You’ll rarely see them in the pros, since a safety is usually a sign that the other team did something wrong, rather than that the scoring team did something right. I did, however, once see a high school game where my team scored three safeties. On two of them, the center snapped the ball to the quarterback, the quarterback missed it and started chasing it, and the ball rolled and bounced all the way into the end zone (and I think back out the other end) before he caught up to it.
No need for walking. The QB only needs to turn around and throw the ball through the uprights for a safety. Parcells did this with the Jets back in the late 90s. As I recall, it was late in the fourth quarter and they were up by 6 on or near their own 25. The 2 points wouldn’t matter, and the free kick meant they didn’t have to worry about a blocked punt.
(Backward pass is a lateral, ie live ball. If you as the offense let a live ball go out of bounds in the endzone, that’s a safety. Therefore, just turn around and throw it.)
Is tripping legal?
You can trip the guy with the ball to tackle him. But for blocking you are not allowed to hit anyone below the knees.
I asked in another thread if it was legal to trip the ball carrier. Someone responded that tripping is a penalty no matter who you trip. What’s the dope?
You can’t trip anyone with your feet. You can tackle the ball carrier by grabbing his ankle with your hands, but you can’t take down others like that.
If you caught the ball carrier from behind and had him in a kind of bear hug around the shoulders, would it be legal to bring him down by getting your leg between his so he tripped. I was a scrawny little defensive back in 5th-6th grade football (back in the early 60s) and tackled this way often. I never got called for it, but it’s not like the refs necessarily knew all the rules.
I threw a ball carrier over my leg like I was doing judo once. He went to the ground and I was left standing. I wondered if it was legal.