The Promised Land. The Candy Store. Pay Dirt. Sweet Spot. Takin’ it to the House.
The end zone is where players dance and celebrate and slap each other’s butts and do high-fives because they have reached that Promise Land and scored points for their team – which, ultimately, wins games.

The end zone is a 10-yard area at both ends of the football field (pink in the picture above), which, when the football crosses that thick white line that marks the start of the end zone area, that team scores six points.

That thick white line is eight inches wide. Often times the ball will “break the plane” – that imaginary wall that encompasses that thick white line. The orange things in all four corners of the end zone areas are pylons. The pylons often take a beating. When the person running for dear life to the end zone with a host of players on his heels wanting to stop him, all he has to do (while in bounds) is touch one of the pylons at the front of the end zone area and it is usually considered a touchdown and six sweet points.

Inside the end zone area stands the goal post which is where other avenues of scoring can happen. Right after a touchdown a team has the choice to go for one extra point (PAT-Point After Touchdown) by kicking the ball through the goal post. The ball is placed on the two-yard-line in front of the end zone where the touchdown occurred so that a kicker can attempt to get the ball successfully through the goal post. (This one point conversion is the preferred method since the extra point attempt success rate is 95%.

Following a touchdown, a team can try for a two-point conversion, meaning the ball has to cross that imaginary wall into the Promise Land to get two points. As in going for one extra point, the ball is also placed on the two-yard-line to try for the two-point conversion.

A team can get into the end zone by the quarterback throwing it to a receiver who catches the ball inside the end zone or catches the ball and runs into the end zone or crosses that plane or a player recovers a loose ball in the opponent’s end zone.

By whatever means necessary (as long as it stays within the rules of play), the offensive side of the team has to get that Promise Land to win the game.

TRIVIA: A touchdown was originally worth four points. In 1898 it was changed to five points. It was changed to six points in 1912.

Shout out to Gina our fabulous contributor for this FB 101 basic!