Touchdown

A touchdown (abbreviated as TD[1]) 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. In American football, a touchdown is worth six points and is followed by an extra point or two-point conversion attempt.

A player from Texas High School crosses the goal line with the ball during a game against Highland Park High School to score a rushing touchdown worth six points.
Vince Young of the Texas Longhorns (ball carrier in top center) rushing for a touchdown. A portion of the end zone is seen as the dark strip at the bottom. The vertical yellow bar is part of the goal post.

Description

To score a touchdown, one team must take the football into the opposite end zone. In all gridiron codes, the touchdown is scored the instant the ball touches or "breaks" the plane of the front of the goal line (that is, if any part of the ball is in the space on, above, or across the goal line) while in the possession of a player whose team is trying to score in that end zone. This particular requirement of the touchdown differs from other sports in which points are scored by moving a ball or equivalent object into a goal where the whole of the relevant object must cross the whole of the goal line for a score to be awarded. The play is dead and the touchdown scored the moment the ball touches plane in possession of a player, or the moment the ball comes into possession of an offensive player in the end zone (having established possession by controlling the ball and having one or both feet depending on the rules of the league or another part of the body, excluding the hands, touch the ground). The slightest part of the ball touching or being directly over the goal line is sufficient for a touchdown to score. However, only the ball counts, not a player's helmet, foot, or any other part of the body. Touching one of the pylons at either end of the goal line with the ball constitutes "breaking the plane" as well.

Touchdowns are usually scored by the offense by running or passing the ball. The former is called a rushing touchdown, and in the latter, the quarterback throws a touchdown pass or passing touchdown to the receiver, who either catches the ball in the field of play and advances it into the end zone, or catches it while already being within the boundaries of the end zone; the result is a touchdown reception or touchdown catch. However, the defense can also score a touchdown if they have recovered a fumble or made an interception and return it to the opposing end zone. Special teams can score a touchdown on a kickoff or punt return, or on a return after a missed or blocked field goal attempt or blocked punt. In short, any play in which a player legally carries any part of the ball over or across the opponent's goal line scores a touchdown, as is any play in which a player legally gains possession of the ball while it is on or across his opponent's goal line and both the player and ball are legally in-bounds - beyond this, the manner in which he gained possession is inconsequential. In the NFL, a touchdown may be awarded by the referee as a penalty for a "palpably unfair act", such as a player coming off the bench during a play and tackling the runner, who would otherwise have scored.[2]

A touchdown celebration

A touchdown is worth six points. The scoring team is also awarded the opportunity for an extra point or a two-point conversion.[3] Afterwards, the team that scored the touchdown kicks off to the opposing team, if there is any time left in the half. In most codes, a conversion is not attempted if the touchdown ended the game and the conversion cannot affect the outcome.

The officials' hand signal for a touchdown is both arms extended vertically above the head, with palms facing inward—the same signal used for a field goal or conversion.[4]

Unlike a try scored in rugby, and contrary to the event's name, the ball does not need to touch the ground when the player and the ball are inside the end zone. The term touchdown is a holdover from gridiron's early days when the ball was required to be touched to the ground as in rugby, as rugby and gridiron were still extremely similar sports at this point. This rule was changed to the modern-day iteration in 1889.

History

When the first uniform rules for American football were enacted by the newly formed Intercollegiate Football Association following the 1876 Rugby season, a touchdown required touching the ball to the ground past the goal line, and counted for 1⁄4 of a kicked goal (except in the case of a tie) and allowed the offense the chance to kick for goal by placekick or dropkick from a spot along a line perpendicular to the goal line and passing through the point where the ball was touched down, or through a process known as a "punt-out", where the attacking team would kick the ball from the point where it was touched down to a teammate. If the teammate could fair catch the ball, he could follow with a try for goal from the spot of the catch, or resume play as normal (in an attempt to touch down the ball in a spot more advantageous for kicking). The governing rule at the time read: "A match shall be decided by a majority of touchdowns. A goal shall be equal to four touchdowns; but in case of a tie a goal kicked from a touchdown shall take precedence over four touchdowns."[5]

  • In 1881, the rules were modified so that a goal kicked from a touchdown took precedence over a goal kicked from the field in breaking ties.[5]
  • In 1882, four touchdowns were determined to take precedence over a goal kicked from the field. Two safeties were equivalent to a touchdown.[5]
  • In 1883, points were introduced to football, and a touchdown counted as four points. A goal after a touchdown counted as two points.[5]
  • In 1889, the provision requiring the ball to actually be touched to the ground was removed. A touchdown was now scored by possessing the ball beyond the goal line.[5]
  • In 1897, the touchdown scored five points, and the goal after touchdown added another point - hence the current terminology: "extra point".[5]
  • In 1900, the definition of touchdown was changed to include situations where the ball becomes dead on or above the goal line.[5]
  • In 1912, the value of a touchdown was increased to six points. The end zone was also added. Before the addition of the end zone, forward passes caught beyond the goal line resulted in a loss of possession and a touchback.[5] The increase from five points to six did not come until much later in Canada, and the touchdown remained only five points there until 1956. In addition, the score continued to commonly be called a try in Canada until the second half of the twentieth century.

The ability to score a touchdown on the point-after attempt (two-point conversion) was added to NCAA football in 1958 and also used in the American Football League during its ten-year run from 1960-69. It was subsequently adopted by high school football in 1969, the CFL in 1975 and the NFL in 1994.[5][6] The short-lived World Football League, a professional American football league that operated in 1974 and 1975, gave touchdowns a seven-point value.

See also

References
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Touchdowns.
  1. See for example "Every TD from Every Game | Week 1". NFL.com.
  2. "NFL Rules Digest: Summary of Penalties". Nfl.com. Retrieved November 23, 2012.
  3. "2006 NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletics Association. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 24, 2008.
  4. "NFL Rulebook: Official Signals" (PDF). NFL.com. Retrieved April 29, 2020.
  5. Nelson, David M. (1994). The Anatomy of A Game. Newark, NJ: University of Delaware Press. ISBN 0-87413-455-2.
  6. "NFL History 1991-2000". NFL.com.
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