Quickest score

[Robot_Arm]

@TheGunIsMightierThanThePen

Yeah, upon re-watching that video, I noticed that the clock doesn’t actually start running until ~3 seconds after Williams catches the ball, which meant his run took 6 seconds in real time. Either the clock operator dun goofed bigly, or he/she got too caught up in the unexpectedness and excitement of the play.

Who knows how accurate the clock really is in a football game? Starting the clock is imprecise, so the accuracy at the end of the game (or end of a quarter) shouldn’t be relied on, but they do. First-down measurements are the same way.

@kenobi_65

So, unless the ball was in the end zone, the kicking team couldn’t score. And, I think that the current NFL rule is that, if a kickoff is untouched when it reaches the receiving team’s end zone, it becomes a dead ball, and a touchback.

Is it a dead ball if the kickoff bounces before crossing the goal line? The video that @TheGunIsMightierThanThePen just posted has the ball bouncing into the end zone untouched, but still live. That was five seasons ago.

[gdave]

@Robot_Arm

That may be the fastest touchdown in a Super Bowl, but not the fastest score. In Super Bowl XLVIII the Broncos fumbled the snap on the first play and recovered the ball in their own end zone; giving up a safety 12 seconds into the game.

I guess that depends on how you define “fastest”. The safety occurred with less time elapsed on the official game clock, but that occurred on the second play of the game. The opening kickoff is the first play of the game, and Hester scored on that play; by that measure, no score could have happened faster. Hester’s TD also happened with much less real world time elapsed after the opening kickoff. By that measure, it’s easily the fastest in Super Bowl history, and I think the fastest in playoff history, although it still gets beat for fastest in NFL history by that Eagles-Cowboys game.

I know other opening kickoffs have been returned for touchdowns in non-Super Bowl NFL games, but I couldn’t find a list. It seems plausible that at least one other opening KO TD return would have taken less than 14 seconds, so I don’t know where Hester’s return ranks overall in NFL history for fastest score by time elapsed.

[gdave]

@Robot_Arm

Is it a dead ball if the kickoff bounces before crossing the goal line? The video that @TheGunIsMightierThanThePen just posted has the ball bouncing into the end zone untouched, but still live. That was five seasons ago.

Here’s the NFL rule:

ARTICLE 4. CATCH OR RECOVERY OF A FREE KICK

The following applies to the catch or recovery of a free kick:

1. If a player of the receiving team catches or recovers the ball, he may advance.
2. If the ball is declared dead while in the simultaneous possession of two opposing players, the ball is awarded to the receiving team.
3. A player of the kicking team may legally touch, catch, or recover the ball if:
4. it first touches a receiving team player; or
5. it reaches or crosses the receiving team’s restraining line.
   4. The ball is dead if:
   ** 1. it is caught or recovered by a player of the kicking team. If the catch or recovery is legal, the ball belongs to the kicking team at the dead-ball spot.
6. it is not touched by the receiving team and touches the ground in the end zone (touchback).
7. If the ball comes to rest anywhere on the field, and no player attempts to possess it, the ball becomes dead and belongs to the receiving team at the dead-ball spot.

Notes:

1. A player is deemed to have not touched the ball if it is batted or illegally kicked into him by an opponent. Such touching is ignored, though the bat or kick could be a foul for an Illegal Bat or Illegal Kick.
2. For illegal catch or recovery, see 6-2-4.

ARTICLE 5. FREE KICK CROSSES GOAL LINE

It is a touchback, if a free kick:

1. touches the ground in the end zone before being touched by the receiving team.
2. goes out of bounds behind the receiving team’s goal line;
3. strikes the receiving team’s goal post, uprights, or cross bar; or
4. is downed in the end zone by the receiving team.

[emphasis addedd]

Under the current rules, it seems like if the ball bounces before crossing the goal line, it’s still a live ball and can be recovered by either team. But once it hits the ground in the end zone, it’s a dead ball. So, in theory, I think if the ball bounces before crossing the goal line and a member of the kicking team fields it off the bounce, in the air, before it touches the ground, it would count as a recovery by the kicking team in the end zone, and they would have possession at that point - which would be a touchdown. I think.

[Robot_Arm]

@gdave

It seems plausible that at least one other opening KO TD return would have taken less than 14 seconds, so I don’t know where Hester’s return ranks overall in NFL history for fastest score by time elapsed.

Also in Super Bowl XLVIII, Percy Harvin returned the second-half kickoff for a touchdown in 12 seconds, so it can be done faster than Hester.

[gdave]

It also occurs to me that there’s some conflation and confusion going on in this thread (including by me) between quickest TD and quickest score (The OP themselves titled the thread “Quickest score”, but then asked about a “touchdown” in the body of the OP).

@Jasmine’s safety on the opening KO seems like it’s the quickest possible score - since the returner didn’t try to advance the ball, that would be a safety and 2 points scored by the kicking team with 0 time elapsed, right?

[Jasmine]

The clock started when he touched the ball. He slowly stepped back and kneeled down. That had to take 2 or 3 seconds, I would think.

[BobLibDem]

Can’t find a video, but I remember distinctly Michigan State v Notre Dame, where MSU took the opening kickoff which was caught just outside the goal line, The Spartan player took a step back and took a knee, and the clock still read 15:00 in the first quarter and ND had a 2-0 lead.