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A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in
gridiron football Gridiron football,"Gridiron football"
''Encyclopædia Britannica''. Ret ...
. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a
turnover Turnover or turn over may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media *''Turn Over'', a 1988 live album by Japanese band Show-Ya * Turnover (band), an American rock band *"Turnover", a song on Fugazi's 1990 album '' Repeater'' *''Turnover'', a Japane ...
, 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.


Description

To score a touchdown, one team must take the
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
into the opposite end zone. In all gridiron codes, the touchdown is scored the instant the ball touches or "breaks" the
plane Plane(s) most often refers to: * Aero- or airplane, a powered, fixed-wing aircraft * Plane (geometry), a flat, 2-dimensional surface Plane or planes may also refer to: Biology * Plane (tree) or ''Platanus'', wetland native plant * Planes (gen ...
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 A fumble in gridiron football occurs when a player who has possession and control of the ball loses it before being downed (tackled), scoring, or going out of bounds. By rule, it is any act other than passing, kicking, punting, or successful ...
or made an interception and return it to the opposing end zone. Special teams can score a touchdown on a kickoff or
punt return 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 d ...
, or on a return after a missed or blocked
field goal 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 ba ...
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 The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...
, 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. A touchdown is worth six points. The scoring team is also awarded the opportunity for an extra point or a two-point conversion. 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 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 ba ...
or conversion. Unlike a try scored in
rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...
, 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 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." *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 were equivalent to a touchdown. *In 1883, points were introduced to football, and a touchdown counted as four points. A goal after a touchdown counted as two 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 five points, and the goal after touchdown added another point - hence the current terminology: "extra 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 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. 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 The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. ...
during its ten-year run from 1960-69. It was subsequently adopted by high school football in 1969, the
CFL The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...
in 1975 and the NFL in 1994. The short-lived
World Football League The World Football League (WFL) was an American football league that played one full season in 1974 and most of its second in 1975. Although the league's proclaimed ambition was to bring American football onto a worldwide stage, the farthest t ...
, a professional American football league that operated in 1974 and 1975, gave touchdowns a seven-point value.


See also

* American football scoring * Conversion (gridiron football) *
Touchdown celebration In gridiron football, touchdown celebrations are sometimes performed after the scoring of a touchdown. Individual celebrations have become increasingly complex over time, from simple "spiking" of the football in decades past to the elaborately cho ...
* Touchdown Jesus * Touchdown pass *
Conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...


References

{{American football concepts American football terminology Canadian football terminology