Safety (gridiron football position)
Safety (S), historically known as a safetyman, is a position in gridiron football on the defense. The safeties are defensive backs who line up ten to fifteen yards from the line of scrimmage. There are two variations of the position: the free safety (FS) and the strong safety (SS). Their duties depend on the defensive scheme. The defensive responsibilities of the safety and cornerback usually involve pass coverage towards the middle and sidelines of the field. While American (11-player) formations generally use two safeties, Canadian (12-player) formations generally have one safety and two defensive halfbacks, a position not used in the American game.
Former Washington Redskins free safety Sean Taylor
American football positions
In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitutions", meaning that they may change any number of players during any "dead ball" situation. This has resulted in the development of three task-specific "platoons" of players within any single team: the offense, the defense, and "special teams". Within these three separate "platoons", various positions exist depending on the jobs that the players are doing.
The offensive line (on left, in orange jerseys) consists of a center (with ball in hand ready to snap) with two guards on either side, and two tackles.
A wide receiver (No. 87, in white) begins a play in the flanker position
The four defensive linemen (in red) have their hands on the ground in a "three point stance"
This defense (in white) is in a base 4–3 set. Just behind the four defensive linemen (whose hands are on the ground) are three linebackers (Nos. 55, 3 and 16), and further back are two safeties (numbers 24 and 44). The two cornerbacks are off screen to the left and right.