Choose from Four Options

• $86 for one varsity-football instinct-training session ($150 value)
• $57 for one JV-football instinct-training session ($100 value)
• $131 for two varsity-football instinct-training sessions ($300 value)
• $93 for two JV-football instinct-training sessions ($200 value)

The Safety: Two Points, Many Complexities 

To learn about one surprising turn a football game might take, check out Groupon’s exploration of the safety.

As one of football’s rarest scoring plays, a safety—not to be confused with the defensive position of the same name—is comparable to an “own goal” in other sports, such as soccer or hockey. A safety occurs when an offensive player is considered down in his own end zone. It is worth two points and stands alone as the only way in which a team not in possession of the ball can get on the board. To signal a safety, the referee raises his arms above his head and brings his palms together, forming an upside-down “V” shape. 

Most frequently, safeties occur when a tackle lays out an offensive ball carrier behind his own goal line, but occasionally a ball carrier intentionally retreats out of bounds in his own end zone. In spite of the obvious fact that safeties grant points to the opposite team, they can sometimes help the at-fault team to gain leverage in field position or on the play clock. After a safety rears its seldom-seen head, play resumes with a free kick that allows the guilty team to punt, kick, or drop kick the ball back to the opposition. Most of all, safeties can be satisfying: “That’s the ultimate,” defensive tackle Chris Canty told the New York Times. “Get a sack and get points. What’s better?”