<P> In gridiron football, the safety (American football) or safety touch (Canadian football) is a scoring play that results in two points (or, in rare cases, one point) being awarded to the scoring team . Safeties can be scored in a number of ways, such as when a ball carrier is tackled in his own end zone or when a foul is committed by the offense in their own end zone . After a safety is scored in American football, the ball is kicked off to the team that scored the safety from the 20 - yard line; in Canadian football, the scoring team also has the options of taking control of the ball at their own 35 - yard line or kicking off the ball, also at their own 35 - yard line . The ability of the scoring team to receive the ball through a kickoff differs from the touchdown and field goal, which require the scoring team to kick the ball off to the scored upon team . Despite being of relatively low point value, safeties can have a significant impact on the result of games, and Brian Burke of Advanced NFL Stats estimated that safeties have a greater abstract value than field goals, despite being worth a point less, due to the field position and reclaimed possession gained off the safety kick . </P> <P> Safeties are the least common method of scoring in American football but are not rare occurrences--since 1932, a safety has occurred once every 14.31 games in the National Football League (NFL), or about once a week under current scheduling rules . On October 21, 1973, Fred Dryer, playing for the Los Angeles Rams against the Green Bay Packers, became the only player in NFL History to score two safeties in a single game . A much rarer occurrence is the one - point safety, which can be scored by the offense on an extra point or two - point conversion attempt; those have occurred at least twice in NCAA Division I football since 1996, most recently at the 2013 Fiesta Bowl . No conversion safeties have occurred since at least 1940 in the NFL . A conversion safety by the defense is also possible, though highly unlikely; although this has never occurred, it is the only possible way a team could finish with a single point in an American football game . </P> <P> In American football, a safety is scored when any of the following conditions occur: </P>

Odds of a safety in an nfl game