The try/convert is among the oldest parts of the game of gridiron football and dates to its
rugby roots. In its earliest days, scoring a touchdown was not the primary objective but a means of getting a free kick at the goal (hence why the name "try," more commonly associated with
rugby today, is still used in American football rule books), and thus early scoring rubrics for the game gave more points to the subsequent kick than the actual advancement of the ball into the end zone. The related term "
conversion" is still used in both rugby union and rugby league to refer to extra points scored by kicking the ball through the posts after a try has been scored.
By the start of the 20th century, touchdowns had become more important and the roles of touchdown and kick were reversed. By this time the point value for the after-touchdown kick had reduced to its current one-point value while the touchdown was now worth five. (This later increased to six points in American football in 1912 and in Canadian football in 1956.)
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Although a successful kick is only worth one point, missing one can decide the outcome of the game. Perhaps the most famous example to this was the 2003 game between the
New Orleans Saints and
Jacksonville Jaguars where, after scoring a touchdown as time expired as a result of the
multiple-lateral River City Relay, Saints kicker
John Carney missed the extra point, giving the Jaguars a 20-19 victory and eliminating the Saints from playoff contention. On November 11, 1979 the New York Jets lost to the Buffalo Bills 14-12 - the difference coming from two missed extra points by place kicker Toni Linhart. Linhart never played another game in the NFL.
Another 2003 game, this one between the
Carolina Panthers and
Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was sent to overtime after what would have been a game-winning extra point was blocked; the Panthers won the game in overtime 12-9. A 2005 game between the
Green Bay Packers and
Tampa Bay Buccaneers is another notable exception, as the Buccaneers won 17-16, the difference being
Ryan Longwell missing an extra point after a Packers touchdown.
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