Two - point conversion In American and Canadian football , a two - point conversion is a play a team attempts instead of kicking a one - point convert immediately after it scores a touchdown . In a two - point conversion attempt , the team that just scored must run a play from close to the opponent ' s goal line ( 5 - yard line in Canadian , 3 - yard line in amateur American , 2 - yard line in professional American ) and advance the ball across the goal line in the same manner as if they were scoring a touchdown . If the team succeeds , it earns two additional points on top of the six points for the touchdown . If the team fails , no additional points are scored . In either case , the team proceeds to a kickoff . Various sources estimate the success rate of a two - point conversion to be between 40 % and 55 % , significantly lower than that of the extra point , though if the higher value is to be believed , a higher expected value is achieved through the two - point conversion than the extra point . Adoption of rule . The two - point conversion rule has been used in college football since 1958 and more recently in Canadian amateur football and the Canadian Football League ( 1975 ) . In overtime situations in college football , the two - point conversion is the mandatory method of scoring after a touchdown beginning with the third overtime . The American Football League used the two - point conversion during its ten seasons from 1960 to 1969 . After the NFL merged with the AFL , the rule did not immediately carry over to the merged league , though they experimented in 1968 with a compromise rule ( see below ) . The NFL adopted the two - point conversion rule in 1994 . Tom Tupa scored the first two - point conversion in NFL history , running in a faked extra point attempt for the Cleveland Browns in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals in the first week of the 1994 season . He scored a total of three such conversions that season , earning him the nickname " Two Point Tupa . " The NFL ' s developmental league , NFL Europe ( and its former entity , the World League of American Football ) , adopted the two - point conversion rule for its entire existence from 1991 through 2007 . Six - man football reverses the extra point and the two - point conversion : because there is no offensive line in that league , making kick protection more difficult , plays from scrimmage are worth one point but successful kicks are worth two . It is also reversed in many high school football and youth football leagues , since there are not often skilled kickers at that level . A variant of this , especially at the youth level , is to allow one point for a running conversion , two points for a passing conversion , and two points for a successful kick . The Arena Football League has recognized the two - point conversion for its entire existence ( in both its original 1987 – 2008 incarnation and its ongoing revival ) , allowing for either a play from scrimmage or a drop kick to be worth two points . ( The additional extra point for a drop kick is unique to arena football . ) In 1968 , leading up to the AFL - NFL merger , the leagues developed a radical " compromise " rule that would reconcile the fact that the NFL did not recognize the two point conversion but the AFL did : the relatively easy extra point kick would be eliminated and only a play from scrimmage would score one point . The rule would be used for the interleague matchups for that preseason , and would not be tried again . Both the World Football League and the XFL revived this concept , making it a point not to institute a two - point conversion rule so as to eliminate the easy kick . What would constitute a two - point conversion in other leagues only counted one point in the AFL - NFL games , WFL , or XFL . However , the XFL later added a rule in the playoffs that allowed the scoring team to score two ( or even three ) points by successfully executing a play from a point farther from the opponent ' s end zone ( two points if the team could score from the five - yard line and three points if they could score from the ten - yard line ) . Defensive two - point conversion . In American college and Canadian football ( as well as , for a significant period of time , the Arena Football League , where missed extra points are rebounded back into the field of play ) , an intercepted two - point attempt , or one otherwise recovered by the defense , or a blocked extra point kick , can be returned to the other end zone to give the " defensive " team two points . The team that scored the touchdown then kicks off as normal . This is rare because of the infrequent use of the two - point conversion and the rarity of blocked extra points , and also because of the difficulty in returning the ball the full length of the field . It has proven the winning margin in some games . Only once has an individual player scored more than a single defensive two - point conversion in a game : Tony Holmes of the Texas Longhorns in a 1998 game against the Iowa State Cyclones . The NFL and high schools that follow the rules of the National Federation of State High School Associations ( all U . S . high schools except those in Texas and Massachusetts , which use NCAA rules instead ) do not allow this , and a two - point attempt resulting in recovery of the ball by the defense is immediately blown dead and ruled merely as ' no good ' , although it can , on rare occasions , result in a one - point safety . This one - point safety is the only way a team can have a score of just one point during the course of an American football game . ( College and high school football assign a 1 – 0 score for a forfeited game . ) Canadian football , however , allows another one - point play called the single , or rouge . Conversion safety . NCAA rules dictate that when a safety occurs during a two point conversion or point after kick , it is worth one point . Mathematical application of the two - point conversion . In 2007 , blogger Eric Menhart analyzed the value of going for a two point conversion compared to a field goal style extra point in the National Football League , concluding that teams are usually better served kicking the extra point in most cases . This was consistent with the results in the XFL , which had an average success rate of 40 % for their one - point conversions ( the XFL , as previously mentioned , required scrimmage plays for one point and did not allow kicks ) . This counters " Tuesday Morning Quarterback " columnist Gregg Easterbrook ' s theory that since the average yards gained on a typical scrimmage play is 5 yards , that the opposite is true and that the two - point conversion would , on average , bring a greater point value return ; furthermore , Easterbrook cites the " Football Prospectus " , which says that the average success rate on a two - point conversion is between 50 % and 55 % , depending on the time frame used and the situations in which the conversion is attempted . The two - point conversion usually involves goal - line defenses and are thus not typical scrimmage plays , resulting in shorter average gains . Regardless of the actual success rate , professional teams seldom attempt the two - point conversion , unless an " eight - point " touchdown results in a certain point margin , either leading , tied , or behind , preferring the near - certain single point ( see below . ) While in theory a 50 % success rate should result in the same amount of points scored as one - point conversions , this approach does not reflect the realities of game situations . While two - point conversions might result in the same number of points over a season long period this is not how success is measured . Even with a 50 % success rate it is certainly possible for a team to miss multiple two point conversions in one game , and then lose to a team who scored the same number of touchdowns but scored their points - after , and while this might be followed by a game where a team makes all their two point conversions to give an average of 50 % and the same number of points overall , losing and winning games is much more important for determining success . There is a relatively common game situation in which the two - point conversion can be an optimal strategy even if its likelihood is under 50 % . A team down fourteen points in the final minutes must score two touchdowns while keeping their opponents scoreless in order to tie or win the game . In this situation , it is possible ( but unlikely for a team ) to go for two after the first score , because if the team makes it , they can kick an extra point in their next score to secure a win , while if they miss , they still have a chance to make the next two - point conversion to get to fourteen . Though the logic seems counter - intuitive , this maximizes a team ' s win probability . The odds of converting a two - point try either on the first attempt ( securing a win ) or the second ( securing a tie and sending the game into overtime ) are higher than the odds of missing both ( securing a loss ) , as long as the expected probability is higher than about 39 percent . Notably , Texas Longhorns coach Darrell Royal successfully used this strategy to defeat Arkansas in 1969 ' s Game of the Century . Nevertheless , coaches continually under utilize this strategy , preferring the conservative approach so as not to alienate fans . Two - point conversion chart . This version of the two - point conversion chart was first developed by Dick Vermeil in the early 1970s when he was offensive coordinator under Tommy Prothro at UCLA . The chart is still used by coaches in helping them to determine whether to go for a two point or one point conversion after a touchdown in various situations . The score margin listed in the chart is the margin after the touchdown is scored , but before the conversion is attempted .