Define what it means to spike the ball in football?

Answer 1

Well, there are two instances during a football game where you might hear the term 'spike'.

1) When a team is behind in the score and it is late in the game and that team is on offense, or when it is late in the second quarter and a team on offense has a chance to score points, they may go into a 'hurry up' mode where they try to execute as many plays as possible and save as much time as possible (the 'hurry up' mode can also be referred to as a 'no huddle' offense). One thing they can do to save time, especially if they don't have any time outs left, is to intentionally throw an incomplete pass to stop the clock. What you might see when a team is running the 'hurry up' offense late in a half/game is, after a completed pass that gains yardage downfield, the offensive players rush up to the line of scrimmage and get set. The center will snap the ball to the quarterback and he will immediately throw the ball down to the ground at his feet (the ball must be thrown forward) for an incomplete pass. This is called 'spiking the ball'. This was illegal in the NFL until 10 or so years ago when the Rules Committee decided to allow this play in an effort to give the offense a chance to save time and to, hopefully, make the end of the half/game more dramatic.

2) After scoring a touchdown, the scoring player may slam the ball violently to the ground in celebration. This is also known as 'spiking the ball' and was started back in the 1960s by a receiver for the New York Giants named Homer Jones as a way to celebrate scoring a touchdown.