Conversion (gridiron football)

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A typical lineup for an extra point, from the pre-2015 distance, in a 2007 NFL game between the New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns Patriots-Browns 2007.jpg
A typical lineup for an extra point, from the pre-2015 distance, in a 2007 NFL game between the New England Patriots and the Cleveland Browns

The conversion, try (American football), also known as a point(s) after touchdown, PAT, extra point, two-point conversion, or convert (Canadian football) is a gridiron football play that occurs immediately after a touchdown. The scoring team attempts to score one extra point by kicking the ball through the uprights in the manner of a field goal, or two points by passing or running the ball into the end zone in the manner of a touchdown.

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Attempts at a try or convert are scrimmage plays, with the ball initially placed at any point between the hash marks, at the option of the team making the attempt. The yard line that attempts are made from depends on the league and the type of try or convert being attempted.

If the try or convert is scored by kicking the ball through the uprights, the team gets an additional one point for their touchdown, bringing their total for that score from six points to seven. If two points are needed or desired, a two-point conversion may be attempted by running or passing from scrimmage. A successful touchdown conversion from scrimmage brings the score's total to eight.

Whether a team goes for one or two points, most rules regarding scrimmage downs, including scoring touchdowns and field goals, apply as if it were a normal American fourth-down or Canadian third-down play. Exceptions, including cases where the defense forces a turnover during a conversion attempt, vary between leagues and levels of play. One thing that sets the try apart from other plays in the NFL is that, apart from the actual points, ordinary statistics are not recorded on the try as they would be on a regular scrimmage play. For example, on December 4, 2016, Eric Berry of the Kansas City Chiefs made an interception on a try and physically returned it 99 yards for a defensive two-point conversion. However, because it occurred on a try, Berry did not get statistical credit for the 99 yards of return yardage or the interception, but did get credited for scoring 2 points. Likewise, a player will never be credited with passing, rushing, or receiving yardage on a try. [1]

History

"A goal from touch-down." The book of school and college sports (1904) (14591471667).jpg
"A goal from touch-down."

The try/convert is among the oldest parts of the game of gridiron football and dates to its rugby roots. In its earliest days, scoring a touchdown was not the primary objective but a means of getting a free kick at the goal (which is why the name "try", more commonly associated with rugby today, is still used in American football rule books), and thus early scoring rubrics for the game gave more points to the subsequent kick than the actual advancement of the ball over the goal line. The related term "conversion" is still used in both rugby union and rugby league to refer to extra points scored by kicking the ball through the posts after a try has been scored.

By the start of the 20th century, touchdowns had become more important and the roles of touchdown and kick were reversed. By this time the point value for the after-touchdown kick had reduced to its current one-point value while the touchdown was now worth five. (This later increased to six points in American football in 1912 and in Canadian football in 1956.) [2] [3]

In the first half of the 20th century, a one-point conversion could be scored either by kick or by way of a scrimmage play. Beginning in 1958, the scrimmage play conversion method of scoring became worth two points (a two-point conversion) in college football. While the American Football League adopted the college rule throughout its ten-season existence in the 1960s (as did the original United States Football League throughout its three-season existence in the 1980s), other professional leagues were slow to follow suit; all levels of Canadian football did so in 1975, and the National Football League did not do so until 1994.

Although a successful kick is only worth one point, and has a very high rate of success, missed or blocked attempts can decide the outcome of the game:

Central Michigan lines up for a PAT EMU v Central Michigan 051.JPG
Central Michigan lines up for a PAT

The CFL and NFL both made major changes to the rules governing conversions prior to their respective 2015 seasons, reducing or eliminating some of the differences between the two leagues.

Duration of the play

In American high school football (in most states), the play is over once the ball becomes dead or the defense takes possession. In many other levels of football, including the CFL, NFL, and American college football, the play continues after a turnover to the defense. This allows the defense to return the ball to the opponent's end zone for two points and also allows for a one-point safety. Two states, Texas and Massachusetts, play high school football under NCAA rules and thus allow the defense to score on an extra-point attempt.

Differences between leagues

In American high school and college football, the line of scrimmage is the three-yard line (a small hashmark is denoted on the field of this in the middle of the 3-yard line), with the kick taking place at the 10-yard line for a 20-yard attempt.

In American football, the game clock does not run during an extra-point attempt, except for some rare circumstances at the high-school level (some state associations allow for the clock to run continuously in the second half if one team is leading the other by a large margin) [7] and for arena football, which runs the clock continuously except during the final minute of each half and overtime. In Canadian football, the clock runs during a conversion attempt except during the last three minutes of each half.

A small plastic tee, which can be 1 to 2 inches (25–51 mm) high (smaller than the kickoff tee), may be used for field goals and extra points in some leagues, including US high schools and Canadian amateur play. The NFL (and most other professional leagues) has never allowed the use of tees for extra-point kick attempts, having always required kickers to kick off the ground for such attempts (and for field goals; a rare exception for a U.S.-based pro league to allow the usage of such tees for such attempts was the original USFL in the 1980s). [8] [9] In 1948, the NCAA authorized the use of the small rubberized kicking tee for extra points and field goals, but banned them by 1989, requiring kicks from the ground, as in the NFL. [10] [11] The CFL allows the use of a tee for field goals and convert kicks, but it is optional. [12]

Pre-2015

Prior to the 2015 season, the NFL used the 2-yard line (with the kick coming at the 10-yard line for a 20-yard attempt) for all conversion attempts (which was denoted on the field with a hashmark in the middle of the 2-yard line; although the line of scrimmage on the point-after kick attempt was moved back in 2015, it remains to denote the two-point conversion's line of scrimmage). In Canadian football, the line of scrimmage was from the 5-yard line (for a 12-yard attempt; unlike American football, no special hashmark is used to denote the convert's line of scrimmage on the field in Canada).

San Francisco 49ers kicker Joe Nedney prepares to kick an extra point with punter Andy Lee as the holder, 2008 Joe Nedney kicks PAT at Rams at 49ers 11-16-08.JPG
San Francisco 49ers kicker Joe Nedney prepares to kick an extra point with punter Andy Lee as the holder, 2008

In the NFL, the conversion was required after a touchdown scored during the regulation game (i.e., not overtime), because point differential is used for some tiebreakers in the standings. Rarely, this can result in such an attempt having to be made at the end of the game when it cannot change the outcome of the game; two of the best-known examples of this occurred after the winning touchdown by the Philadelphia Eagles in the December 19, 2010, game known as the Miracle at the New Meadowlands and after the controversial game-winning touchdown by the Seattle Seahawks on September 24, 2012.

If the game is in sudden death overtime, the extra-point attempt is omitted if the winning score is a touchdown. In American high school and college football, it is likewise omitted following a touchdown on the game's final play if a successful conversion attempt cannot change the outcome of the game.

There is, however, one exception in college football because the defense can also score two points on a return of a conversion try (and theoretically score a one-point safety) and the NCAA rules state that the conversion try must be run if any subsequent scoring on the play could impact the outcome of the game. Therefore, if a team scores a touchdown to take the lead by one or two points as time expires, they must still attempt the conversion, although most teams will simply opt to take a knee to prevent the risk of the defense scoring. For example, on October 24, 2009, Iowa scored as time expired to take a 15–13 lead over Michigan State. Making the conversion would have made no difference in Iowa winning the game, but Iowa still had to attempt it, so Ricky Stanzi simply knelt down, as a return by Michigan State would have tied the game and forced overtime.

In Canadian football, the scoring team is entitled to a conversion play after scoring with no time on the clock, but may choose to waive it. Because head-to-head points scored is used as a tiebreaker in the standings, they often choose to attempt the conversion when playing an opponent with whom a tie in the standings is possible. As in U.S. college football, Canadian football allows defenses to score two points for the successful return of a convert attempt.

2015–present

The CFL and NFL both implemented major changes to how conversions were attempted starting with their respective 2015 seasons. [13] [14]

In the CFL, the line of scrimmage for a kick attempt moved back 20 yards to the 25-yard line (for a 32-yard attempt), while the line of scrimmage for a two-point attempt moved forward two yards to the three-yard line.

In the NFL, the line of scrimmage for a kick attempt moved back 13 yards to the 15-yard line (for a 33-yard attempt), effectively placing the ball the same distance from the goalposts as in the CFL. The line of scrimmage for a two-point attempt remained at the two-yard line. NFL defenses also became able to run back failed conversion attempts for a two-point score. On December 6, 2015, New Orleans Saints linebacker Stephone Anthony became the first player in NFL history to do so, after New Orleans blocked an extra-point kick by the Carolina Panthers. [15] Some broadcasters did not immediately update their in-game graphics programming to account for the scoring of two points for the defensive return of a try, resulting in the score sometimes being erroneously displayed to audiences as a "safety" (which has the same scoring value).

As expected, the 2015 rule changes increased the frequency of two-point conversion attempts, from a rate of about five percent to about eight percent, [16] much of that increase coming from the Pittsburgh Steelers alone. [17]

Starting with the 2018 season, the NFL adopted the CFL rule allowing teams to waive "unnecessary" extra-point attempts at the end of the game, following the Minneapolis Miracle. [18]

Special overtime rules

In most cases in gridiron football, one point may be scored following a touchdown—bringing the total value of the touchdown to seven points—by place kicking the ball through the uprights. Exceptions occur in overtime in some leagues. In American college football and in high school leagues that use college rules, in double overtime and later, teams may only attempt two-point conversions. [19] In the CFL, one-point (kicking) converts are not available in overtime; all convert attempts must be for two-point (rushing or passing) converts. [20] In the NFL, an overtime game in the regular season automatically ends on a touchdown even on the first possession, so there is never a situation in overtime where a try would be possible. Since the 2022 NFL season, in the playoffs, both teams have an opportunity to possess the ball no matter what happens on the first possession. Rich McKay, the chairman of the NFL competition committee, said that coaches were discussing going for two points after a touchdown on their first possession in overtime of a postseason game, as a strategic move. [21]

Other leagues

In 1968, the AFL and NFL eliminated the extra-point kick for interleague preseason games, allowing only one-point scrimmage plays called "Pressure Points"; this was scrapped when both leagues began their regular seasons that year. The World Football League (which called their conversions "Action Points"), Alliance of American Football, and both the 2001 and 2020 incarnations of the XFL did the same in their short lives. The XFL later implemented a variable system that allowed increasing point values for increasing the distance to the end zone on the attempt for its 2001 playoffs, which carried over into the 2020 league; that system was later adopted by the Stars Football League [22] and, in a reduced form, the Legends Football League. [23] The CFL proposed to test the variable-distance scoring system during the 2015 preseason, but the proposal was rejected. In arena football, two points can also be scored by means of a drop-kicked field goal.

Some youth football leagues award one point for a running conversion and two points for either a passing conversion or kick through the uprights; six-man football follows a similar convention that awards one point for a pass or run and two points for a kick.[ citation needed ]

In its inaugural 2021 season, the European League of Football, which follows NFL rules on conversions after touchdowns, had both a comparatively high rate of failed PAT attempts – higher than in the concurrent 2021 German Football League season – and a higher rate of two-point conversion attempts than other leagues. Furthermore, some roster moves, like the Barcelona Dragons acquiring NFL alum Giorgio Tavecchio, were seen as attempts to improve both field goal and PAT success rates.[ citation needed ] In the inaugural championship game, the winning Frankfurt Galaxy scored five touchdowns and opted for two-point conversions after each, bringing their total score to 32 points, as four out of the five conversion attempts failed.[ citation needed ]

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Touchdown</span> Means of scoring in both American and Canadian football

A touchdown is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. More specifically a touchdown is when any part of the football, in the possession of an offensive player, crosses the goal line while the player, as well as the ball, is inbounds, and the player is upright. In order for a player to be down, any part of their body other than their hands or feet must touch the ground. If a player falls down without being contacted by a defensive player, whether or not they are down varies by league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gridiron football</span> Team sport primarily played in North America

Gridiron football, also known as North American football, or in North America as simply football, is a family of football team sports primarily played in the United States and Canada. American football, which uses 11 players, is the form played in the United States and the best known form of gridiron football worldwide, while Canadian football, which uses 12 players, predominates in Canada. Other derivative varieties include arena football, flag football and amateur games such as touch and street football. Football is played at professional, collegiate, high school, semi-professional, and amateur levels.

Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required to have a clear winner, as in single-elimination tournaments where only one team or players can advance to the next round or win the tournament.

This is a glossary of terms used in Canadian football. The Glossary of American football article also covers many terms that are also used in the Canadian version of the game.

  1. Legally positioned at the kick-off or the snap. On kick-offs, members of the kicking team must be behind the kick-off line; members of the receiving team must be at least 10 yards from the kick-off line. On scrimmages, at the snap the offence must be behind the line of scrimmage; the defence must be at least one yard beyond the line of scrimmage.
  2. A player of the kicking team who can legally recover the kick. The kicker and any teammates behind the ball at the time of the kick are onside. Thus on kick-offs all players of the kicking team are onside, but on other kicks usually only the kicker is. The holder on a place kick is not considered onside.
  1. A defensive position on scrimmages, also called free safety. Typical formations include a single safety, whose main duty is to cover wide receivers. See also defensive back.
  2. A two-point score. The defence scores a safety when the offence carries or passes the ball into its own goal area and then fails to run, pass, or kick the ball back into the field of play; when this term is used in this sense, it is also referred to as a safety touch.
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comparison of American and Canadian football</span> Differences between the two most common types of gridiron football

American and Canadian football are gridiron codes of football that are very similar; both have their origins partly in rugby football, but some key differences exist between the two codes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Single (football)</span> One-point score in Canadian football

In Canadian football, a single is a one-point score that is awarded for certain plays that involve the ball being kicked into the end zone and not returned from it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American football rules</span>

Gameplay in American football consists of a series of downs, individual plays of short duration, outside of which the ball is or not in play. These can be plays from scrimmage – passes, runs, punts or field goal attempts – or free kicks such as kickoffs and fair catch kicks. Substitutions can be made between downs, which allows for a great deal of specialization as coaches choose the players best suited for each particular situation. During a play, each team should have no more than 11 players on the field, and each of them has specific tasks assigned for that specific play.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kickoff (gridiron football)</span> Method of starting a drive in gridiron football

A kickoff is a method of starting a drive in gridiron football. Additionally, it may refer to a kickoff time, the scheduled time of the first kickoff of a game. Typically, a kickoff consists of one team – the "kicking team" – kicking the ball to the opposing team – the "receiving team". The receiving team is then entitled to return the ball, i.e., attempt to advance it towards the kicking team's end zone, until the player with the ball is tackled by the kicking team, goes out of bounds, scores a touchdown, or the play is otherwise ruled dead. Kickoffs take place at the start of each half of play, the beginning of overtime in some overtime formats, and after scoring plays.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Safety (gridiron football score)</span> Scoring play in gridiron football

In gridiron football, the safety or safety touch 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 is tackled in his own end zone or when a foul 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 a kickoff differs from the touchdown and field goal, which require the scoring team to kick the ball off to the scored-upon team. Despite being of relatively low point value, safeties can have a significant impact on the result of games, and Brian Burke of Advanced 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comparison of American football and rugby union</span>

A comparison of American football and rugby union is possible because of the games' shared origins, despite their dissimilarities.

A comparison between American football and rugby league is possible because of their shared origins and similar game concepts. Rugby league is arguably the most similar sport to American football after Canadian football: both sports involve the concept of a limited number of downs/tackles and scoring touchdowns/tries takes clear precedence over goal-kicking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Field goal</span> Means of scoring in gridiron football

A field goal (FG) is a means of scoring in gridiron football. To score a field goal, the team in possession of the ball must place kick, or drop kick, the ball through the goal, i.e., between the uprights and over the crossbar. The entire ball must pass through the vertical plane of the goal, which is the area above the crossbar and between the uprights or, if above the uprights, between their outside edges. American football requires that a field goal must only come during a play from scrimmage while Canadian football retains open field kicks and thus field goals may be scored at any time from anywhere on the field and by any player. The vast majority of field goals, in both codes, are placekicked. Drop-kicked field goals were common in the early days of gridiron football but are almost never attempted in modern times. A field goal may also be scored through a fair catch kick, but this is also extremely rare. In most leagues, a successful field goal awards three points.

The following terms are used in American football, both conventional and indoor. Some of these terms are also in use in Canadian football; for a list of terms unique to that code, see Glossary of Canadian football.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Two-point conversion</span> Play in American and Canadian football

In gridiron football, a two-point conversion or two-point convert is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one-point conversion immediately after it scores a touchdown. In a two-point conversion attempt, the team that just scored must run a play from scrimmage close to the opponent's goal line and advance the ball across the goal line in the same manner as if they were scoring a touchdown. If the team succeeds, it earns two additional points on top of the six points for the touchdown, for a total of eight points. If the team fails, no additional points are scored.

Field goal range is the part of the field in American football where there is a good chance that a field goal attempt will be successful.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punt (gridiron football)</span> Kick downfield to the opposing team in gridiron football

In gridiron football, a punt is a kick performed by dropping the ball from the hands and then kicking the ball before it hits the ground. The most common use of this tactic is to punt the ball downfield to the opposing team, usually on the final down, with the hope of giving the receiving team a field position that is more advantageous to the kicking team when possession changes. The result of a typical punt, barring any penalties or extraordinary circumstances, is a first down for the receiving team. A punt is not to be confused with a drop kick, a kick after the ball hits the ground, now rare in both American and Canadian football.

References

  1. ↑ Kerkhoff, Blair (December 5, 2016). "Eric Berry's 'pick-two' is a phantom on stats sheet". The Kansas City Star . Retrieved December 9, 2016.
  2. ↑ Doug Lennox (24 August 2009). Now You Know Football . Dundurn. pp.  60–. ISBN   978-1-4597-1872-2.
  3. ↑ Doug Lennox (3 June 2017). Now You Know Canada: 150 Years of Fascinating Facts. Dundurn. pp. 66–. ISBN   978-1-4597-3944-4.
  4. ↑ "Justin Tucker Stats". Pro-Football-Reference.com. March 1, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
  5. ↑ "Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Green Bay Packers — September 25th, 2005". Pro-Football-Reference.com. 2005-09-25. Retrieved 2012-11-23.
  6. ↑ "Stephen Gostkowski's broken extra point streak proves costly". espn.go.com. 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2016-05-31.
  7. ↑ Forums.nfhs.org [ permanent dead link ]
  8. ↑ Lusteg, Booth (August 14, 1983). "There's No Margin For Error For Pro Kickers". New York Times. Retrieved November 1, 2021. In the N.F.L., unlike college and the U.S.F.L., no tee is allowed on field goals.
  9. ↑ Litke, Jim (August 20, 1989). "They're Not All Kicking and Screaming Over the Absence of Tee". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 3, 2019. The NFL allows the use of tees as high as 3 inches for kickoffs, but has never allowed them for field goals and PATs. The pro league, which began to declare its independence from the college game with a number of rules changes beginning in the mid-1930s, also has refused to widen the goal posts.
  10. ↑ "NCAA rules change will ban tees on FGs, PATs - The Tech". tech.mit.edu. Archived from the original on September 22, 2019. Retrieved September 9, 2018.
  11. ↑ "No More Tee Party". CNN. September 4, 1989.
  12. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions about Equipment" . Retrieved 2019-10-03. For place kicks (field goal and convert attempts) the kicking tee platform or block can be no higher than one inch in height as per Rule 5, Section 1, Article 3 of the CFL Rulebook. For kickoffs, the ball may be held or placed on a tee such that the lowest part of the ball is no higher than three inches off the ground; Kicking tees are not required to be used. Kickers may kick off the ground if they desire.
  13. ↑ Patra, Kevin (May 19, 2015). "NFL moves extra point to 15-yard line for 2015 season". National Football League. Retrieved May 21, 2015.
  14. ↑ Williams, Eric D. (May 19, 2015). "NFL changes PAT rule for 2015". ESPN.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  15. ↑ Dabe, Christopher (December 6, 2015). "Stephone Anthony makes NFL history with return of blocked kick for 2-point conversion". nola.com. Retrieved December 7, 2015.
  16. ↑ Stuart, Chase (15 November 2016). "More NFL Teams Are Going For Two — Just As They Should Be". FiveThirtyEight . Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  17. ↑ Shpigel, Ben (21 December 2016). "Steelers Are Getting Their 2 Points' Worth - The New York Times". The New York Times . Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  18. ↑ Wagner, Sean (2018-03-28). "NFL eliminates unnecessary PATs, two-point conversions after walk-off touchdowns". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
  19. ↑ Volk, Pete (September 1, 2016). "How does college football overtime work? A quick explainer, plus a video version". Sports Blog Nation . Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  20. ↑ "Section 8 — Tie Game". Canadian Football League Database. Retrieved November 9, 2017.
  21. ↑ Seifert, Kevin (March 29, 2022). "Both teams assured of a possession in playoff overtime with rules change approved by NFL owners". ESPN. New York. Archived from the original on May 23, 2022. Retrieved March 29, 2022.
  22. ↑ Berardino, Mike (July 21, 2011). Tiger Woods, Steve Williams and the four-point field goal (Three Things). South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  23. ↑ "LFL Game Rules - Legends Football League". Lflus.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2019-01-28.
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