| Quick Answer An octopus in football is when the same player scores a touchdown and then the two point conversion on the same drive, putting eight points on the board by himself. The name comes from those eight points matching an octopus and its eight arms. It is unofficial, rare, and loved by fans and fantasy players. |
Football loves a nickname for a play, and the octopus is one of the strangest on the list. It is not a trick play or a formation. It is a scoring sequence with a name that stuck. Like a pick six, the octopus describes one specific thing that happens on the field, and once you know what to look for, you start spotting it on Sundays. The difference is that this one rewards a single player for doing something almost no one else manages in a given game.
The octopus also lives in a gray area that football fans know well. It is tracked, debated, and bet on, yet the league office does not count it. That puts it in the same bucket as plenty of unofficial measuring sticks fans obsess over, the same way they pull apart how high school football rankings are built every fall. The octopus is not in any record book the NFL prints, and that is a big part of its charm.
What Is an Octopus in Football?
An octopus is when the same player scores a touchdown and then scores the two point conversion that follows, all on the same possession. That player puts up eight points by himself, six for the touchdown and two for the conversion, with no kicker and no second scorer involved. There is one strict rule that trips people up. The same player has to carry the ball into the end zone on both plays. A quarterback who throws a touchdown pass and then throws the two point conversion does not get an octopus, because he did not score either time. He has to run it in or catch it himself on both.
Where the Octopus Name Came From
The octopus is younger than the play it describes. Sports Illustrated writer Mitch Goldich coined the term in a 2019 column, written to mark 25 years of the two point conversion in the NFL. The spark came a few months earlier, in October 2018, when Torrey Smith scored a touchdown and the two point conversion in the same game and Goldich asked online what to call it. A friend named Mike Wallace suggested octopus, and it stuck. Within a couple of seasons the word was showing up on NFL RedZone broadcasts and on sportsbook betting menus.
Eight Points, Eight Arms
The logic behind the name is plain math. An octopus has eight arms, and the player scores eight points, so the picture fits. You will sometimes see people reach for a theory about yards or some hidden formula, but there is nothing complicated here. Six points for the touchdown plus two for the conversion equals eight, and eight points equals one octopus. The two point conversion that makes it possible is a pro and college scoring option, and many flag football rules handle the extra point differently, which is why the octopus stays a tackle football idea. That eight is also a ceiling. It is the most points a single offensive player can score on one possession, because the extra point is kicked and never lands on the touchdown scorer’s total. The chart below lays that out.
Why the Octopus Is Not an Official NFL Stat
Here is the part fans gloss over. The NFL does not recognize the octopus. It is not in the official record book, it does not appear on a player’s stat line, and the league has never lifted a finger to make it real. What keeps it alive is the fan and stats community, the same fantasy minded crowd that drafts sleepers and spends the offseason arguing over football team names. Pro Football Reference maintains an unofficial octopus tracker that lists every one since 1994, and Goldich runs a tally each season. Sportsbooks now offer an octopus prop bet, including in the Super Bowl, which is the main reason casual fans have heard the word at all. So it is real in the sense that it is tracked and wagered on, and unofficial in the sense that the NFL acts like it does not exist.
Who Holds the Octopus Record
Because the octopus is so rare, no one has piled up a big number. The all time leader is running back Todd Gurley with four career octopi, all scored with the Rams. Randy Moss sits second with three. After that the list flattens out, with roughly two dozen players tied at two, including names like Davante Adams, Mark Andrews, and Alvin Kamara. The leaders are below.
| Rank | Player | Career Octopi | Primary Team |
| 1 | Todd Gurley | 4 | Los Angeles Rams |
| 2 | Randy Moss | 3 | Multiple teams |
| 3 (tie) | Davante Adams | 2 | Green Bay Packers |
| 3 (tie) | Mark Andrews | 2 | Baltimore Ravens |
| 3 (tie) | Alvin Kamara | 2 | New Orleans Saints |
To put the rarity in plain terms, only about one in seven successful two point conversions is an octopus, and the play has happened fewer than 200 times across more than three decades.
The Rare Double Octopus
If a single octopus is rare, the double octopus is a unicorn. It happens when one player records two octopi in the same game, scoring two touchdowns and both two point conversions himself. Ravens tight end Mark Andrews pulled it off in 2021 against the Colts, scoring both of his octopi in the fourth quarter as Baltimore erased a large deficit. That is sixteen points from one player on those four plays alone. It is the kind of line that does not sit under any single heading in a box score, which is exactly why the octopus crowd loves it.
The number eight carries a little extra weight once you know the octopus. If your player wants it on the back of a jersey, our football jersey design guide covers number fonts and placement so it reads clean from the stands. When you are ready to outfit the team, our custom football uniforms are built to take a full season of contact, and the parents who want to match the player who scored eight can grab a set of custom football fan jerseys in the same colors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is an octopus in football?
A: It is when the same player scores a touchdown and the following two point conversion on the same drive, totaling eight points by one player.
Q: Why is it called an octopus?
A: The player scores eight points and an octopus has eight arms, so the name matches the eight point sequence.
Q: Is the octopus an official NFL stat?
A: No. The NFL does not track it. Pro Football Reference and the fan community keep an unofficial tracker, and sportsbooks now offer it as a prop bet.
Q: Who has the most octopi in NFL history?
A: Todd Gurley holds the record with four career octopi, followed by Randy Moss with three.
Q: What is a double octopus? A: It is when one player records two octopi in the same game, scoring two touchdowns and both two point conversions. Mark Andrews did it in 2021.
