What Is a Pick Six? An Interception Returned for a Touchdown

Aug 15

2 min read

Updated: 5 hours ago

A pick six is an interception returned for a touchdown on an ordinary scrimmage down. Pick is football slang for an interception; six refers to the touchdown’s six points.

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a pick six is an interception returned by the defense all the way into the opponent’s end zone for a touchdown. “Pick” is football slang for an interception, and “six” refers to the six points awarded for the touchdown.

The defending team must do more than touch the pass. It must establish a legal catch and then carry the live ball into the opponent’s end zone, or complete the interception there for a touchdown.

First comes an interception

A defensive player must satisfy the NFL catch requirements, including control, the necessary contact inbounds and completion of the catch process. A bobbled pass that falls to the ground is incomplete, not a turnover.

Any defensive player can intercept a pass. A lineman catching a tipped ball has the same opportunity to score as a cornerback jumping a route.

The interception changes possession immediately. The former defenders become the team with the ball, and the former offensive players must try to stop the return.

The return must remain live

The interceptor can advance until a rule makes the ball dead. A player who is down by contact cannot get up and create a touchdown return afterward. An untouched player who simply falls may still be able to advance, depending on whether another dead ball rule applies.

Teammates can block for the returner, but holding and prohibited blocks still count. A penalty can erase an apparent touchdown even though the interception itself remains a turnover.

If the interceptor loses possession before scoring, the result is governed by the fumble rules. If he deliberately throws a legal backward pass to a teammate, the ball can stay live, but a failed exchange creates its own recovery risk.

What the scoreboard records

The touchdown is worth six. The scoring team ordinarily then attempts a kick for one additional point or a play for two; that attempt is separate from the pick six.

A defensive return during an extra point or two point try is different. A successful return to the other end zone on that try is worth two points, not six.

A fumble return touchdown and a punt return touchdown are also defensive or special teams scores, but neither is a pick six. The defining sequence is a completed interception followed by a touchdown before that down ends.