Defensive two-point conversion

interception, long run back, stripped from behind around the 5 yard line, guy picks up ball, tries to get the corner by running back into the end zone, gets tackled before he makes it out

 

Not a defensive conversion, but fairly similar:

A few years ago I was covering a game between two pretty bad teams. Let's call them the Cockfloggers and the Meatstrokers.

It came down to 12 seconds left, the Cockfloggers had a 16-12 lead, 4th and 10 on their own 35. They call time out, last time out for either team. The Floggers did have a fairly shifty running QB.

The coach tells the kid, "take the snap, drop back, start running side to side of the field. Burn off as much of the clock as you can. Do not get tackled on the field of play. If anybody on the other team gets near you, turn around and throw the ball as far as you can out of your own end zone."

So the kid takes the snap, drops back, starts running around. The Meatstrokers defense starts closing in on him. He turns, winds up, throws the ball downfield toward his own end zone.

It promptly skips out of bounds on the 2-yard-line. 0:01.



(And it was their own home field, so they couldn't scream about the clock operator.)

 

they should have just told the QB to run and then take a safety on the ensuing punt. there most likely would not have been any time left.

Back to the tread, the 2-point conversion rule is only applicable in College and the NFL. In High school, the ball is whistled dead on the turnover. (that is with a caveat for Texas and Massachusetts who play under NCAA rules)

 

The defensive two-point conversion is among the dumbest rules in the history of sports.

 

I remember SMU scoring on one shortly after it revived football in the late 80s.

 

Saw one of those quirky 2-point defensive conversions. Wisconsin at Indiana, 1993. Nobody, from the players to the fans, seemed to have any idea what was happening as IU blocked an extra point and started running it back.

 

That was the one I was referring to ... IU's scoreboard operator put six points on the board at first. I knew the rule, but I was about the only one.

It's still the only one I've ever seen -- live or on TV (other than in highlights).

 

Now that I think about it, I'm almost positive I saw one live at Eastern Illinois a few years back. I'm too lazy to look it up to be sure.

 

Yeah, it was a bizarre play at Wisconsin-Indiana. Rainy day. UW goes up 6-0 (they almost NEVER won on the road before 1993). But either a blocked XP attempt or a fumbled snap led to the IU score. 6-2 Wisconsin -- but it was a puzzler...

 

Texas scored a one-point safety against A&M in 2004. An extra point was blocked, and A&M tried to pick it up and run.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safety_%28football_score%29#Safeties_on_PAT.2Fconversion_tries

It is possible to score a one-point safety in the NFL, but it would require the ball to be knocked into the end zone by the defense, then recovered there. Once the defensive team gains possession of the ball on a conversion attempt, the ball is dead. (In utterly random high-school rules trivia, it's also not possible to score on defense in overtime in Georgia.)

And I once saw Georgia block an extra point against Vanderbilt and return it. It was a bit weird, because no one knew quite what to do. On the one hand, we'd scored ... but on the other, we had just let Vanderbilt score. But there's quite a swing between 7-0 and 6-2.

 

Theoretically, couldn't an NFL team attempting the conversion safety itself for a point?

 

You know, I'm not entirely sure. It stands to reason, and I'm sure it's covered somewhere in the rule book. I guess if they went backwards 98 yards and downed the ball in the end zone, the other team would get a point.