Football Rules Trivia
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114 free Football Rules trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Oct 2026.
65 free Football Rules trivia questions with answers. Everyone who watches football thinks they know the rules until a flag flies and the referee says something nobody expected. This quiz covers the rulebook of American football, mostly the NFL with the college differences that trip people up: how downs and scoring work, the field and the ball, the play clock and the two-minute warning, holding and pass interference yardage, the fair catch and the free kick after a safety, onside kicks and the 2024 dynamic kickoff, coaches' challenges, and overtime in the regular season, the playoffs and college. The easy questions ask what a touchdown is worth and how many downs you get. The hard ones want the hash-mark spacing, the ball's inflation range, the year the forward pass was legalized, which team voted to keep the tuck rule and where the only one-point safety in a major bowl game happened. Made for people who argue with the broadcast booth. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the rules of the game and the NFL's own rule pages, and each question carries the sentence that backs it up.
30 of 114 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01How many downs does the offense get to earn a new first down?
Four
The offense gets four downs to gain the required distance; come up short on the last one and the ball is turned over on downs.
Q 02How many points is a touchdown worth?
6
A touchdown is worth 6 points today, but when point values were first set in 1883 it earned fewer than a field goal; it only reached six in 1912.
Q 03How many points is a safety worth?
2
A safety is worth 2 points and is the least common score in the game; the team that gives one up must also kick the ball away to the other side.
Q 04How many seconds does the NFL play clock give a team from the end of the previous play?
40
The NFL play clock gives 40 seconds from the end of the previous play; let it hit zero before the snap and the offense is penalised five yards.
Q 05What color flag does an NFL head coach throw to challenge a ruling on the field?
Red
Red is the challenge flag's colour; a coach who loses the challenge is charged a timeout, so a team with none left cannot challenge at all.
Q 06How many timeouts does each NFL team get per half?
3
Each NFL team gets 3 timeouts per half; unused ones do not roll over, which is why teams burn them at the end of the second quarter.
Q 07How does a punt returner signal for a fair catch?
Waving one arm above his head
A returner signals a fair catch by waving one arm above his head; once he does, the ball is dead when caught and he may not advance it.
Q 08What must an NFL receiver get down in bounds for a sideline catch to count?
Both feet
Both feet must touch in bounds, or another body part such as a knee or an elbow; a hand does not count, so a diving receiver needs more than his fingertips on the turf.
Q 09Which foul is called when an NFL offense has fewer than seven players on the line at the snap?
Illegal formation
Illegal formation costs five yards. Only the two men on the ends of that line and the backs behind it may catch a pass, so an end covered up by a teammate outside him may no longer catch one.
Q 10On an NFL dynamic kickoff, the ball must reach which area between the end zone and the 20-yard line?
The landing zone
The landing zone is where a kick must come down or be touched; one that falls short of it is treated like a kick out of bounds, and the receivers take over well upfield.
Q 11How far must an onside kick travel before the kicking team can legally recover it?
10 yards
An onside kick must travel 10 yards, or be touched by the receiving team, before the kickers may recover it, and even a clean recovery ends the play.
Q 12How long is a regular-season NFL overtime period, in minutes?
10
If it ends still tied, the game is a tie; only the playoffs keep adding periods until someone wins.
Q 13What is the ball-length space between the offensive and defensive lines at the snap called?
The neutral zone
The neutral zone is only as wide as the ball is long, and only the snapper may reach into it; a defender who crosses it and touches a blocker is flagged at once, so the play never starts.
Q 21Which condition applied to NFL onside kicks in 2024?
The kicking team had to be trailing
In 2024 the kicking team had to be trailing, in the fourth quarter, and had to declare the kick to the officials, which ended the surprise onside kick.
Q 22What is the name for a quarterback's throw straight into the turf to stop the clock?
A spike
A spike is legal only if the quarterback takes the snap and throws at once; it stops the clock, but it counts as an incomplete pass and so costs his team a down.
Q 23Which foul, if a quarterback commits it in his own end zone, gives the defense a safety?
Intentional grounding
Q 14Which team calls the coin toss before an NFL game?
The visitors
The visitors call the coin toss, held within three minutes of kickoff; the winner may defer its choice to the second half, the route a team takes when it wants the ball after halftime.
Q 15In the NFL, where is the ball placed after defensive pass interference?
At the spot of the foul
NFL defensive pass interference is a spot foul: the ball is placed at the spot of the foul, so a deep-ball flag can move the offense half the field; college enforcement is gentler.
Q 16Which penalty is called when an offensive lineman flinches before the snap?
False start
A lineman who flinches before the snap commits a false start, a dead-ball foul whistled immediately; only a back may be in motion, and never toward the line.
Q 17How many seconds is the NFL's shorter play clock after timeouts, penalties and turnovers?
25
The same shorter clock follows the two-minute warning, an extra point and any replay review.
Q 18Since 2015, what may an NFL defense do after blocking an extra-point kick?
Return it for two points
Return it for two points: before 2015 the ball was dead the moment the defense got hold of it, and the same reform moved the kick back to the 15-yard line.
Q 19Why did the NFL move the touchback on kickoffs into the end zone out to the 35 in 2025?
To encourage more returns
To encourage more returns: a kick that flew into the end zone now gave up 35 yards of field position, while one that bounced in from the field of play still came out only to the 20.
Q 20On an NFL dynamic kickoff, when may coverage players move?
Once the ball bounces or is caught
Once the ball bounces or is caught: until then the coverage men wait in a line only five yards from the blockers, which removes the old full-speed run-up and its collisions.
Intentional grounding there scores for the defense because the penalty would be marked off inside the passer's own end zone; offensive holding in that spot ends the same way.
Q 24How does an official signal a safety?
Palms together above the head
Palms together above the head signals the one score that also costs the conceding team the ball, because it must then free-kick to its opponent.
Q 25Which NFL foul is a block on an opponent from behind and below the waist?
Clipping
Clipping costs 15 yards because of the knee injuries it can cause; the one place the NFL allows it is close-line play, the crush around the snap, and even there only above the knee.
Q 26An NFL lineman numbered 50 to 79 may line up as a receiver only after doing what?
Reporting as eligible
Reporting as eligible means telling the referee, who announces it to the defense, and the player must do so again before every such play; that is how a tackle can catch a touchdown pass.
Q 27Which foul against a punter costs 15 yards and an automatic first down, so the punting team keeps the ball?
Roughing the kicker
Roughing the kicker is the serious version; merely running into him costs five yards and no automatic first down, so the officials have to judge how heavy the contact was.
Q 28If defensive pass interference happens in the end zone, where does the NFL place the ball?
At the 1
At the 1: in the NFL an end-zone flag carries the offense all the way to the doorstep with a first down, whereas college rules cap the same foul at 15 yards.
Q 29After the two-minute warning, an offensive foul that stops the clock triggers what extra consequence?
A 10-second runoff
After the warning, an offensive foul that stops a running clock also brings a 10-second runoff; the offense can avoid it by spending a timeout, if it has one.
Q 30Under which rules is an untouched runner down when his knee hits the turf?
NCAA only
NCAA only: college rules down a runner whose knee touches the ground, while in the NFL he may get up and keep running unless a defender touched him or he gave himself up.