End zone:
This article is about the football term. For the novel of the same name, see End Zone (novel).
A player rushes into the red painted end zone, scoring a touchdown during a college football game.
The end zone is a term used in both Canadian football and American football. The end zone 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.
[edit] Scoring
A team scores a touchdown by entering their opponent's end zone while carrying the ball or catching the ball while being within the end zone. If the ball is carried by an offensive player across the goal line, it is considered a score as soon as the ball crosses the imaginary vertical plane of the goal line, between the two sidelines. A touchdown can also be scored if the player makes contact with one of the pylons by the sideline. In addition, a two-point conversion may be scored after a touchdown by similar means.
[edit] The goal post
The location and dimensions of a goal post differs from league to league, but it is always 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, almost all goal posts in the professional and collegiate levels are T-shaped, and reside at the front line of the end zone, by the goal line.
[edit] 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 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.
The end zone in Canadian football is 20 yards long by 60 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.
[edit] See also
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