Extra Point Question

[Robert Goodman]

Originally Posted by Robert Goodman

Think about it this way: The first time, did the captain have to inform an official, "We're going for 2."?

Although the major rules codes have never operated that way, some minor leagues have had rules like that. In the 1980s at least, there were some leagues where I was told the rule was that team A could snap from the B2 for a 1 point try, or from the B3 for a 2 point try. Considering the threat of the fake to be worth more than the yard, I'd've thought they'd snap from the 3 all the time if it maintained the option of 2 points (so the defense couldn't rush all out without taking a chance), but they didn't in the leagues where I saw that, so I inferred the rule was that they could score only 1 point if they snapped from the 2, and only via a touchdown or safety if they snapped from the 3. No word on which score would be allowed if a try initially from the B2 were to have its spot moved to or beyond the B3 via penalty, but it's possible the initial poster's supposition would've been correct as applied to, say, the Mid-East Football Conference.

Why did those leagues have such a funny rule? I think it's because at that time the only major USAn codes in which the 2 point conversion was allowed had the spot as the 3 yard line, while the NFL, which allowed only a 1 point try, had the spot as the B2 (or any spot farther back that team A chose).

Robert