You Do Not Have To Tackle Anyone To Score An NFL Safety
The league's own definition gives a defense three ways to score a safety, and two of them involve no tackle at all.
Everyone pictures the same play: a quarterback buried in his own end zone. That is one of the ways a safety is scored, not the definition of one.
What the glossary actually says
The NFL's glossary: 'Worth two points, NFL defenses can score a safety by tackling the offensive player who has the football behind his own goal line or by making him run or fumble the ball out bounds behind his own goal line.'
...or by making him run or fumble the ball out of bounds behind his own goal line.
The half nobody quotes
The second clause needs no tackle. By that wording it needs no contact at all. If the defense forces the ball carrier to take the ball out of bounds behind his own goal line, or to knock it out there, the score is the same two points as a tackle in the end zone.
- 01A safety is worth two points
- 02Tackling the ball carrier behind his own goal line scores one
- 03So does making him run the ball out of bounds behind that line
- 04So does making him fumble it out of bounds behind that line
Quick answers
- Does a safety require a tackle?
- No. The NFL glossary also allows a safety when the defense makes the ball carrier run or fumble the ball out of bounds behind his own goal line.
- How many points is a safety worth?
- Two points, by the league's own definition, however it is scored.
Sources
- NFL Football Operations - Football Terms (the league's own glossary)
- The Official NFL Rulebook, NFL Football Operations
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