Touchdown

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Touchdown

A touchdown is the primary method of scoring in American

American football

American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive team sport known for mixing strategy with physical play....
and Canadian football

Canadian football

Canadian football is a form of gridiron football played chiefly in Canada in which two teams of twelve players each compete for territorial control of a field of play long and wide , attempting to advance a pointed prolate spheroid ball into the opposing team's scoring area ....
.

core a touchdown, one team must take the football

Football (ball)

A football is a ball used to play one of the various sports known as football.In the distant past, crude balls such as inflated pigs' bladders were used, but balls are now designed by teams of engineers to exacting specifications....
into the opposite end zone

End zone

The end zone is a term used in both Canadian football and American football. The end zone is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines....
.

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Vince Young Scores A Touchdown in the 2005 Big 12 Championship Game

A touchdown is the primary method of scoring in American

American football

American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive team sport known for mixing strategy with physical play....
and Canadian football

Canadian football

Description

To score a touchdown, one team must take the football

Football (ball)

End zone

The end zone is a term used in both Canadian football and American football. The end zone is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines....
. This can be done by rushing

Rush (American football)

In American football, rushing has two different meanings....
, in which the ball carrier carries the football forward into the end zone. It can also be done by passing

Forward pass

In several forms of football a forward pass is when the ball is thrown in the direction of the opponent's end line....
, where an eligible receiver

Eligible receiver

In American football and Canadian football, not all players on offense are entitled to receive a forward pass. Only an eligible pass receiver may legally catch a forward pass, and only an eligible receiver may advance beyond the Neutral zone if a forward pass which crosses the neutral zone is thrown....
catches a forward pass in the end zone. The receiver can also catch the ball prior to reaching the end zone and carry it across the plane

Plane (mathematics)

In mathematics, a plane is a curvature surface. Planes can arise as subspaces of some higher dimensional space, as with the walls of a room, or they may enjoy an independent existence in their own right, as in the setting of Euclidean geometry....
of the end zone. This would still be considered a "passing" touchdown as opposed to a "rushing" touchdown.

Touchdowns are usually scored by the offense. However, the defense can also score a touchdown if they have recovered a fumble

Fumble

A fumble in American football and Canadian football is when a player, who has possession and control of the ball, drops the ball. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking or successful handing that results in loss of player possession....
or an interception and return it to the opposing end zone. Special teams can score a touchdown on a kickoff or punt return

Punt return

In American Football and Canadian football a punt return is one of the punt receiving team's options to respond to a Punt . A player positioned many yards from the line of scrimmage will attempt to catch or pick up the ball after it is punted by the opposing team's Punter ....
, or on a return after a missed or blocked field goal

Field goal (football)

A field goal in American football and Canadian football is a Goal that may be scored during general play .A field goal may be scored by a placekick or the now very rare Field goal #Drop kick....
attempt or blocked punt

Punt (football)

A punt in some codes of football, especially American football and Rugby football, is performed when the ball is kicked without letting it hit the ground first — in contrast to a drop kick....
. In the NFL, a touchdown may be awarded by the referee as a penalty for a "Palpably Unfair Act".

A touchdown is worth six points. The scoring team is also awarded the opportunity for an extra point

Extra point

In American football and Canadian football, the convert, conversion, try, extra point, point after touchdown, point-after try or PAT is the act of lining up to attempt a one-point conversion, immediately following a touchdown....
or a two-point conversion

Two-point conversion

In American football and Canadian football, a two-point conversion is a play a team attempts instead of kicking an extra point immediately after it scores a touchdown....
.

Unlike a try

Try

A try is the major way of scoring points in rugby league and rugby union. A try is scored by grounding the ball in the opposition's in-goal area ....
scored in rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union is a competitive outdoor contact sport, played with an oval ball, by two teams of 15 players. It is one of the two main codes of rugby football, the other being rugby league....
or rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football is a competitive Full-contact sport team sport played with a spheroid-shaped ball by two teams of thirteen on a rectangular grass field....
, the ball does not need to touch the ground when the player and the ball is inside the end zone.

History

When the touchdown was introduced into American football in 1876, it did not award a score; instead, it only allowed the offense the chance to kick for goal by placekick from a spot along a line perpendicular

Perpendicular

In geometry, two line or plane , are considered perpendicular to each other if they form congruence adjacent angles angles . The term may be used as a noun or adjective....
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

Fair catch

A fair catch is a feature of American football and several other football. In rugby union and Australian rules football, a fair catch is called a mark; see mark and mark for more information on fair catches in those games....
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 touchdown the ball in a spot more advantageous for kicking).

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.

In 1882, four touchdowns were determined to take precedence over a goal kicked from the field. Two safeties

Safety (football score)

A safety or safety touch is a type of score in American football and Canadian football and is worth two points . In American football, it is the only means by which a team not in possession of the football can score points....
were equivalent to a touchdown.

In 1883, points were introduced to football, and a touchdown counted as 4 points. A goal after a touchdown also counted as 4 points.

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.

In 1897, the touchdown scored 5 points, and the goal after touchdown added an additional point.

In 1900, the definition of touchdown was changed to include situations where the ball becomes dead on or above the goal line.

In 1912, the value of a touchdown was increased to 6 points. The end zone

End zone

The end zone is a term used in both Canadian football and American football. The end zone is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines....
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. (The increase from 5 points to 6 did not come until much later in Canada, and the touchdown remained only 5 points there until 1956.)

The ability to score a touchdown on the point-after attempt (two-point conversion) was added to NCAA football in 1958, high school football in 1969, and the NFL in 1994.

Touchdown

Description

History

See also