touchdown

thumb|A player from Texas High School crosses the goal line with the ball during a game against Highland Park High School to score a rushing touchdown worth six points. thumb|Vince Young of the Texas Longhorns (ball carrier in top center) rushing for a touchdown. A portion of the [[end zone is seen as the dark strip at the bottom. The vertical yellow bar is part of the goal post.]]

A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Scoring a touchdown grants the team that scored it 6 points. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the football into the opponent's end zone. More specifically, a touchdown is when a player is in possession of the ball, any part of the ball is in the end zone they are attacking, and the player is not down.