Yes, I am talking about the 1-pt safety.
Confused as to what I am referring to? Didn't catch it when it happened? Here is the clip from last night's Fiesta Bowl between Oregon and Kansas State (Oregon won in case you were wondering):
This got me thinking, what are some other crazy and unusual rules in football that we rarely see or hear about? Being a football nut (I watch hundreds of games a year on tv and have attended an average of 40 games a year for the past 10 years, do the math, I'm crazy) I've seen many strange things and heard about others, but here are some of the downright wackiest rules you could ever see:
1. The 1-Point Safety: Ok, I had to lead off with this since it's in the introduction. I couldn't leave ya hanging. It's only happened 2 times in the HISTORY of NCAA football (including last night, the other time being a little game between Texas and Texas A&M in 2004), so you know it's a tad bizarre.
So here's the situation: A team is lined up to kick an extra point following a touchdown (last night that team was Oregon). For whatever reason, the defense (Kansas State) gets a hold of the ball. Last night the kick was blocked, but in theory it could be due to a fumbled snap or any host of legal ways the defense could obtain possession. Following this, the defensive player with possession of the ball retreats into his own endzone under his own control, that is, he is not forced back or carried back by momentum. The defensive player with the ball is then tackled in the endzone, eliciting a safety. Only... instead of 99.99999% of safeties which are 2 points (and normally caused by the offense) this safety is only worth 1 point. It makes perfect sense when you think about it (extra points are only worth a point anyways, so why get more for luck?) but still incredibly rare... and weird.
Oh, and as a side note, a safety on a 2-point conversion is still only worth 1 point... and there's this whole other super weird possibility where a defense could run the ball back towards the other endzone, lose possession just before, have an offensive player pick it up, and tackle him in the that endzone for a single point... so yes, technically a team could score 1 point in an entire football game, but it's never happened and I seriously, seriously, seriously doubt it ever will...
2. Fair Catch Free Kick: This is one the more avid football fans probably have heard of, although it is still incredibly rare (hence why it's in this post). In fact, out of the 400+ plus games I've been to in person and thousands of others I've watched, I've actually never seen it happen live. I've heard of it though, mainly in high school, so it does happen once in a while.
Ok, so here's what happens: Team A punts the ball, Team B fair catches the punt. Sounds really bizarre right? Well, just hang on. Instead of going on to have a normal offensive possession, let's say that it's a terrible punt and Team B gets good field position instead (say, on the other team's 30). Team B can elect to attempt a field goal from that spot, the very next play, without a single defensive player on the line of scrimmage. That's right. A free field goal attempt with no players from Team A within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage and practically no chance at a block. Why would a team do this? Well, generally it doesn't happen because most teams want to at least try and score a touchdown, but say there's only a second or so left in the half and you have a better shot kicking the field goal, or say the game's tied on the last play. There are a few scenarios that would actually make this the right call.
Here's a video of the last attempt at this in the NFL.
3. A Bad Snap Which Cannot Be Recovered By The Defense: This one's pretty straightforward, so I'll make it short. If a quarterback is under center (directly behind the center) and the snap goes between his legs without being touched, it is ruled a false start by the center and not a fumble. Therefore, even though the ball is lying free on the ground, the defense cannot obtain possession of it.
4. The Drop Kick Field Goal: This is another odd rule that many NFL fans probably know about, especially after Doug Flutie accomplished it a couple years back. It's a pretty simple concept, but strange mainly because it's atypical and hardly ever attempted.
Basically, kicking a field goal does not necessarily have to be performed in the manner we're used to nowadays where there's a kicker and a holder. Instead of this, any player can kick a field goal by simply performing a drop kick. (That is, catching the ball, dropping it, and kicking it before hitting the ground.) Why would a team do this? Well, there aren't too many reasons other than perhaps catching a team off guard, and so it's not seen very often.
Closing Thoughts: There are tons and tons of other really bizarre rules and rare possibilities I could have selected for the list and that's just the great thing with sports: anything can happen. Perhaps I'll have to do a follow up for basketball and baseball a little later in the year. For now however, you'll just have to settle with these two really, really bizarre runner ups:
First, from the CUSA Championship game this year: UCF punts the ball to Tulsa and a UCF player swats the ball. I, probably like most people, always thought that once a defensive player touched a punt, the ball was dead. Apparently however, this is not the case. In order for the ball to be ruled dead, the defensive player has to possess the ball (or bring it to a complete stop). Recognizing this, a Tulsa player, well, here's the video.
And finally, this doesn't make this list because it's not a rule in American football (thank heavens) but rather Canadian football. I don't even know where to begin with this one, so... just watch.
Well, that's all I got! See you tomorrow with Sports Saturday!
-JT
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