placed on the ground, or placed on a tee prior to the kick. As in American football, the ball must go at least ten yards before it can be recovered by the kicking team.[11]
In American football, intentionally conceded safeties are an uncommon strategy. Teams have utilized elective safeties to gain field position for a punt when pinned deep in their own territory[12][13] and, when ahead near the end of a game, to run down the clock so as to deny the other team a chance to force aturnover or return a punt.[14][15][16][17] Teams have also taken intentional safeties by kicking a loose ball out the back of their end zone (which is an illegal kick), with the intent of preventing the defense from scoring a touchdown.[18][19]
In the NFL, starting with the 2023 season, a defense can decline a safety in favor of accepting a penalty committed in the end zone by the offense.[20] An example where a defense may choose to do this could be an illegal kick committed in the end zone by the offense (such as may occur following a bad snap on an attempted punt) on fourth down; rather than allowing the play to result in a safety, the defense could accept the penalty, which for an illegal kick is 10 yards (or no more than half the distance to the goal line) from the prior spot of the ball and a loss of down.[20] With the infraction committed on fourth down, this would result in a change of possession, with the team that was on defense now having possession of the ball close to their opponent's goal line.[20]
Elective safeties are more common in Canadian football, where they can result in better field position than a punt. The2010 Edmonton Eskimos surrendered aCanadian Football League (CFL)-record 14 safeties, a factor that led CFL reporterJim Mullin to suggest increasing the value of the safety touch from two to three points as a deterrent.[21]
In American football, if a team attempting anextra point ortwo-point conversion (officially known in the rulebooks as a try) scores what would normally be a safety, that attempting team is awarded one point.[22][23][24] This is commonly known as aconversion safety orone-point safety.[24][25] The first known occurrence of the conversion safety was in anNCAA University Division (nowNCAA FBS) game on October 2, 1971, scored bySyracuse in a game atIndiana. On a failed extra point attempt, an Indiana player illegally batted the ball in the end zone (a spot foul defensive penalty).[26][27][28] There are two other known occurrences of the conversion safety in Division I FBS college football – a November 26, 2004, game in whichTexas scored againstTexas A&M, and the2013 Fiesta Bowl in whichOregon scored againstKansas State.[29] In both games, the extra point attempt was blocked and recovered by the defense, which then fumbled or threw the ball back into its own end zone.[30] A conversion safety has occurred once inDivision I-AA (nowNCAA FCS) whereNevada scored a conversion safety againstNorth Texas on September 21, 1991[31] and twice inDivision II: once byMorningside College on November 9, 1996, againstNorthern Colorado,[32] and once byEmory and Henry College on October 8, 2022, againstUniversity of Virginia's College at Wise.[33] There are also at least four known NCAADivision III occurrences, the first being on October 20, 1990, scored byDePauw University againstAnderson University;[34] the second on October 23, 1993, scored bySalisbury State againstWesley College;[35] the third on November 11, 2000, scored byHamline University againstSt. Thomas-Minnesota,[36] and the most recent scored byBluffton University againstFranklin College (Indiana) on November 9, 2013.[37][38][39] One-point safeties have also occurred in anNAIA game and two junior college games.[40][41][42]
No conversion safeties have been scored in the NFL since 1940, although it is now slightly more likely after a rule change in 2015 allowed the defense to take possession and score on a conversion attempt which, like college football, awards the defense two points for returning a blocked PAT attempt, or intercepting, or returning a fumble on a 2-point conversion.
Before 2015, the only scenario in which a one-point safety could have been scored in the NFL would have involved, on a conversion attempt in which the ball was not kicked by the offense, the defense then kicking or batting a loose ball out of its own end zone without taking possession of the ball, giving the offense a one-point safety.[43][44][45][46]
A conversion safety can also be scored by the defense.[23][22] This scoring play has never occurred; to accomplish this, the team attempting the try must somehow be forced back to its own end zone. A possible scenario in the NFL and NCAA would involve a turnover while attempting a conversion, followed by the defending team's ball-carrier fumbling while en route to theattempting team's end zone, with the attempting team then recovering the ball and, after establishing possession outside the end zone, downing it in its own end zone (this scenario is not possible in high school football, as a turnover ends the conversion attempt; such a conversion safety could occur only if the offense maintains possession). While such a conversion safety has never been scored by the defense, it is the only possible way under current rules in which a team could finish with a single point in an American football game.[A][47]
Kicker George Bodine's effort was far short, and [Mike] Heizman, standing in front of the goal posts, reacted to the falling ball by swatting it away, mosquito-swatting style. Center Greg Aulk fell on the ball for Syracuse. ... 'It was just a reflex action,' Heizman said. 'I never even thought about the ball being live.'
Syracuse was trying to kick the extra point after taking a 6-0 lead. The ball was kicked almost straight up in the air and was coming down obviously short of the crossbar when an Indiana player [illegally] batted the ball down in the end zone and Syracuse recovered.
The resulting PAT was blocked, but the Cavaliers attempt at a return failed to leave the end zone, resulting in the most elusive scoring play in football – a one-point safety.