The Chaos and Beauty of the Intentional Safety Part science, part art, they are oh-so-memorable as the NFL’s perfectly paradoxical play:
An undrafted free agent who bounced between four teams before joining the Rams last season, Brandon Powell has become indispensable for the defending Super Bowl champions. He runs routes as a wide receiver, takes some carries as a running back and serves as their primary kickoff and punt returner. Of all his many odd jobs, though, by far the oddest came with 13 seconds left in a Week 2 game against Atlanta, when the 27-year-old lined up at punter as Los Angeles clung to a 31–25 lead.
“You practice them as part of your general preparation, all these strange, potential plays you might run, but you don’t think you’re gonna use them,” Nortman says. “Sure enough, you play long enough, there are opportunities to do so. Then when they actually call it, you’re like, ‘Oh boy, here we go.’”Chris Williams/Icon Sportswire/Getty Images
Maybe so from Lardner’s press box perch, but it’s also clear that the intentional safety has been appreciated on the sidelines for nearly as long as football has existed, with the earliest newspaper references dating to the early 20th century.
Without a doubt the most impactful intentional safety in NFL history occurred a little less than a decade later, in February 2013, with 12 seconds left in Super Bowl XLVII and Baltimore leading San Francisco by five points.
Not that the instructions are complicated for the person taking the intentional safety. “Make sure you catch the ball,” Nortman says, listing them off. “Then run to the corner of the end zone, place yourself by the line so you can step out, and don’t do anything stupid; don’t be a hero.” But potential pitfalls do exist. For Powell, the “toughest part” involved catching Orzech’s whizzing snap; for Nortman, the challenge was more mental.
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