A safety can be a defensive player or a score in American football. A player in the safety position is often the final obstacle the offense must breach to move the ball. His duties vary slightly, depending on which side of the field he is playing. The safety position has changed somewhat, according to NFL.com, with the emergence of young, talented players entering the game.
Strong Safeties
At the start of a play, the strong safety usually positions himself across from the offense's tight end. The safety's job is to stop a potential long run if the offense's rusher carries the ball across the line of scrimmage. Running backs can also catch passes from the quarterback. If this happens, the strong safety is generally positioned close enough to the line of scrimmage to tackle a running back and stop him.
Free Safeties
Free safeties are usually smaller and faster than strong safeties, and are responsible for stopping passes. A free safety has to be somewhat intuitive and able to gauge where the ball is likely to go as the play develops. He isn't locked into one position on the field, but can move to defend where he's needed, covering one of the offense's receivers on his own, or assisting the cornerback in stopping a pass. The free safety might also force a receiver off his route, the path the receiver is supposed to take to be in position to catch the ball when the quarterback throws it.
Required Skills
The NFL requires safeties to be able to read plays and predict them, sometimes even before the offense snaps the ball and the play is set in motion. A safety should be exceptionally quick on his feet, capable of changing his momentum to move where the ball goes. Since the beginning of the millennium, many young safeties entering the NFL are able to play both the strong and free positions. Since 2008, several NFL safeties have been interception leaders, as teams increasingly charge them with pass coverage.
Safeties in Scoring
The term "safety" also comes up in scoring. A safety equals two points and occurs whenever the defense tackles or brings down an offensive player in his own end zone while he is holding the ball. This usually occurs when the team on offense gets the ball inside its own one or two yard line. If the quarterback has to back up when he takes the snap, he crosses the goal line behind him. When defensive players can get across the line of scrimmage quickly enough and reach him or a running back he may hand the ball off to, the defense scores two points. This can also happen when a team must punt from its own one or two yard line and the punter must take the ball into the end zone.
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