Touchdown - History

History

When the first uniform rules for American football were enacted by the newly-formed Intercollegiate Football Association just following the 1876 Rugby season, a touchdown counted for 1/4 of a kicked goal (except in the case of a tie) plus it allowed the offense the chance to kick for goal by placekick or dropkick from a spot along a line perpendicular to the goal line and passing through the point where the ball was touched down, or through a process known as a "punt-out", where the attacking team would kick the ball from the point where it was touched down to a teammate. If the teammate could fair catch the ball, he could follow with a try for goal from the spot of the catch, or resume play as normal (in an attempt to touch down the ball in a spot more advantageous for kicking). The governing rule at the time read: "A match shall be decided by a majority of touchdowns. A goal shall be equal to four touchdowns, but in the case of a tie, a goal kicked from a touchdown shall take precedence over four touchdowns."

In 1881, the rules were modified so that a goal kicked from a touchdown took precedence over a goal kicked from the field in breaking ties.

In 1882, four touchdowns were determined to take precedence over a goal kicked from the field. Two safeties were equivalent to a touchdown.

In 1883, points were introduced to football, and a touchdown counted as four points. A goal after a touchdown also counted as four points.

In 1889, the provision requiring the ball to actually be touched to the ground was removed. A touchdown was now scored by possessing the ball beyond the goal line.

In 1897, the touchdown scored five points, and the goal after touchdown added an additional point.

In 1900, the definition of touchdown was changed to include situations where the ball becomes dead on or above the goal line.

In 1912, the value of a touchdown was increased to six points. The end zone was also added. Before the addition of the end zone, forward passes caught beyond the goal line resulted in a loss of possession and a touchback. (The increase from five points to six did not come until much later in Canada, and the touchdown remained only five points there until 1956.)

The ability to score a touchdown on the point-after attempt (two-point conversion) was added to NCAA football in 1958, high school football in 1969, and the NFL in 1994.