End zone The end zone refers to the scoring area on the field , according to gridiron - based codes of football . It is the area between the end line and goal line bounded by the sidelines . There are two end zones , each being on an opposite side of the field . It is bordered on all sides by a white line indicating its beginning and end points , with orange , square pylons placed at each of the four corners as a visual aid . Canadian rule books use the term " goal area " instead of " end zone " , but the latter term is the more common in colloquial Canadian English . Unlike sports like Association football and ice hockey which require the puck or ball to pass completely over the goal line to count as a score , both Canadian and American football just merely need the nose of the ball to break the vertical plane of the outer edge of the goal line . A similar concept exists in both rugby football codes , where it is known as the " in - goal area " . The difference between rugby and gridiron - based codes is that in rugby , the ball must be touched to the ground in the in - goal area to count as a try ( the rugby equivalent of a touchdown ) , whereas in the gridiron - based games , simply possessing the ball while it is in the end zone is sufficient to count it as a touchdown . History . The end zones were invented as a result of the creation of the forward pass . Prior to this , the goal line and end line were the same , and players scored a touchdown by leaving the field of play through that line . Goal posts were placed on the goal line , and any kicks that did not result in field goals but left the field through the end lines were simply recorded as touchback s ( or , in the Canadian game , singles ; it was during the pre - end zone era that Hugh Gall set the record for most singles in a game , with 8 ) . In the earliest days of the forward pass , the pass would have to be caught in - bounds , and could not be thrown across the goal line ( as the receiver would be out of bounds ) . This also made it difficult to pass the ball when very close to one ' s own end zone , since merely dropping back to pass or kick would result in a safety ( rules of the forward pass at the time required the passer to be five yards behind the line of scrimmage , which would make throwing the forward pass when the ball was snapped from behind one ' s own five - yard line illegal in itself ) . Thus , in 1912 , the end zone was born . Each league used a different approach : Canadian football , which adopted the forward pass and the end zones in 1929 ( far later than the Americans ) , merely appended 20 - to 25 - yard end zones to the ends of the existing 110 - yard field , leaving the goal posts on the goal line and creating a much larger field of play . American football , on the other hand , took a different approach : 12 yards of end zone were added to each end of the field , but in return , the playing field was shortened from 110 yards to 100 , resulting in the physical size of the field being only slightly longer than before . Goal posts were originally kept on the goal lines , but after they began to interfere with play , they moved back to the end lines in 1927 , where they have remained in college football ever since . The National Football League moved the goal posts up to the goal line again in 1932 , then back again to the end line in 1974 . Scoring . A team scores a touchdown by entering its opponent ' s end zone while carrying the ball or catching the ball while being within the end zone . If the ball is carried by a player , it is considered a score when any part of the ball is directly above or beyond any part of the goal line between the pylons . In addition , a two - point conversion may be scored after a touchdown by similar means . The National Football League changed its rule in 2007 , so that a ball carrier merely touching the pylon is insufficient to score a touchdown ; the ball must actually enter the end zone . Size . The end zone in Canadian football is 20 yards long by 65 yards wide , while the end zone in American football is 10 yards long by 53⅓ yards wide ( Canadian football is played on a longer and wider field ) . The end zone stretches from pylon to pylon on an American football field . The goal post . The location and dimensions of a goal post differs from league to league , but it is usually within the boundaries of the end zone . In earlier football games ( both professional and collegiate ) , the goal post began at the goal line , and was usually an H - shaped bar . Nowadays , for player safety reasons , almost all goal posts in the professional and collegiate levels of American football are T - shaped , and reside just outside the rear of both end zones . The goal posts in Canadian football still reside on the goal line instead of the back of the end zones , partly because the number of field goal attempts would dramatically decrease if the posts were moved 20 yards back in that sport . At the high school level , it is not uncommon to see multi - purpose goal posts that include football goal posts at the top and a soccer net at the bottom ; these are usually seen at smaller schools and in multi - purpose stadium s where facilities are used for multiple sports . When these or H - shaped goal posts are used in football , the lower portions of the posts are covered with several inches of heavy foam padding to protect the safety of the players . Decoration . Most professional and collegiate teams have their logo , team name , or both painted on the surface of the end zone , with team colors filling the background . Many championship and bowl games at college and professional level are commemorated by the names of the opposing teams each being painted in one of the opposite end zones . In many places , particularly in smaller high schools and colleges , end zones are undecorated , or have plain white diagonal stripes spaced several yards apart , in lieu of colors and decorations . One notable use of this design in higher levels is with the Pittsburgh Steelers , who kept their diagonal - line end zone decoration at Heinz Field after positive fan reaction . One of the quirks of the American Football League was its use of unusual patterns such as argyle in its end zones , a tradition revived in 2009 by the Denver Broncos , itself a former AFL team . The XFL standardized its playing fields so that all eight of its teams had uniform fields with the XFL logo in each end zone and no team identification .