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76-407: A touchdown (abbreviated as TD ) is a scoring play in gridiron football . Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running , passing , returning a kickoff or punt , or recovering a turnover , a team scores a touchdown by advancing the football into the opponent's end zone . More specifically, a touchdown is when a player is in possession of the ball, any part of

152-416: A punt is when the ball is released from the punter's hand and kicked downfield as close to the opponent's end zone as possible without entering it; the kicking team loses possession of the ball after the kick and the receiving team can attempt to advance the ball or call a fair catch. The other scrimmage kick is a field goal attempt. This must be attempted by place kick or (more rarely) drop kick , and if

228-414: A thigh and upper body, if possible. This greatly reduces both the chance of losing the ball and the potential for injury (at least from the ball). Fumbles cannot be recovered with any body part that does not also involve at least one of the recovering player's arms. Coaches are also increasingly encouraging their players to use the "scoop and score" method of picking it up and attempting to return it for

304-444: A touchdown . A very rarely used trick play known as the "fake fumble" calls for the quarterback to lay the ball on the ground as he backs up after receiving the snap, so that a pulling guard can pick it up and run the ball around the end. Coaches are very leery of calling this, however, as a team must be able to execute it flawlessly in order for it to have a chance of working in a game situation. The guard must also be able to run

380-428: A try scored in rugby , 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. When

456-407: A turnover (the other two being an interception or a turnover on downs ). Under American rules a fumble may be confused with a muff . A muff occurs where a player drops a ball that he does not have clear possession of, such as while attempting to catch a lateral pass or improperly fielding a kicking play such as a punt (a player cannot "fumble" a loose ball ). Ball security is the ability of

532-445: A "first down" signal in the direction the recovering team is driving the ball. Some officials have erroneously used a "first down" signal when the offense recovers its own fumble and the recovery did not result in a first down. It is not a fumble when a forward pass is attempted and is not caught. In this latter case, it is simply an incomplete pass . However, if the receiver catches the ball, but then drops it after gaining control of

608-717: A ball goes out of bounds), the actual time it takes for a football game to be completed is typically over three hours in the NFL and slightly under three hours in the CFL. According to 2017 study on brains of deceased gridiron football players, 99% of tested brains of NFL players, 88% of CFL players, 64% of semi-professional players, 91% of college football players, and 21% of high school football players had various stages of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Other common injuries include injuries of legs, arms and lower back. Fumble A fumble in gridiron football occurs when

684-506: A liking to McGill's rugby-style rules and adopted them. In turn, they were used when Harvard and Yale University played their first intercollegiate sports game in 1875, after which the rugby-style Canadian game was adopted by Yale players and spectators from Yale and Princeton University . This version of the game was subsequently played with several other U.S. colleges over the next several years. American football teams and organizations subsequently adopted new rules which distinguished

760-427: A member of the opposing team are recorded as fumbles as opposed to interceptions. Since footballs tend to bounce in unpredictable ways, particularly on artificial turf , attempting to recover and advance a fumbled ball is risky even for those with good manual coordination . Coaches at lower levels of the game usually therefore prefer that players, particularly those such as interior linemen who do not normally handle

836-409: A play in a huddle and freely substitute players to set into a formation , in which the offense must remain perfectly still for at least one second (the formation requirement does not apply to Canadian football). At least half of the players (seven in standard American and Canadian football, four in standard indoor ball) on the offense must line up on the line of scrimmage in this formation, including

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912-411: A player to maintain control over the football during play and thus avoid a fumble. Thus, losing possession of the ball via a fumble includes not only dropping the ball before being downed; but, also having a ball taken away, or “stripped” from the runner's possession before being downed. If the ball is fumbled the defensive team may recover the ball and even advance it to their opponents' goal. The same

988-407: 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 handing that results in loss of ball possession by a player. A fumble may be forced by a defensive player who either grabs or punches the ball or butts the ball with their helmet (a move called "tackling

1064-413: 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

1140-407: A ten-yard penalty against offensive players and a five-yard penalty against defensive ones), and pass interference (when either a receiver or the defending player pushes or blocks the other to prevent them from catching the pass). A team on offense cannot score points as the direct result of a penalty; a defensive foul committed in the team's own end zone, if the penalty is assessed from the spot of

1216-422: A touchdown is worth six points and is followed by an extra point or two-point conversion attempt. To score a touchdown, one team must take the football into the opposing team's end zone . In all gridiron codes, the touchdown is scored the instant the ball touches or "breaks" the plane 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

1292-445: A touchdown on a kickoff or punt return , or on a return after a missed or blocked field goal 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,

1368-535: Is 60 timed minutes in length, split into four 15-minute quarters. (High school football uses 12-minute quarters, and the general rule is that the younger the players, the shorter the quarters typically are.) Because of the halftime, quarter breaks, time-outs, the minute warnings ( two minutes before the end of a half in the NFL , three minutes in Canadian football ), and frequent stoppages of the game clock (the clock stops, for example, after every incomplete pass and any time

1444-541: Is a family of football team sports primarily played in the United States and Canada. American football , which uses 11 players, is the form played in the United States and the best known form of gridiron football worldwide, while Canadian football , which uses 12 players, predominates in Canada. Other derivative varieties include arena football , flag football and amateur games such as touch and street football . Football

1520-496: Is an IFAF member. The sport is typically known as simply "football" in the countries where it originated, regardless of the specific variety. In Europe the sport is commonly known as "American football". Various sources use the term "North American football" when discussing the American and Canadian games together, but this term is quite rare. The two sports are also sometimes known as "gridiron football". The name originated with

1596-427: Is awarded one single point . If the team in possession of the ball, at any time, advances (either by carrying or catching) the ball into the opponent's end zone, it is a touchdown , and the team scores six points and a free play known as a try . In a try, a team attempts to score one or two points (rules vary by each league, but under standard rules, a field goal on a try is worth one point while another touchdown

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1672-606: Is most likely to be used in informal touch football games. It was sometimes used in the college game before the NCAA banned it in 1992. It has almost never been used in the NFL or any other professional league. The best-known fake fumble is probably the Fumblerooski play in the 1984 Orange Bowl (see below). Fumbling forward, as the Holy Roller play (see below) demonstrated, once was a viable offensive tactic in desperate situations, but

1748-420: Is on offense or defense while the ball remains loose, there are no restrictions on the type of contact allowed as long as all players are making legitimate efforts to recover it. A loose ball has been described as the only situation in football where the rules are suspended. If the ball remains loose, every player on the field will eventually gravitate towards it, increasing the chaos around it. Spectators relish

1824-474: Is played at professional , collegiate , high school , semi-professional, and amateur levels. These sports originated in the 19th century out of older games related to modern rugby football , more specifically rugby union football. Early on, American and Canadian football developed alongside (but independently from) each other; the root of the game known as "football" today originates with an 1874 game between Harvard and McGill Universities , following which

1900-427: Is true for the offense, but usually when the offense recovers the ball they simply try to down it. In American football the offense cannot advance the ball if it recovers its own fumble on fourth down, or in the last two minutes of a half, unless the ball is recovered by the fumbler (there are no such restrictions in Canadian football). However, if the offense fumbles the ball, the defense recovers and then fumbles back to

1976-859: Is usually called " soccer " in Australian English . The governing body for American football in Australia is Gridiron Australia . Similarly, in the UK American football is known as American football, as "football" is used to refer to soccer . The sport developed from informal games played in North America during the 19th century. Early games had a variety of local rules and were generally similar to modern rugby union and soccer . The earliest recorded instance of gridiron football occurred at University of Toronto's University College in November 1861. Later in

2052-404: Is worth two). At the college and professional levels, the defense can also score on a try, but only on the same scale (thus a botched try the defense returns for a touchdown scores only two points and not six). Kickoffs occur after every touchdown and field goal. If a team is in its own end zone and commits a foul, is tackled with the ball, or bats, fumbles, kicks or throws the ball backward out of

2128-517: The abdomen . Amateur players are seen doing this all the time, particularly when playing touch football , and it can even be seen in professional contests. However, coaches tell players not to do this in game situations if at all possible, since not only is the ball likely to squirt loose again once other players pile on, there is also a possibility of injury from the ball being driven into the soft organs with great force. Instead, players are taught to fall on their sides and augment their cradling with

2204-406: The western provinces , demanded changes to the game based on the innovations in American football. Over the years, the sport adopted more Americanized rules, though it retained some of its historical features, including a 110-yard (100 m) field, 12-player teams, and three downs instead of four. Around the same time Camp devised the rules for American football, the Canadian game would develop in

2280-594: The 1860s, teams from universities were playing each other, leading to more standardized rules and the creation of college football . While several American schools adopted rules based on the soccer rules of the English Football Association , Harvard University held to its traditional "carrying game". Meanwhile, McGill University in Montreal used rules based on rugby union . In 1874, Harvard and McGill organized two games using each other's rules. Harvard took

2356-551: The 1970s ), and a distinctive brown leather ball in the shape of a prolate spheroid with pointed ends. The international governing body for the sport is the International Federation of American Football (IFAF); although the organization plays all of its international competitions under American rules, it uses a definition of the game that is broad enough that it includes Canadian football under its umbrella, and Football Canada (the governing body for Canadian football)

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2432-461: The American school adopted the Canadian school's more rugby-like rules. Over time, Canadian teams adopted features of the American variant of the game and vice versa. Both varieties are distinguished from other football sports by their use of hard plastic helmets and shoulder pads , the forward pass , the system of downs , a number of unique rules and positions , measurement in customary units of yards (even in Canada, which largely metricated in

2508-415: The ball carrier at any time the ball is in play, provided they do not grab the face mask of the helmet or make helmet-to-helmet contact when doing so. At any time, the player with the ball can attempt a backward, or lateral, pass to any other player in order to keep the ball in play; this is generally rare. Any player on defense can, at any time, attempt to intercept a forward pass in flight, at which point

2584-405: The ball carrier is tackled, or, if the ball is kicked out of bounds , let the ball go dead on its own (the last case usually happens when the ball is kicked all the way into or through the opponent's end zone, resulting in a touchback and the ball being brought several yards out of the end zone to begin play). A kicking team can, under special circumstances, attempt to recover its own kick , but

2660-419: The ball competently and protect it when being tackled, both not usually part of the skill set for the position. The "fake fumble" is in fact a real one as far as the rules are concerned, and if the defense manages to get the ball, the coach's judgement is likely to be questioned by fans and media alike. While it is a crowd pleaser when done properly, the risk far outweighs the likely reward . For this reason it

2736-404: 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

2812-433: The ball in the course of play, simply fall on the ball. Gaining or retaining possession is more important in most situations than attempting to advance the ball and possibly score, and there have been many instances where those attempting to do so have wound up fumbling the ball back to the other team. Recovering and advancing a fumble is also made difficult, and potentially injurious, by the effect on play. Since neither team

2888-850: The ball is in the end zone they are attacking, and the player is not down . Because of the speed at which football happens, it is often hard for an official to make the correct call based on their vantage point alone. Most professional football leagues, such as the National Football League (NFL) and the Canadian Football League (CFL), as well as some college leagues, such as the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), allow certain types of plays to be reviewed. Among these plays are touchdowns, as well as all other scoring plays, dangerous or unsportsmanlike conduct by players or staff, out-of-bounds calls,

2964-425: The ball"). A fumbled ball may be recovered and advanced by either team (except, in American football, after the two-minute warning in either half/overtime or on 4th down at any point during the game, when the fumbler is the only offensive player allowed to advance the ball, otherwise the ball is ruled dead at the spot of the fumble, except when it is recovered for a loss). A fumble is one of three events that can cause

3040-427: The ball, it is often a judgement call on the officials' part as to which team gets it. In the NFL and CFL this has often been the occasion for coaches to call for a review of the instant replay . Fumbles recovered for touchdowns in the end zone are often the only way offensive linemen score points. The most obvious way to recover a loose football would be to fall prone atop it and cradle it between both arms against

3116-409: The ball, that is a fumble. Any number of fumbles can be committed during a play, including fumbles by the team originally on defense. Most famously, Dallas Cowboys defender Leon Lett fumbled during Super Bowl XXVII while celebrating during his own fumble return. A sometimes controversial maxim is "the ground cannot cause a fumble". If a player is tackled and loses control of the ball at or after

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3192-399: The end of a quarter.) After the halftime break, a new kickoff occurs. Whichever team has more points at the end of the game is declared the winner; in the event of a tie, each league has its own rules for overtime to break the tie. Because of the nature of the game, pure sudden-death overtimes have been abolished at all levels of the game as of 2012. At all adult levels of the game, a game

3268-485: The eyes, pinches or other abuse is common in post-fumble pileups, conduct which has sometimes led to confrontations, fights or even brawls. The usual aftermath of a fumble, at every level of play, is a pile of players, many still squirming diligently despite the whistle , surrounded by teammates pointing upfield (the hand signal for a first down ) while the officials slowly extricate them in an effort to determine who has won possession. If two different players have hands on

3344-433: The field of play through the same end zone, the defense scores a safety , worth two points. After a try, safety or field goal, the team that had possession of the ball goes back to the middle of the field and kicks the ball off to their opponent, and play continues as it did in the beginning of the game. Play continues until halftime . (Each team switches their side of the field with the other halfway through each half, at

3420-421: 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 1 ⁄ 4 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

3496-405: The foul, places the ball at the one-yard line. In contrast, a defensive team can score points as a direct result of a penalty; if the offense commits a foul under the same scenario, the defensive team receives two points and a free kick. In all other circumstances (except for the open-ended and extremely rare unfair act clause), a penalty cannot exceed more than half the distance to the end zone. If

3572-445: The game from rugby. Many of these early innovations were the work of Walter Camp , including the sport's line of scrimmage and the system of downs . Another consequential change was the adoption of the forward pass in 1906, which allowed the quarterback to throw the ball forward over the line of scrimmage to a receiver. Canadian football remained akin to rugby for decades, though a progressive faction of players, chiefly based in

3648-457: 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

3724-405: The kicked ball passes through the goal set at the edge of the opponent's end zone, the team scores three points. (Four-point field goals have been offered in a few variations of the game under special rules, but the NFL, college and high school football only offer three-point field goals.) In Canada, any kick that goes into the end zone and is not returned, whether it be a punt or a missed field goal,

3800-422: The knee or elbow touches the ground, the ball carrier is considered down. It is also possible for the ground to cause a fumble in college football if the ball hits the ground before any part of the ball carrier's body (other than the hand or foot) touches the ground. An example was the fumble by Arkansas quarterback Clint Stoerner vs. Tennessee in 1998. When a fumbled ball goes out of bounds before being recovered,

3876-447: The line), who must catch the ball before it touches the ground. The play stops when a player with the ball touches any part of their body other than hand or foot to the ground, runs out of the boundaries of the field, is obstructed from making further forward progress, or a forward pass hits the ground without being caught (in the last case, the ball returns to the spot it was snapped). To stop play, players on defense are allowed to tackle

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3952-460: The manner in which he gained possession is inconsequential. In the NFL , 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,

4028-423: The offense, they would get a first down since possession had formally changed over the course of the play even though the ball had never been blown dead. In American football, there is no separate signal to indicate a fumble recovery. If the offense recovers its own fumble, the official will indicate the recovery by a hand signal showing the next down. If the defense recovers the fumble, the official will indicate with

4104-425: The opponent. Whether this yardage is measured from the original spot of the ball before the play, the spot of the illegal action, or the end of the play depends on the individual foul. The most common penalties include false start (when an offensive player jumps to begin the play before the ball is snapped, a five-yard penalty), holding (the grabbing of a player other than the ball carrier to obstruct their progress;

4180-464: The penalty would be less advantageous than the result of the actual play, then the team not committing the penalty can decline it. In order to keep play moving, the offense must make a certain amount of progress (10 yards in most leagues) within a certain number of plays (3 in Canada, 4 in the United States), called downs . If the offense does indeed make this progress, a first down is achieved, and

4256-401: The place on the field where the official spots the ball after a play, and turnovers. Coaches can also challenge calls, provided they are made during a play eligible to be reviewed; the only exception is during periods of the game where coaches' challenges are restricted, such as the last two minutes of each half. The NFL and CFL review all scoring plays and turnovers regardless of whether the call

4332-419: 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

4408-472: The previous play, and a play clock is kept to enforce the measure.) Once the ball is snapped, the play has commenced, and the offense's goal is to continue advancing the ball toward their opponent's end zone . This can be done either by running with the ball or by a rule unique to football known as the forward pass . In a forward pass, a player from behind the line of scrimmage throws the ball to an eligible receiver (another back or one player on each end of

4484-404: 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 or made an interception and return it to the opposing end zone. Special teams can score

4560-412: The result varies: A fumbled ball that is touched by an out-of-bounds player is considered an out-of-bounds fumble, even if the ball never leaves the field of play. In addition, a punted or place-kicked ball that touches any part of a player on the receiving team, whether or not the player ever gains control, is considered to be live and is treated like a fumble. Also, lateral passes that are caught by

4636-412: The rules have been changed to discourage that. The XFL , a competing pro league which played its sole season in 2001, used a fumble recovery instead of a coin toss to decide which team would get to choose whether to kick off or receive at the opening of the game and before overtime . A player from each team would sprint, alongside the other, toward a loose ball at the middle of the field, and whoever

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4712-407: The rules of the game make it very difficult to do so reliably, and so this tactic is usually only used as a surprise or desperation maneuver. At this point, play from scrimmage begins. The team in possession of the ball is on offense and the opponent is on defense . The offense is given a set amount of time (up to forty seconds, depending on the governing body), during which the teams can set up

4788-468: The same way (but separately) from the American game; the Burnside rules were instrumental in establishing many of the rules for the modern game. The best NFL players are among the highest paid athletes in the world. This is a minimal description of the game in general, with elements common to all or almost all variants of the game. For more specific rules, see each code's individual articles. Prior to

4864-414: The snapper, who handles the ball before play commences; the rest can (and almost always do) line up behind the line. Neither the offense nor the defense can cross the line of scrimmage before the play commences. Once the formation is set, the snapper snaps the ball to one of the players behind him. (A snapper must snap the ball within 20 to 25 seconds of the official setting the ball back into position after

4940-410: The sport's once-characteristic playing field : the original American football and Canadian football fields were marked by a series of parallel lines along both the width and length of the field, which produced a grid pattern resembling a cross-hatched cooking gridiron . The ball would be snapped in the grid in which it was downed on the previous play. By 1920, the grid system was abandoned in favor of

5016-405: The start of a game, a coin toss determines which team will decide if they want to kick off the ball to their opponent, or receive the ball from their opponent. Each team lines up on opposite halves of the field, with a minimum ten yards of space between them for the kickoff. The team receiving the ball can make a fair catch (which stops the play immediately), catch the ball and run it back until

5092-427: The suspense. Some players, particularly offensive linemen , have a reputation for taking advantage of the situation to do things to opponents that would otherwise draw penalties, since the officials ' attention is necessarily focused on the ball and away from the players trying to get to it. Most commonly, players will "pile on" opponents already down trying to recover the ball. Some NFL players also report that pokes in

5168-446: The system of yard lines and hash marks used today. The International Federation of American Football (IFAF), uses "American football" inclusive of Canadian football and other varieties. In Australia, American football is often referred to as "gridiron" or (in more formal contexts) "American football", as " football " usually refers to Australian rules football , rugby league or rugby union , similar to how association football

5244-418: The team gains possession; they can also gain possession by recovering a fumble or stripping the ball away from the ball carrier (a "forced fumble"). A typical play can last between five and twenty seconds. If any illegal action happens during the play, then the results of the previous play are erased and a penalty is assessed, forcing the offending team to surrender between five and fifteen yards of field to

5320-456: The team gets 3 or 4 more plays to achieve another 10 yards. If not, the offense loses possession to their opponent at the spot where the ball is. More commonly, however, the team on offense will, if they have a minimal chance of gaining a first down and have only one play left to do it ( fourth down in the U.S., third down in Canada), attempt a scrimmage kick . There are two types of scrimmage kick:

5396-413: 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 or conversion. Unlike

5472-402: The time he makes contact with the ground, the player is treated as down and the ball is not in play. However, in the NFL and CFL , if a ball carrier falls without an opponent contacting him, the ground can indeed cause a fumble. This is because in those leagues the ball carrier is not "down" unless an opponent first makes contact, or the runner is out of bounds. In most other leagues, as soon as

5548-488: 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." 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 during its ten-year run from 1960 to 1969. It

5624-484: Was able to gain possession won the right for their team to decide. The idea was that such a key element of the game would be decided by a test of playing skill, not chance . Because of a high rate of injury in these events, the idea never caught on in any other level of football, and the coin toss remains the standard. Fumbles have sometimes played a role in deciding games. Some of these have been so unique as to not only earn their own distinctive sobriquets, but to change

5700-468: Was questionable, and therefore do not allow coaches to challenge those plays, either. The NCAA allows Division I FBS teams to review plays throughout the regular season and postseason, while Division I FCS teams can only use it during the playoffs, Division II teams only during the quarterfinals, semifinals, and championship game , and Division III teams only during the semifinals and championship game . In American football and Canadian football ,

5776-488: Was subsequently adopted by high school football in 1969, the CFL in 1975 and the NFL in 1994. The short-lived World Football League , a professional American football league that operated in 1974 and 1975, gave touchdowns a seven-point value. Gridiron football Gridiron football ( / ˈ ɡ r ɪ d aɪ . ər n / GRID -eye-ərn ), also known as North American football, or in North America as simply football ,

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