Single (football)

In Canadian football, a single (single point, or rouge), scoring one point, is awarded when the ball is kicked into the end zone by any legal means, other than a successful field goal, and the receiving team does not return, or kick, the ball out of its end zone. It is also a single if the kick travels through the end zone or, other than on a kickoff, if it goes out of bounds in the end zone without being touched. After conceding a single, the receiving team is awarded possession of the ball at the 35-yard line of its own end of the field.

Singles are not awarded in the following situations:

In all these cases the defending team is awarded possession of the ball at the 25-yard line.

In the United States, singles are not usually recognized in most leagues and were awarded only in matches played under the auspices of the National Indoor Football League and American Indoor Football Association, both now-defunct. It was applied only on kickoffs in both leagues, and was scored if the receiving team failed to advance the ball out of the end zone when kicked. The NIFL and AIFA also allowed a single to be scored by kicking a kickoff through the uprights (as in a field goal); this type of single is nicknamed (and was later codified in the AIFA rules as) an uno, from the Spanish word for the number one.

There is one other way to score a single point on a gridiron football play, outside of the routine extra point or if either team scores a safety on a conversion attempt after a touchdown, one point is awarded.

The Canadian Football League has discussed abolishing the single but proposals to do so as recently as 2005 have been rejected. A less sweeping proposal would see the single eliminated on punts and field goal attempts that pass out the sidelines of the end zone – such a change would eliminate the "consolation" point for a failed coffin corner attempt. Other proposals would have the rouge scored only on kicks scrimmaged from beyond a certain point and/or are otherwise deemed 'returnable' having touched the end zone or a return team player without being advanced back into the field of play.

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