- A safety is worth two points, and it goes to the defense.
- It happens when the offense is responsible for the ball becoming dead in its own end zone.
- The team that gave up the safety must then kick the ball away from its own 20-yard line.
- The fastest score in Super Bowl history was a safety, 12 seconds into Super Bowl XLVIII.
Almost every score in football comes from moving the ball forward. The safety is the exception. It is what happens when an offense goes backward as far as the field allows.
It is also the only score that gives the defense points and the ball on the same play.
How a safety happens
The offense has to be the team that put the ball in its own end zone. From there, a safety is scored in one of three ways.
- A ball carrier is tackled in his own end zone. Most often it is a quarterback sacked while dropping back, or a runner caught behind the line.
- The ball goes out of bounds behind the offense's own goal line, usually after a bad snap or a fumble.
- The offense commits a foul in its own end zone, such as holding or intentional grounding.
The first part of the rule matters. If a player catches a punt or intercepts a pass in his own end zone and goes down there, the offense did not put the ball there. That is a touchback, not a safety.
Why it hurts more than two points
After a touchdown or a field goal, the team that scored kicks off. After a safety it is the other way around.
The team that gave up the two points has to kick the ball away from its own 20-yard line. It can punt, placekick or dropkick, and most teams punt. The team that just scored gets the ball back, usually in good field position.
In overtime it is worth even more. A safety ends the game on the spot, as our guide to NFL overtime rules explains.
Two points, then the ball. No other play in football pays the defense twice.
The most famous safety
Super Bowl XLVIII, on February 2, 2014, began with one. On Denver's first play, the snap flew past quarterback Peyton Manning and into the end zone. Running back Knowshon Moreno fell on it, and Seattle led 2-0.
Twelve seconds had come off the clock. It is still the fastest score in Super Bowl history. Seattle went on to win 43-8.
Taking a safety on purpose
Sometimes giving up two points is the smart play. A team that leads by more than two late in a game, and is pinned against its own goal line, may let the clock run and step out of the end zone on purpose.
It loses two points. In return it avoids a risky punt from its own end zone and gets a free kick from the 20 instead.
How rare is it?
Rare enough that careers pass without many. No player in NFL history has recorded more than four safeties, a mark Jared Allen shares.
The rule book even allows a one-point safety on an extra-point or two-point try. It has never happened in an NFL game.
Those are football's rarest points. For its longest kicks, read the longest field goals in NFL history.