Two - minute warning In the National Football League , the two - minute warning is given when two minutes of game time remain on the game clock in each half of a game , i . e . near the end of the second and fourth quarters . There is an additional two - minute warning in the rare event only two minutes remain in an overtime period . If the football is in play when the clock reaches 2 : 00 , the two - minute warning is called immediately after the play concludes , when the ball is declared dead . The two - minute warning stops the game clock in all cases . History . The origins are from the days in the NFL when the official game time was kept by a member of the officiating crew , with the stadium clock being unofficial . Its purpose was a checkpoint to ensure that the teams knew how much time remained in the game . Since the late 1960s the NFL stadium clock has been official , but by then television was an important factor in the NFL , so the two - minute warning was retained as a commercial break and to serve as " tension building " time , and thus has become an important part of the game ' s flow . Rules . In addition to those practical purposes , gradually , some rules have evolved that are unique to the final two minutes of each half and overtime . There is no special event at the ends of the first and third quarters , aside from swapping end zones , so there is no two - minute warning then , only at the halves . The two - minute warning in the fourth quarter is an important milestone in the game for a team that is in the lead and looking to run out the clock . If the leading team has the ball on first down with less than two minutes to go in the game and the opposing team has no timeouts remaining , the quarterback can often safely end the game by " taking a knee " three times in a row without risking injuries or turnovers . This is because at the end of each play , the offensive team can take up to 40 seconds to start running the next play . 10 - second runoff . The following situations result in a 10 - second game clock runoff if the team in possession of the ball is trailing or the game is tied and the team in possession of the ball has no timeout s in that half remaining . The half or game can expire on this runoff . Injuries . If a player is injured and his team has timeouts in that half remaining , a timeout is automatically charged to that team to allow the injured player to be removed from the field . If a team is out of timeouts , they get an excessive " fourth timeout " . However , any subsequent injuries after the fourth timeout result in a five - yard delay - of - game foul . In addition to an excessive timeout , there is a 10 - second runoff ( if it was an offensive player that was injured ) or the play clock is reset to 40 seconds ( if it was a defensive player ) . Exceptions to the above include if the other team called a timeout immediately after the previous play to save time on the clock ; the injury was caused by a foul by an opponent ; or the previous play resulted in a change of possession , a successful field goal , or was a conversion attempt . Other football leagues . The CFL has a three - minute warning , whilst the arena football leagues have a one - minute warning .