So, the other day I was watching a football game, and I heard the commentators getting all excited about something called an “octopus.” I was like, “What the heck is that?” I mean, I know my football, but this one had me stumped. So, I decided to dive in and figure it out.
First thing I did was hit up the internet, you know, like we all do when we’re curious. I typed in “what is octopus in football” and started reading. Turns out, it’s a pretty cool concept.
Basically, an octopus happens when the same dude scores a touchdown and then immediately scores the two-point conversion right after. It’s like a one-man show for those eight points.
I found out that to qualify as an octopus, the player has to be the one to actually carry the ball into the end zone for both the touchdown and the two-point conversion. No handoffs or passes to someone else allowed.
I dug a little deeper and learned that this whole octopus thing has only happened like 188 times since they started allowing the two-point conversion in the NFL back in 1994. That makes it a pretty rare event, which explains why the commentators were losing their minds.
I spent a good chunk of the afternoon reading about it, and it was pretty fascinating. It really got me thinking about how some teams are more flexible and like to go for these two-point conversions more often. I mean if the same person gets the touchdown and two-point conversion that is eight points, hence, octopus. Sounds simple right?
So yeah, that’s my little adventure into the world of the football octopus. I went in knowing nothing and came out feeling like a bit of a football trivia expert, at least on this one particular thing! It is not common at all in the NFL!
