Will there be an octopus in a second straight Super Bowl? And no, we're not talking about the sea animal.
Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts made history in Super Bowl LVII against the Kansas City Chiefs last year. With the Eagles trailing late in the fourth quarter, Hurts recorded the first octopus in Super Bowl history to tie up the game.
Could another star like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Christian McCaffrey or Deebo Samuel become the next player to do so in Super Bowl LVIII between the Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers on Sunday?
Here's what to know about the football term before the Big Game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas:
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What does octopus mean in football?
An octopus in football occurs when a player scores a touchdown and then the subsequent two-point conversion as well. For it to count as an octopus, a player must be the one carrying the ball into the end zone on both plays.
So, for example, a quarterback throwing for a touchdown and then also passing for a successful two-point conversion wouldn't be an octopus.
NFL
Former Sports Illustrated writer and editor Mitch Goldich is credited with creating the octopus concept. According to Goldich's website, he was watching a regular-season game in 2018 when then-Baltimore Ravens wideout Torrey Smith caught a touchdown and then caught a two-point conversion.
"There should be a cool name for what Torrey Smith just did: Scoring a TD and then also scoring the 2-point conversion right afterward," Goldich posted on X at the time. "What should we call this?"
One of Goldich's friends, Michael Wallace, suggested the term octopus (with the eight total points scored equaling the number of arms an octopus has) and the rest is history.
How many times has an octopus happened in the NFL?
Pro Football Reference added a page tracking the octopus as a stat. And since the NFL introduced the two-point conversion in 1994, it has happened 188 times.
There have been a total of 11 during the 2023 season, with New York Jets running back Breece Hall and Dallas Cowboys wideout CeeDee Lamb among the players to record one.
Who scored the first octopus in the NFL?
According to Pro Football Reference, wide receivers Torrance Small and Rob Moore each tallied an octopus on Sept. 11, 1994, marking the first two ever recorded.
Has there ever been an octopus in the Super Bowl?
In recent years, sportsbooks have started offering the octopus as a Super Bowl prop bet and one cashed last year.
With Philadelphia trailing Kansas City by eight in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl LVII, Jalen Hurts rushed for a two-yard touchdown and then ran it in for the two-point conversion and a historic first Super Bowl octopus.
