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Illegal touching, a common violation in American football, occurs when a player who is not permitted to do so, makes contact with the football. This typically occurs when the non-eligible player comes into contact with the football during a forward pass, leading to a penalty. 

A forward pass thrown from behind the line of scrimmage is penalized when:

• It is touched intentionally or is caught by an ineligible offensive player. In that case, it is a live ball;
• It is caught by an eligible offensive player who has gone out of bounds, either on his own or legally forced, and re-established themselves inbounds. In this case, it is also a live ball.

Every team has players who are eligible and non-eligible to touch the football on a forward passing play. 

Offensive players who are at least one yard behind the line at the snap are eligible to touch the football on a forward pass. Those players either have the numbers (0–49 and 80–89) or have legally reported a non-eligible player.

Penalty for illegal touching by the defense: Loss of five yards and automatic first down. A penalty will only affect the first non-eligible player to touch the football.

Read Next: What Is a Safety In Football?

Safety is a way of scoring points in American football. It brings two points to the scoring team. Safety is valid in the following cases: when the offensive team commits a penalty in their end zone, the offensive player who possesses the football is tackled in their end zone, and the ball becomes dead in the end zone.

After safety has occurred, the football is put back into play by the scored-upon team from their 20-yard line by kicking off.

What is The Value of Safety in Football?

Despite their modest value of two points, safeties can have a profound impact on the final score.

Brian Burke of Advanced NFL Stats approximated the value of safety to be greater than field goals using statistical and mathematical methods. 

“A free kick from the 20 yd-line usually means pretty good field position, and this is what makes safeties worth more than you might think.”

How Often Does Safety Occur?

Safeties have a rare appearance in the NFL. They appear approximately once every 14 games.

Even rarer are one-point safeties. They occur on an extra point or two-point conversion attempt by the offense. The offensive team turns the ball over, and the defense takes the football out of the end zone and gets tackled in the end zone. This conversion safety by the offense hasn’t occurred in the NFL since 1940.

The rarest of all is conversion safety by the defense. It is possible, but it is extremely unlikely. This type of conversion safety has never happened in NFL history.

Safety – a Position in American Football

Safety in American football can also be a defensive position, as in safetyman (S). They are lined up on the line 10-15 yards from the line of scrimmage. Two variations of the safety positions are the free safety (FS) and the strong safety (SS).

Read Next: What Is An Octopus In Football?

An octopus in American football occurs when the same player who scored a touchdown afterward scores the two-point conversion. Six points for the touchdown plus two points for the conversion give eight points in one go. That is why it is called an octopus.

For an octopus to be valid, the same player must be the one in possession of the ball when entering the end zone for both the touchdown and the two-point conversion. Additionally, the two-point conversion must follow the touchdown subsequently for it to be taken into account for the octopus.

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