Terminology... Rouge, Safety, and Touchback

This is article #18 in a series covering the origins of football’s terminology. All are available under the Terminology tab above. My book, Hut! Hut! Hike! describes the emergence of more than 400 football terms.

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As rugby evolved in England, there were competing scoring rules, some of which awarded the opponent a point when a team touched the ball down in their own goal and was known as a minor or a rouge. When America's Intercollegiate Football Association created its rules in 1876, it used a version of rugby rules that did not include the rouge. However, some playing rugby in Canada used the rules with the rouge, and the rouge made its way into the Canadian game 

Early American football did not include the rouge. Instead, if a team had the ball deep in their territory, they could touch it down in their own goal and then take it out to the 25-yard line, where they could either retain possession or dropkick to the other team. Teams touching the ball down in their own goal were playing it safe, and the tactic was known as a safety touchdown, later shortened to safety.