Talk:Conversion (gridiron football)

Latest comment: 2 years ago by Csytrn in topic Fourth Down Conversion

Convert edit

No merge of "convert" and two-point conversion. Completely different play than the extra point. Vidor (talk) 22:52, 23 January 2010 (UTC)Reply

And for that matter, this article should be listed under "extra point". Vidor (talk) 22:53, 23 January 2010 (UTC)Reply

Article name edit

Shouldn't this be under "Try"? That's what the rulebook calls it: http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/try 147.136.249.101 (talk) 04:23, 26 December 2010 (UTC)Reply

I've never heard it called a convert. Whose idea was this? Conversion maybe. Gr8white (talk) 06:03, 3 January 2011 (UTC)Reply
Agreed. I think point after touchdown or extra point is the most common name. --AW (talk) 00:00, 10 January 2011 (UTC)Reply
The correct term is "Try", at all levels in the US (NFHS/High School, NCAA and NFL). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 130.76.32.213 (talk) 20:51, 3 October 2011 (UTC)Reply
I propose that the article be moved to point after touchdown, a commonly understood term. I have never heard convert, and while it is possible that try is in the rulebook, I don't think anyone knows that term either. It doesn't seem consonant with the principle of least surprise for someone to type convert into the search box and wind up here. --Trovatore (talk) 22:58, 4 February 2012 (UTC)Reply

Requested move edit

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: Moved to Conversion (gridiron football), whether or not Convert should be a DAB is another decision Mike Cline (talk) 17:04, 13 February 2012 (UTC)Reply



Convertpoint after touchdown – "Convert" is neither widely understood nor the term that appears in the rule books (I am given to understand the rulebooks call it a "try"). This title is at least widely used. --Trovatore (talk) 10:04, 5 February 2012 (UTC)Reply

  • Support, though I'd also support conversion (American football), extra point try or just about anything else. I've never heard anyone use "convert" as a noun, not even in this context. Powers T 15:20, 5 February 2012 (UTC)Reply
  • Move to Conversion (American and Canadian football): As it is currently written, the article goes into a broad discussion of both the PAT and the two-point conversion. Also, this also exists in Canadian football. Zzyzx11 (talk) 18:20, 5 February 2012 (UTC)Reply
    • Comment I would find that title acceptable. I think point after touchdown is a little better though, as it's completely clear what it means without parenthetical disambiguation. I don't find anything particularly jarring or unnatural about including the two-point play under the title point after touchdown. --Trovatore (talk) 22:04, 5 February 2012 (UTC)Reply
  • Support a move to something indicating this has to do with football. The word "convert" in the English language has many common meanings, most of which have nothing to do with football, and should either be or redirect to a disambiguation page. Hellno2 (talk) 01:19, 6 February 2012 (UTC)Reply
  • Support Conversion (grid iron football) or Conversion (North American football) or Conversion (American and Canadian football) . The generic term should be a disambiguation page. 70.24.247.54 (talk) 08:08, 6 February 2012 (UTC)Reply
    • Comment This is outside the scope of the requested move, but frankly I think convert should be a redlink. Wikipedia is not a dictionary and I don't think there's any encyclopedic article to be written under that title. There is no need to have a bluelink for every common word. --Trovatore (talk) 16:42, 6 February 2012 (UTC)Reply
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

NFL rule -- example has just occurred edit

Notice that in the NFL, the extra point must be tried after a touchdown which occurred not in overtime, but in the regulation game; as a result, we have this remark here in Wikipedia:

"Rarely, this can result in such an attempt having to be made at the end of the game when it cannot change the outcome of the game."

2 days ago, the Philadelphia Eagles went up by one point by scoring a TD against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as time ran out. As the referee said, by rule the extra point had to be attempted. It was good, and the final score was Phila. 23, T.B. 21. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.63.16.20 (talk) 16:17, 11 December 2012 (UTC)Reply

Yep, that was that great finish with the Bucs and Eagles. They require the try be attempted for points tiebreaking purposes, since points differential tiebreakers can and do come into play. Toa Nidhiki05 19:19, 11 December 2012 (UTC)Reply
However, under the 2015 rules, Philadelphia would be advised to just line up and fall on the ball. A blocked kick could result in a Tampa runback and two-point score, giving them the game. WHPratt (talk) 00:48, 18 August 2016 (UTC)Reply

leagues outside North America edit

is it noteworthy by the standards of this wiki, that in the 2013 German Bowl (GFL, Finale) the Dresden Monarchs lost to the New Yorker Lions Braunschweig 34-35 due to a missed extra point after the first Touchdown of the Dresden Monarchs (Kickers name was Jan Hilgenfeldt)? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 141.30.210.129 (talk) 15:38, 10 December 2013 (UTC)Reply

There have been thousands of games in many many leagues where the margin of difference was a single missed extra point. Mentioning one here probably isn't worth it. --Jayron32 16:17, 10 December 2013 (UTC)Reply

Move discussion in progress edit

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:Reception (American football) which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 07:59, 9 July 2015 (UTC)Reply

Extra points before the NFL had 2 point conversions edit

Before the NFL instituted the two point conversion in 1994, could teams score an extra point by passing or running the ball into the endzone in the case of a botched snap?50.136.139.204 (talk) 08:22, 12 November 2015 (UTC)Reply

Yes, sometimes they salvaged the point via a run or pass. Chicago's Dick Butkus scored the extra point on a pass reception twice in his career (he was in to block, and lined up at an eligible position just in case), and once that point decided the game. WHPratt (talk) 14:56, 26 August 2016 (UTC)Reply
That particular play was planned, and got some rehearsal in workouts. When an extra point kick got "busted," someone would cry "Fire!" (literally). The Bears' holder (or whomever) was instructed to heave the ball for a particular corner of the endzone, where Butkus would set up. As the tallest player out there, he could presumably out-jump the defenders. It was a nothing-to-lose play: remember, the defense couldn't intercept and run the ball back under the rules then in force. WHPratt (talk) 12:40, 18 May 2017 (UTC)Reply
http://www.chicagotribune.com/csac-bt-711114bearsredskinsgamer-story.html
I should apologize for laboring upon this subject, but it can slip through the statistical cracks. In some encyclopediae I've seen Butkus credited with *kicking* two extra points, and my link shows that that's nonsense. Once, Bears' kicker Roger LeClerc picked up a bad snap and ran the ball to the end zone to score the point. I'll bet that it shows up in the annals as a successful kick! WHPratt (talk) 04:15, 20 May 2017 (UTC)Reply
Note also 1940 NFL Championship Game. "So many footballs were kicked into the stands after touchdowns [the Bears scored 11 TDs] that officials asked [Coach George] Halas to run or pass for the point after touchdown on the last two touchdowns."WHPratt (talk) 14:51, 26 August 2016 (UTC)Reply

Article needs to state where the kick is taken from edit

I.e. is it taken from opposite where the touchdown was scored (as in rugby) or always in the centre i.e. directly opposite the posts ? Rcbutcher (talk) 15:04, 16 January 2016 (UTC)Reply

Good point. I hope my edit clarifies this. Indefatigable (talk) 19:32, 18 January 2016 (UTC)Reply

Fourth Down Conversion edit

If this article retains its title of "Conversion (gridiron football), it needs to be noted that the term "conversion" has at least two meanings, if not three.

1. The one-point conversion kick aka "try" after a touchdown.
2. The two-point conversion "try" after the touchdown, by running or passing in an attempt to cross the goal line.
3. The shortened term for "fourth down conversion", which is a play on fourth down that successfully gains the originally required 10 yard advance from the original line of scrimmage at the beginning of the 1st down. If successful, the offense has thus "converted" their 4th down into a 1st down. Often referred to as "they got the conversion". This being one of the options for fourth down instead of attempting a field goal or punting the ball.

At the very least there should be a link to either "Downs (gridiron)" or a link to "Fourth Down Conversion" in the article "Glossary of American football" or both. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mcrodgers2 (talkcontribs) 21:33, 24 November 2017 (UTC)Reply

We could use template:about at the front if there's actual confusion, but I'm skeptical anyone is actually confused; IMHO someone wanting to know what a fourth-down conversion is would probably google "fourth-down conversion" and end up on a page for that term rather than on this page. Rolf H Nelson (talk) 20:11, 25 November 2017 (UTC)Reply

I read the term "conversion" in a statistical analysis on football and came to this page, when the author really meant a fourth-down conversion. I was thoroughly confused until deciding to Google "conversion" myself and find another definition. csytrn (talk) 02:45, 31 January 2022 (UTC)Reply