 There are a few different ways to score an American football, two are common, one happens on occasion, one is extremely rare. So let's talk about touchdowns, field goals, safeties, and we'll throw in the one point safety for good measure. The most common way of scoring is a touchdown. This happens when the offense has possession of the ball in the other team's end zone, usually either by running it in or by catching a pass while in the end zone. A touchdown is worth six points, you'll probably know it happened because everybody will do their best imitation of goal posts. After you score a touchdown, you get a free play called a try, which consists of two options, either try to kick an extra point or go for a two point conversion. A point after a touchdown, which is usually just called an extra point, will involve kicking the ball between the uprights and will result in one point if successful. For a long time during the extra point, the ball was placed at the two yard line where it was snapped back and kicked, but that got to be too easy. So in 2015, the NFL decided to move it back so that the ball was snapped from the 15 yard line. Last season, extra points were still successful 93% of the time, which is high, but the year before the change in 2014, extra points were made 99.6% of the time. So things have gotten a little more challenging. The other option you have rather than trying to kick an extra point is a two point conversion or to go for two. In this case, the ball is still placed at the two yard line and you essentially have to score another touchdown to get your two points. You're closed, but you only get one chance, so it only works out about half the time. What happens if you decide to kick an extra point, but something goes wrong on the play and you end up running the ball into the end zone? You get two points. What happens if you decide to kick an extra point or go for two, but something goes wrong on the play and the defense ends up scoring by running the ball into their end zone? The defense gets two points. After the extra point or two point conversion, the team that scored would kick off to the other team, regardless of whether or not the try was successful. The second most common way to score is the field goal, which is worth three points. This would involve kicking the ball through the uprights from wherever the offense is on the field at the time. It could be from the five yard line or it could be from the 50. Quick side note here, the distance of a field goal is measured from the spot that the ball is actually kicked. So if the line of scrimmage that's where the ball starts is on the 10 yard line, it's typically a 27 yard field goal. Why? Because the ball starts on the 10, but it's snapped back to the holder, which is usually about seven or eight yards back. So the ball is actually kicked at the 17 yard line, and then you always add 10 yards on for the end zone. Obviously, the further back you go, the more difficult it is. Teams typically have one guy, the kicker, whose job consists solely of kicking extra points, field goals, and kick costs. That's it. He might not get into the game very often, but when he does, he has to make it count. If a field goal is made, the next play is a kickoff. If it's missed, then the other team gets the ball with that same line of scrimmage. There is one exception to that, which is if the line of scrimmage is inside the 20 yard line, and the field goal is missed, then the other team gets the ball at the 20 yard line. This doesn't happen all that often though, because field goals from that distance are usually pretty easy to make. All right, it's time to talk about safety. First rule is always wear your seat belt while in the car. Now, in football, safety is when you get tackled in your own end zone. That is not the one you're trying to score a touchdown in, but the one behind you. It gives the defense two things, two points, and the offense has to kick the ball to them. But the kicker can't use a tee to hold the ball like on a regular kickoff, so they basically have to punt it to them. It's also a safety if you run out the back of your own end zone with the ball, and another way this can happen is if you get called for a penalty in your own end zone. Typically, a penalty will move you back a few yards, but if you're already in the end zone, you can't go back any further. Safeties don't happen all that often. There were 256 games in an NFL season, and last year there were only 17 safeties. That is 99.9% of the scoring you will ever see. But the rules do allow for one more scenario that involves everything we've learned to this point, the one-point safety. This has never happened in the NFL, mainly because it wasn't even a possibility until 2015, but that year they adopted a college rule that says that during a try, again, either an extra point or two-point conversion attempt, if either team gets a safety, they get one point. This has been a thing in college where it happens about once a decade. Here's how. The offense lines up to kick an extra point, gets a block by the defense, the defense picks the ball up while they are outside the end zone, run back into their own end zone to try to get away from some tacklers, and gets tackled there. One-point safety. On the score line, it just looked like the offense kicked the extra point, so it's not actually that big a deal point-wise, it just almost never happens. So touchdowns are worth six points, an extra point is worth one, two-point conversion is two, a field goal is three, and a safety is two. Unless it's a safety on a try, then it's worth one, and that's scoring. Oh wait, remember how you can get a one-point safety? We literally just talked about it. Here's the fun part. The rule states that either team can get a safety. So if somehow the offense got tackled in their own end zone, that would be a one-point safety, but for the defense, this has never happened, and it probably never will.