As Kaden and I were watching the Sunday night football game a few weeks ago, the broadcaster started making the comments about the safety making a tackle. Kaden, who knows quite a bit about the game for a seven year old was immediately confused and started asking why the other team was getting two points? It took me about a half a second to realize that he heard the word safety and automatically thought about the other safety in Football. Yes folks, there are two safety’s in football and Mother and Son Sports is here for you to clear up the Safety or Safety confusion!
Safety (The Position) – The first safety that we will discuss is actually a defensive position. The safety is a defensive player that lines up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage (where the quarterback and offensive line are). The safety is responsible for covering wide receivers and is usually the last line of defense. If the Wide Receiver gets around or behind the safety that typically means big trouble for the defense.
Safety (The Points) – The other safety is a way to score points on the football field. Below are the following ways that a safety can occur (courtesy of Wikipedia).
- The ball carrier is tackled in his own end zone
- The ball becomes dead in the end zone, with the exception of an incomplete forward pass, and the defending team is responsible for it being there
- The offense commits a foul in its own end zone
As you can see there is quite a big difference between both safety’s! One is a player and the other equals points. Please continue to check back in with Mother and Son Sports for more on football terms! We are clearing up confusion one yard at a time!
Source: Wikipedia.com
by Stacey Atkinson