American football: Information from Answers.com

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The game of American football as played today by high school, college, and professional teams grew out of rugby-style football which in the mid-1870s replaced a largely kicking game known as association football. Although initially played on village greens and on college fields, the first intercollegiate game took place on 6 November 1869 when Rutgers defeated Princeton 6–4 in a soccer-style game. Five years later, Montreal's McGill University playing at Harvard introduced rugby football, which would be rapidly adopted by eastern teams.

Collegiate Development

For the first fifty years of football, college teams enjoyed a virtual monopoly of what they called the gridiron (the term applied to the football field because of the lines drawn at five-yard intervals). In 1876, students at Harvard, Princeton, Columbia, and Yale met to form the Intercollegiate Football Association, all agreeing to play by rugby rules. Of the four schools, only Yale chose to re-main an independent. Nevertheless, Yale continued to meet with the other schools and played a crucial role in the adoption of new rules and in the popularization of American football. Beginning in the 1880s, the eastern institutions led by Yale played "big games" before large crowds in the New York and Boston areas. From 1880 to 1888, changes in the intercollegiate rules led to the transformation of British rugby into American football. The possession rule of 1880, which decreed that the team with the ball would keep possession if tackled, led to a series of further changes. The result was a game of physical contact and deception that had progressively less in common with rugby and association football.

The possession rule and the changes that accompanied it were associated with Walter Camp, a player for Yale in the late 1870s. A gifted strategist and promoter, Camp served as a coach or adviser to the Yale team from 1879 to 1910 and as the key figure on various rules committees. Through devices such as his All-America teams, he was also instrumental in making football a nationwide intercollegiate sport. Led by Camp, the handful of youthful rules-makers enacted the yards and downs rule (three downs to gain five yards), numerical scoring, interference in front of the ball carrier, and tackling between the waist and the knees (rather than above the waist). Players could move forward before the snap of the ball (momentum plays), and push and pull the ball carrier through the defense (mass play). As a result of these rules changes, football became noticeably rougher and by the late 1800s was criticized by clergy, newspaper editors, and some older college faculty and administrators for its dangers and brutality.

In the 1890s, football spread rapidly to colleges in every part of the country. Spearheaded by former players or "missionary coaches," the teams closely followed the rules and rituals of eastern colleges, including Thanksgiving Day rivalries such as Michigan and Chicago or Stanford and California. As football gained in popularity with students and alumni, criticism of the game among faculty, college presidents, and crusading journalists grew more shrill, especially at a time when several players were killed or seriously injured each year.

On 9 October 1905, just after the beginning of the football season, President Theodore Roosevelt met with six alumni gridiron advisers from Yale, Harvard, and Princeton, including Camp and Coach Bill Reid of Harvard. Roosevelt secured their pledge to draw up a statement in which they would agree to eliminate brutal and unsportsmanlike play. Contrary to a widely held belief, Roosevelt did not issue an edict to the colleges, nor did he have a direct role in reforming the rules. In October and November 1905, football at all levels had eighteen fatalities—three in college play—and 159 serious injuries.

Following the death of a Union College player in a game against New York University, Chancellor Henry MacCracken of NYU called a meeting of nineteen colleges to consider the evils of football. That gathering in early December 1905 of twenty-four delegates led to a second, larger conference, which met in New York late in the same month. The more than sixty colleges represented appointed a reform rules committee. In addition, they organized themselves into the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (ICAA), predecessor of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), to challenge the older, big-college football committee. Meeting together, the two committees agreed to sweeping gridiron reforms, including the ten-yard rule (ten yards to be gained in three downs), six men on the line of scrimmage and a defined neutral zone between the teams, stiffer penalties, and the forward pass. Although the number of injuries declined under the new rules, another round of deaths and injuries in 1909 led to the enactment of more comprehensive rules between 1910 to 1912.

Football in the 1920s and 1930s

After World War I, both college football and the fledgling professional version of the game prospered as a result of the booming economy and the remarkable popularity of major sports. Thousands of gridiron enthusiasts flocked to the newly constructed stadiums modeled after the Harvard, Yale, and Princeton stadiums. In October 1924, Harold "Red" Grange of Illinois became football's best-known player when he ran for five touchdowns and passed for a sixth in a game against Michigan. After his final college game, Grange signed a contract with the professional Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He immediately played to overflow crowds in Chicago and New York and agreed to lucrative deals for endorsements and movie appearances. The highly publicized and profitable entry of the "Galloping Ghost" into pro football was a precursor to the wealth of NFL players later in the twentieth century.

Just as football grew at the college level, it also took hold in the high schools. Football had been played at private secondary schools since the 1880s, and some public schools fielded teams in the 1890s and early 1900s. Promising players at private schools and high schools became the object of fierce recruiting struggles by the colleges. In the early 1900s, the emergence of the larger consolidated high schools created a need for football as a means of forging loyalties among large and diverse student bodies. Even before World War I, some coaches became known in high school football before moving up to the college level.

Football was also widely played as an unorganized, sandlot sport, or as a supervised playground recreation. By 1929, many of the serious injuries and occasional deaths in the first three decades of the twentieth century occurred during unsupervised play. Because of the need for protective equipment and adult supervision, youth leagues gradually evolved. What became the Pop Warner Leagues began as a local Philadelphia area football club in 1929. The organization was later renamed for Glenn Scobie "Pop" Warner, best known as a college coach at Carlisle Indian School, the University of Pittsburgh, and Stanford University. Beginning in 1947, the Pop Warner Leagues initiated their own national championship modeled after college and professional competitions in football and other sports.

Professional football had originated in the towns of western Pennsylvania and taken root in the smaller cities of Ohio. In 1920, a group of midwestern teams met to form the American Professional Football Association, changed the next year to the National Football League. In the 1920s and 1930s, NFL teams often went bankrupt or moved and changed names, and professional football ranked a distant second to college football in popularity and prestige. Only after World War II, with the advent of television and air travel, did the NFL and other leagues challenge the college game.

Post–world War II Football

Television, a medium that rapidly expanded in the 1940s and 1950s, proved well-suited to the gridiron game. After setting records in the first years after World War II, attendance at college football games began to slump from 1949 on. The alarmed NCAA members ceded to their TV committee the right to control or even to ban college football telecasts. In 1951, the NCAA contracted with Westinghouse (CBS) television network to televise one game each Saturday, later broadening the agreements to include several regional games. This cartel would help to strengthen the power of the NCAA, but it would also lead to near rebellion within the association in the 1980s.

Although college football attendance revived, professional football rapidly surpassed its collegiate parent. A national audience watched a gripping telecast of the NFL championship game in 1958 when the Baltimore Colts won a dramatic sudden-death overtime victory against the New York Giants. Frustrated by the NFL's cautious approach toward expansion, the oil billionaires Lamar Hunt and Bud Adams began the American Football League (AFL) in 1959, with its first game in 1960. Bolstered by a network contract, the AFL challenged the NFL for blue-chip draft choices and TV audiences. In 1966, the AFL and NFL agreed to merge, and an annual championship known as the Super Bowl was played between the two leagues after the following season, though they would not become one league with two conferences until 1970. That year, ABC Sports innovator Roone Arledge teamed up with NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle to launch "Monday Night Football," an instant hit on prime-time evening television. Professional football franchises, which had once struggled for attendance, became businesses worth millions of dollars.

Although the players' salaries rose, they would not reach the levels achieved by major league baseball until the 1990s. Strikes in 1974 and 1987 led to victories by the owners, who effectively blocked the free agency that had resulted in soaring salaries in major league baseball. Attempts to found new professional leagues—the World Football League in 1974–1975, the United States Football League in 1983–1985, and the XFL in the winter of 2000—failed to breach the NFL cartel. Only the Canadian Football League (CFL), arena football played indoors, the World League of American Football (an NFL minor league with teams mainly in Europe), and the Women's Professional Football League (WPFL) offered an outlet for players who could not play in the NFL.

Following World War II, African American players appeared in rapidly growing numbers both in college and professional ranks. In college football, a handful of black players had participated since the 1890s in the East, Midwest, and West. In addition to being subjected to harassment and brutality, these players were by mutual consent "held out" of games with southern teams. In the postwar years, colleges outside the South refused to accept these "gentlemen's agreements" that kept blacks out of games. Except in the South, the number of African American players grew steadily in the 1950s. Southern teams were not integrated until the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1961, Ernie Davis of Syracuse became the first African American Heisman Trophy winner.

African Americans had played professional football in the early 1900s. A handful played in the early years of the NFL. In 1934, the league's last players, Jack Lilliard and Ray Kemp, were forced out of pro football. After World War II, the Cleveland Browns of the new All America Football League (AAFL) and the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL both integrated their teams, and the number of black professional players would show a steady increase after 1950.

College Football in the Age of the Nfl

In the 1960s, college football enjoyed a brief period of prosperity and relative calm. In the fall of 1966, 33 million viewers watched a fierce struggle between Michigan State and Notre Dame, the college game's version of the Giants-Colts showdown in 1958. ABC's innovations in telecasting and the advent of color television brought more revenue and recognition to big-time teams and their coaches.

Following World War II, many teams adopted two-platoon football in which teams had separate defensive and offensive units (the innovation doubled the need for scholarships and players). Unnerved by rising costs and wedded to past practice, the NCAA football rules committee attempted in the 1950s to banish two-platoon football but returned to unlimited substitution by the end of the decade. (Unlike the colleges, the NFL never tried to abolish separate offensive and defensive teams.)

In 1951, nearly fifty institutions dropped football because of rising costs and dwindling attendance (some of these such as Georgetown, Fordham, and Detroit were ranked in the top twenty in the 1920s and 1930s). In the East, eight Ivy League institutions adopted joint rules deemphasizing football. They began less costly round-robin play in 1956 and eliminated spring practice, football scholarships, and postseason contests.

After World War II, the NCAA failed in its first attempt to regulate subsidies for supposedly amateur players. The subsequent scandals created support both for deemphasis of big-time football and for a nationwide system to enforce athletic codes of conduct. Other scandals involved booster clubs that funneled illicit payments to players and recruits. Beginning in 1956, a series of pay-for-play schemes were uncovered at five institutions in the Pacific Coast Conference, contributing to the conference's demise in 1959. Stepping into the vacuum, the NCAA levied stiff penalties against offenders, including bans on TV appearances. The commercial model pursued by many college football conferences led to charges that colleges had become the minor leagues for professional football. To some extent, the charges were true. Not only did the colleges supply the training for NFL recruits, but coaches also moved easily between the professional and collegiate ranks.

The quest for revenues in college football proved both a motivator for top teams and a cause of internecine quarrels. Faced with rising expenditures in the 1970s, big-time college teams opposed sharing TV revenues with NCAA members who had smaller football teams or no teams at all. Formed in 1976 as a lobbying group within the NCAA, the College Football Association (CFA) proposed to negotiate their own TV contracts. In 1984, two CFA members, Georgia and Oklahoma, won a Supreme Court decision against the NCAA, thereby ending the association cartel. Institutions and conferences within the association would now be responsible for their own TV contracts.

Unlike professional football, Division I-A football, comprising the most prominent intercollegiate football institutions, had no playoff championship. Beginning in 1998, the NCAA initiated the bowl championship system to replace the mythical champion chosen by sportswriters and coaches. Using a variety of methods, including computer ratings, the NCAA chose the top two teams to play in one of the major bowl games, the designations of which rotated from year to year. Critics pointed out that college football still was the only college or professional sport that did not choose the champion by playoffs.

Conclusion

Beginning in the late nineteenth century, American football developed far differently from rugby football and association football (soccer, as it is referred to in the United States). Unlike baseball and basketball, American football has been largely confined to the United States and Canada. It has remained a predominantly male game, though a women's professional league has fielded teams, and female place kickers have competed at the high school and college levels. Whereas baseball was once clearly the American pastime, football has gained preeminence at the high school, college, and professional levels. In addition, football has developed a distinctive fan culture. Tailgating or picknicking in the parking lot, participating in booster clubs, and traveling vast distances for Bowl games or intersectional rivalries have become part of the football culture of dedicated spectators. Moreover, the availability of football through cable and network TV has transformed millions of television viewers who seldom attend a major contest into knowledgeable and enthusiastic football fans.

Bibliography

Davis, Parke H. Football, the American Intercollegiate Game. New York: Scribners, 1911.

Harris, David. The League: The Rise and Decline of the NFL. New York: Bantam, 1986.

Lester, Robin. Stagg's University: The Rise, Decline, and Fall of Big-Time Football at Chicago. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995.

Nelson, David M. Anatomy of a Game: Football, the Rules, and the Men Who Made the Game. London and Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, 1994; Newark: University of Delaware Press, 1996.

Oriard, Michael. King Football: Sport and Spectacle in the Golden Age of Radio and Newsreels, Movies and Magazines, the Weekly and the Daily Press. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001.

Peterson, Robert W. Pigskin, the Early Years of Pro Football. New York: Oxford University Press, 1997.

Roberts, Randy, and James Olson. Winning Is the Only Thing: Sports in America since 1945. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989.

Ross, Charles K. Outside the Lines: African-Americans and the Integration of the National Football League. New York: New York University Press, 1999.

Smith, Ronald A. Sports and Freedom: The Rise of Big-Time Athletics. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988.

———. Play-by-Play: Radio, TV, and Big-Time College Sport. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001.

Watterson, John Sayle. College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2000.

Weyand, Alexander M. The Saga of American Football. New York: Macmillan, 1955.

—John Sayle Watterson

Wikipedia: American football

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For other uses, see American football (disambiguation).

American football
Characteristics
The U.S. Navy Midshipmen (at left, in blue) line up on offense against the Army's Black Knights
Highest governing body	National Football League
Nickname(s)	Football, Gridiron football
First played	November 6, 1869, Rutgers vs. Princeton
Contact	Collision
Team members	11 at a time
Categorization	Outdoor
Equipment	Football
Olympic	No

American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football (Canada also has its own slightly different version, Canadian football),^[1] is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball^[2] into the opposing team's end zone. The ball can be advanced by carrying it (a running play) or by throwing it to a teammate (a passing play). Points can be scored in a variety of ways, including carrying the ball over the opponent's goal line, catching a pass thrown over that goal line, kicking the ball through the goal posts at the opponent's end zone, or tackling an opposing ball carrier within his end zone. The winner is the team with the most points when the time expires.

The sport is also played outside the United States. National professional and collegiate leagues exist in United Kingdom, Germany, Italy,^[3] Switzerland,^[4] Finland, Sweden,^[5] Japan, Mexico, Israel,^[6] Spain, Austria,^[7] and several Pacific Island nations. The National Football League (NFL), the largest American professional football league in the world, ran a developmental league in Europe from 1991–1992 and then from 1995–2006.

American football is closely related to Canadian football, but with significant differences. Both sports originated from rugby football. The major forms of football in the United States are collegiate football and professional Football. There have been numerous major professional football leagues in the U.S., but currently the only one in existence is the NFL.

History

Main article: History of American football

An American football team at the turn of the twentieth century

The history of American football can be traced to early versions of rugby football and association football (called soccer in the United States). Both games have their origins in varieties of football played in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century, in which a ball is kicked at a goal and/or run over a line. Also like soccer, American football has twenty two players on the field of play. Furthermore, some player position references from soccer are used, such as the term "halfback" and "fullback".

Walter Camp

American football resulted from several major divergences from rugby football, most notably the rule changes instituted by Walter Camp, considered the "Father of American Football". Among these important changes were the introduction of the line of scrimmage and of down-and-distance rules. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, game play developments by college coaches such as Eddie Cochems, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Knute Rockne, and Glenn "Pop" Warner helped take advantage of the newly introduced forward pass.

The popularity of collegiate football grew as it became the dominant version of the sport for the first half of the twentieth century. Bowl games, a college football tradition, attracted a national audience for collegiate teams. Bolstered by fierce rivalries, college football still holds widespread appeal in the US.^[8]^[9]^[10]

The origin of professional football can be traced back to 1892, with William "Pudge" Heffelfinger's $500 contract to play in a game for the Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. The first Professional "league" was the Ohio League, formed in 1903, and the first Professional Football championship game was between the Buffalo Prospects and the Canton Bulldogs in 1919. In 1920, the American Professional Football Association was formed. The first game was played in Dayton, Ohio on October 3, 1920 with the host Triangles defeating the Columbus Panhandles 14–0. The league changed its name to the National Football League (NFL) two years later, and eventually became the major league of American football. Initially a sport of Midwestern industrial towns in the United States, professional football eventually became a national phenomenon. Football's increasing popularity is usually traced to the 1958 NFL Championship Game, a contest that has been dubbed the "Greatest Game Ever Played". A rival league to the NFL, the American Football League (AFL), began play in 1960; the pressure it put on the senior league led to a merger between the two leagues and the creation of the Super Bowl, which has become the most watched television event in the United States on an annual basis.^[11]

Rules

Main article: American football rules

Field and players

The numbers on the field indicate the number of yards to the nearest end zone.

American football is played on a field 360 by 160 feet (109.7 m × 48.8 m).^[12] The longer boundary lines are sidelines, while the shorter boundary lines are end lines. Sidelines and end lines are out of bounds. Near each end of the field is a goal line; they are 100 yards (91.4 m) apart. A scoring area called an end zone extends 10 yards (9.1 m) beyond each goal line to each end line. The end zone includes the goal line but not the end line.^[12] While the playing field is effectively flat, it is common for a field to be built with a slight crown—with the middle of the field higher than the sides—to allow water to drain from the field.

Yard lines cross the field every 5 yards (4.6 m), and are numbered every 10 yards from each goal line to the 50-yard line, or midfield (similar to a typical rugby league field). Two rows of short lines, known as inbounds lines or hash marks, run at 1-yard (91.4 cm) intervals perpendicular to the sidelines near the middle of the field. All plays start with the ball on or between the hash marks. Because of the arrangement of the lines, the field is occasionally referred to as a gridiron.

At the back of each end zone are two goalposts (also called uprights) connected by a crossbar 10 feet (3.05 m) from the ground. For high skill levels, the posts are 222 inches (5.64 m) apart. For lower skill levels, these are widened to 280 inches (7.11 m).

Each team has 11 players on the field at a time. However, teams may substitute for any or all of their players, if time allows, during the break between plays. As a result, players have very specialized roles, and, sometimes (although rarely) almost all of the (at least) 46 active players on an NFL team will play in any given game. Thus, teams are divided into three separate units: the offense, the defense and the special teams.

Start of halves

Similarly to association football, the game begins with a coin toss to determine which team will kick off to begin the game and which goal each team will defend.^[13] The options are presented again to start the second half; the choices for the first half do not automatically determine the start of the second half. The referee conducts the coin toss with the captains (or sometimes coaches) of the opposing teams. The team that wins the coin toss has three options:^[13]

They may choose whether to kick or receive the opening kickoff.
They may choose which goal to defend.
They may choose to defer the first choice to the other team and have first choice to start the second half.^[14]

Whatever the first team chooses, the second team has the option on the other choice (for example, if the first team elects to receive at the start of the game, the second team can decide which goal to defend).

At the start of the second half, the options to kick, receive, or choose a goal to defend are presented to the captains again. The team which did not choose first to start the first half (or which deferred its privilege to choose first) now gets first choice of options.^[15]^[13]

Game duration

A standard football game consists of four 15-minute quarters (12-minute quarters in high-school football and often shorter at lower levels),^[16] with a 12 minute half-time intermission after the second quarter.^[17] The clock stops after certain plays; therefore, a game can last considerably longer (often more than three hours in real time), and if a game is broadcast on television, TV timeouts are taken at certain intervals of the game to broadcast commercials outside of game action. If an NFL game is tied after four quarters, the teams play an additional period lasting up to 15 minutes. In an NFL overtime game, the first team that scores wins, even if the other team does not get a possession; this is referred to as sudden death. In a regular-season NFL game, if neither team scores in overtime, the game is a tie. In an NFL playoff game, additional overtime periods are played, as needed, to determine a winner. College overtime rules are more complicated and are described in Overtime (sport).

A line of scrimmage on the 48-yard line. The offense is on the left.

A quarterback searching for opportunity to throw a pass.

A running back being tackled when he tries to run with the ball.

A quarterback passing.

Forward pass in progress, during practice.

A kicker attempts an extra point.

Advancing the ball

Advancing the ball in American football resembles the six-tackle rule and the play-the-ball in rugby league. The team that takes possession of the ball (the offense) has four attempts, called downs, in which to advance the ball 10 yards (9.1 m) toward their opponent's (the defense's) end zone. When the offense succeeds in gaining at least 10 yards, it gets a first down, meaning the team has another set of four downs to gain yet another 10 yards or to score. If the offense fails to gain a first down (10 yards) after 4 downs, the other team gets possession of the ball at the point where the fourth down ended, beginning with their first down to advance the ball in the opposite direction.

Except at the beginning of halves and after scores, the ball is always put into play by a snap. Offensive players line up facing defensive players at the line of scrimmage (the position on the field where the play begins). One offensive player, the center, then passes (or "snaps") the ball backwards between his legs to a teammate behind him, usually the quarterback.

Players can then advance the ball in two ways:

By running with the ball, also known as rushing.
By throwing the ball to a teammate, known as a forward pass or as passing the football. The forward pass is a key factor distinguishing American and Canadian football from other football sports. The offense can throw the ball forward only once during a down and only from behind the line of scrimmage. The ball can be thrown, pitched, handed-off, or tossed sideways or backwards at any time.

A down ends, and the ball becomes dead, after any of the following:

The player with the ball is forced to the ground (a tackle) or has his forward progress halted by members of the other team (as determined by an official).
A forward pass flies beyond the dimensions of the field (out of bounds) or touches the ground before it is caught. This is known as an incomplete pass. The ball is returned to the most recent line of scrimmage for the next down.
The ball or the player with the ball goes out of bounds.
A team scores.

Officials blow a whistle to notify players that the down is over.

Before each down, each team chooses a play, or coordinated movements and actions, that the players should follow on a down. Sometimes, downs themselves are referred to as "plays."

Change of possession

The offense maintains possession of the ball unless one of the following things occurs:

The team fails to get a first down— i.e., in four downs they fail to move the ball past a line 10 yards ahead of where they got their last first down (it is possible to be downed behind the current line of scrimmage, losing "yardage"). The defensive team takes over the ball at the spot where the 4th-down play ends. A change of possession in this manner is commonly called a turnover on downs, but is not credited as a defensive "turnover" in official statistics. Instead, it goes against the offense's 4th down efficiency percentage.
The offense scores a touchdown or field goal. The team that scored then kicks the ball to the other team in a special play called a kickoff.
The offense punts the ball to the defense. A punt is a kick in which a player drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground. Punts are nearly always made on fourth down (though see quick kick), when the offensive team does not want to risk giving up the ball to the other team at its current spot on the field (through a failed attempt to make a first down) and feels it is too far from the other team's goal posts to attempt a field goal.
A defensive player catches a forward pass. This is called an interception, and the player who makes the interception can run with the ball until he is tackled, forced out of bounds, or scores.
An offensive player drops the ball (a fumble) and a defensive player picks it up. As with interceptions, a player recovering a fumble can run with the ball until tackled, forced out of bounds, or scores. Backward passes that are not caught do not cause the down to end like incomplete forward passes do; instead the ball is still live as if it had been fumbled. Lost fumbles and interceptions are together known as turnovers.
The offensive team misses a field goal attempt. The defensive team gets the ball at the spot where the previous play began (or, in the NFL, at the spot of the kick). If the unsuccessful kick was attempted from within 20 yards (18.3 m) of the end zone, the other team gets the ball at its own 20 yard line (that is, 20 yards from the end zone). If a field goal is missed or blocked and the ball remains in the field of play, a defensive player may pick up the ball and attempt to advance it.
While in his own end zone, an offensive ball carrier is tackled, forced out of bounds, loses the ball out of bounds, or the offense commits certain fouls. This fairly rare occurrence is called a safety.
An offensive ball carrier fumbles the ball forward into the opposing end zone, and then the ball goes out of bounds. This extremely rare occurrence leads to a touchback, with the ball going over to the opposing team at their 20 yard line (Note that touchbacks during non-offensive special teams plays, such as punts and kickoffs, are quite common).

Scoring

A team scores points by the following plays:

A touchdown (TD) is worth 6 points.^[17] It is scored when a player runs the ball into or catches a pass in his opponent's end zone.^[17] A touchdown is analogous to a try in rugby. Unlike rugby, a player does not have to touch the ball to the ground to score; a touchdown is scored any time a player has possession of the ball while the ball is on or beyond the opponents' goal line (or the plane above it).
- After a touchdown, the scoring team attempts a try (which is also analogous to the conversion in rugby). The ball is placed at the other team's 3-yard (2.7 m) line (the 2-yard (1.8 m) line in the NFL). The team can attempt to kick it over the crossbar and through the goal posts in the manner of a field goal for 1 point (an extra point or point-after touchdown (PAT)^[18]), or run or pass it into the end zone in the manner of a touchdown for 2 points (a two-point conversion). In college football, if the defense intercepts or recovers a fumble during a one or two point conversion attempt and returns it to the opposing end zone, the defensive team is awarded the two points.
A field goal (FG) is worth 3 points, and it is scored by kicking the ball over the crossbar and through the goal posts (uprights).^[17] Field goals may be placekicked (kicked when the ball is held vertically against the ground by a teammate) or drop-kicked (extremely uncommon in the modern game, with only two successes in sixty-plus years in the NFL). A field goal is usually attempted on fourth down instead of a punt when the ball is close to the opponent's goal line, or, when there is little or no time left to otherwise score.
A safety, worth 2 points, is scored by the opposing team when the team in possession at the end of a down is responsible for the ball becoming dead behind its own goal line. For instance, a safety is scored by the "defense" if an offensive player is tackled, goes out of bounds, or fumbles the ball out of bounds in his own end zone.^[17] Safeties are relatively rare. Note that, though even more rare, the team initially on "offense" during a down can score a safety if a player of the original defense gains possession of the ball in front of his own goal line and then carries the ball or fumbles it into his own end zone where it becomes dead. However, if the ball becomes dead behind the goal line of the team in possession and its "opponent" is responsible for the ball being there (for instance, if the defense intercepts a forward pass in its own end zone and the ball becomes dead before the ball is advanced out of the end zone) it is a touchback: no points are scored and the team last in possession keeps possession with a first down at its own 20 yard line. In college, in the extremely rare instance that a safety is scored on a try, it is worth only 1 point.

Kickoffs and free kicks

Each half begins with a kickoff. Teams also kick off after scoring touchdowns and field goals. The ball is kicked using a kicking tee from the team's own 30-yard (27 m) line in the NFL and college football (as of the 2007 season). The other team's kick returner tries to catch the ball and advance it as far as possible. Where he is stopped is the point where the offense will begin its drive, or series of offensive plays. If the kick returner catches the ball in his own end zone, he can either run with the ball, or elect for a touchback by kneeling in the end zone, in which case the receiving team then starts its offensive drive from its own 20 yard line. A touchback also occurs when the kick goes out-of-bounds in the end zone. A kickoff that goes out-of-bounds anywhere other than the end zone before being touched by the receiving team is a foul, and the ball will be placed where it went out of bounds or 30 yards (27 m) from the kickoff spot, depending on which is more advantageous to the opposite team.^[19] Unlike with punts, once a kickoff goes 10 yards and the ball has hit the ground, it can be recovered by the kicking team.^[19] A team, especially one who is losing, can try to take advantage of this by attempting an onside kick. Punts and turnovers in the end zone can also end in a touchback.

After safeties, the team that gave up the points must free kick the ball to the other team from its own 20 yard line.^[20]

Penalties

Main article: Penalty (American football)

Further information: American football rules

Fouls (a type of rule violation) are punished with penalties against the offending team. Most penalties result in moving the football towards the offending team's end zone. If the penalty would move the ball more than half the distance towards the offender's end zone, the penalty becomes half the distance to the goal instead of its normal value.

Most penalties result in replaying the down. Some defensive penalties give the offense an automatic first down.^[21] Conversely, some offensive penalties result in loss of a down (loss of the right to repeat the down).^[21] If a penalty gives the offensive team enough yardage to gain a first down, they get a first down, as usual.

If a foul occurs during a down, an official throws a yellow penalty flag near the spot of the foul. When the down ends, the team that did not commit the foul has the option of accepting the penalty, or declining the penalty and accepting the result of the down.

Variations

Variations on these basic rules exist, particularly touch and flag football, which are designed as non-contact or limited-contact alternatives to the relative violence of regular American football. In touch and flag football, tackling is not permitted. Offensive players are "tackled" when a defender tags them or removes a flag from their body, respectively. Both of these varieties are played mainly in informal settings such as intramural or youth games. Another variation is "wrap", where a player is "tackled" when another player wraps his arms around the ball carrier. Professional, intercollegiate, and varsity-level high school football invariably use the standard tackling rules.

Another variation is with the number of players on the field. In sparsely populated areas, it is not uncommon to find high school football teams playing nine-man football, eight-man football or six-man football. Players often play on offense as well as defense. The Arena Football League is a league that plays eight-man football, but also plays indoors and on a much smaller playing surface with rule changes to encourage a much more offensive game.

Another variation often played by American children is called Catch and Run. In this game, the children split into two teams and line up at opposite sides of the playing field. One side throws the ball to the other side. If the opposing team catches the ball, that player tries to run to the throwing teams touchdown without being tagged/tackled. If no one catches the ball or if the player is tagged/tackled, then that team has to throw the ball to the opposing team. This repeats until the game (or recess period) is deemed over.

Players

Main article: American football positions

Offense

The offensive line (OL) consists of five players whose job is to protect the passer and clear the way for runners by blocking members of the defense. The lineman in the middle is the Center. Outside the Center are the Guards, and outside them are the Tackles. Except for the center, who snaps the ball to one of the backs, offensive linemen generally do not handle the ball.
The quarterback (QB) receives the snap from the center on most plays. He then hands or tosses it to a running back, throws it to a receiver or runs with it himself. The quarterback is the leader of the offense and calls the plays that are signaled to him from the sidelines.
Running backs (RB) line up behind or beside the QB and specialize in running with the ball. They also block, catch passes and, on rare occasions, pass the ball to others or even receive the snap. If a team has two running backs in the game, usually one will be a halfback (HB) (or tailback (TB)), who is more likely to run with the ball, and the other will usually be a fullback (FB), who is more likely to block.
Wide receivers (WR) line up near the sidelines. They specialize in catching passes, though they also block for running plays or downfield after another receiver makes a catch.
Tight ends (TE) line up outside the offensive line. They can either play like wide receivers (catch passes) or like offensive linemen (protect the QB or create spaces for runners). Sometimes an offensive lineman takes the tight end position and is referred to as a tackle eligible.^[22]

At least seven players must line up on the line of scrimmage on every offensive play. The other players may line up anywhere behind the line. The exact number of running backs, wide receivers and tight ends may differ on any given play. For example, if the team needs only 1 yard, it may use three tight ends, two running backs and no wide receivers. On the other hand, if it needs 20 yards, it may replace all of its running backs and tight ends with wide receivers.

Defense

In contrast to members of the offense, the rules of professional football (NFL Rulebook) and American college football NCAA Rulebook) do not specify starting position, movement, or coverage zones for members of the defensive team, except that they must be in the defensive zone at the start of play. The positions, movements and responsibilities of all defensive players are assigned by the team by selection of certain coverages, or patterns of placement and assignment of responsibilities. The positional roles are customary. These roles have varied over the history of American football. The following are customary defensive positions used in many coverages in modern American football.

The defensive line consists of three to six players who line up immediately across from the offensive line. They try to occupy the offensive linemen in order to free up the linebackers, disrupt the backfield (behind the offensive line) of the offense, and tackle the running back if he has the ball before he can gain yardage or the quarterback before he can throw or pass the ball. They are the first line of defense.
Behind the defensive line are the linebackers. They line up between the defensive line and defensive backs and may either rush the quarterback or cover potential receivers.
The last line of defense is known as the secondary, comprising at least three players who line up as defensive backs, who are either cornerbacks or safeties. They cover the receivers and try to stop pass completions. They occasionally rush the quarterback.

Special teams

The units of players who handle kicking plays are known as special teams. Three important special-teams players are the punter, who handles punts, the placekicker or kicker, who kicks off and attempts field goals and extra points, and the long snapper, who snaps the ball for extra points, field goals, and punts. Also included on special teams are the returners. These players return punts or kickoffs and try to get in good field position. These players can also score touchdowns.

Uniform numbering

Quarterback Shaun Carney has uniform number 5.

In the NFL, ranges of uniform numbers are (usually) reserved for certain positions:^[23]

1–9: Quarterbacks, kickers, and punters
10–19: Quarterbacks, kickers, punters, and wide receivers
20–49: Running backs and defensive backs (tight ends are also permitted to wear numbers in the range 40-49 if no numbers are available in the range 80-89)
50–59: Centers and linebackers
60–79: Offensive and defensive linemen
80–89: Wide receivers and tight ends
90–99: Defensive linemen and linebackers

NCAA and high school rules specify only that offensive linemen must have numbers in the 50-79 range, but the NCAA "strongly recommends" that quarterbacks and running backs have numbers below 50 and wide receivers numbers above 79. This helps officials as it means that numbers 50 to 79 are ineligible receivers, or players that may never receive a forward pass. There are no numbering restrictions on defensive players in the NCAA, other than that no two players with the same jersey number can be on the field at the same time.

Basic strategy

Main article: American football strategy

Because the game stops after every down, giving teams a chance to call a new play, strategy plays a major role in football. Each team has a playbook of dozens to hundreds of plays. Ideally, each play is a scripted, strategically sound team-coordinated endeavor. Some plays are very safe; they are likely to get only a few yards. Other plays have the potential for long gains but at a greater risk of a loss of yardage or a turnover.

Generally speaking, rushing plays are less risky than passing plays. However, there are relatively safe passing plays and risky running plays. To deceive the other team, some passing plays are designed to resemble running plays and vice versa. These are referred to as play-action passes and draws, respectively. There are many trick or gadget plays, such as when a team lines up as if it intends to punt and then tries to run or pass for a first down. Such high-risk plays are a great thrill to the fans when they work. However, they can spell disaster if the opposing team realizes the deception and acts accordingly.

The defense also plans plays in response to expectations of what the offense will do. For example, a "blitz" (using linebackers or defensive backs to charge the quarterback) is often attempted when the team on defense expects a pass. A blitz makes downfield passing more difficult but exposes the defense to big gains if the offensive line stems the rush.

Many hours of preparation and strategizing, including film review by both players and coaches, go into the days between football games. This, along with the demanding physicality of football (see below), is why teams typically play at most one game per week.

Physicality

Main articles: Health issues in American football and American football protective equipment

A halfback leads fellow backs through an agility drill at the Air Force Academy

American football is a collision sport. To stop the offense from advancing the ball, the defense must tackle the player with the ball by knocking or pulling him down. As such, defensive players must use some form of physical contact to bring the ball-carrier to the ground, within certain rules and guidelines. Tacklers cannot kick or punch the runner. They also cannot grab the face mask of the runner's helmet or lead into a tackle with their own helmet. Despite these and other rules regarding unnecessary roughness, most other forms of tackling are legal. Blockers and defenders trying to evade them also have wide leeway in trying to force their opponents out of the way. Quarterbacks are regularly hit by defenders coming on full speed from outside the quarterback's field of vision. This is commonly known as a blindside.

To compensate for this, players must wear special protective equipment, such as a padded plastic helmet, shoulder pads, hip pads and knee pads. These protective pads were introduced decades ago and have improved ever since to help minimize lasting injury to players. An unintended consequence of all the safety equipment has resulted in increasing levels of violence in the game. Players may now hurl themselves at one another at high speeds without a significant chance of injury. The injuries that do result tend to be severe and often season or career-ending and sometimes fatal. In previous years with less padding, tackling more closely resembled tackles in Rugby football. Better helmets have allowed players to use their helmets as weapons. This form of tackling is particularly unwise, because of the great potential for brain or spinal injury. All this has caused the various leagues, especially the NFL, to implement a complicated series of penalties for various types of contact. Most recently, virtually any contact with the helmet of a defensive player on the quarterback, or any contact to the quarterback's head, is now a foul. During the late 1970s, the penalty in high school football for spearing included ejection from the game.^[24]

Despite protective equipment and rule changes to emphasize safety, injuries remain very common in football. It is increasingly rare, for example, for NFL quarterbacks or running backs (who take the most direct hits) to make it through an entire season without missing some time to injury. Additionally, 28 football players died from direct football injuries in the years 2000-05 and an additional 68 died indirectly from dehydration or other examples of "non-physical" dangers, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research.^[25] Concussions are common, with about 41,000 suffered every year among high school players according to the Brain Injury Association of Arizona.^[26] In 1981, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who played football in high school, commented on the contact of the sport: "[Football] is the last thing left in civilization where men can literally fling themselves bodily at one another in combat and not be at war."^[27]

Extra and optional equipment such as neck rolls, spider pads, rib protectors (referred to as "flak jackets"), and elbow pads help against injury as well, though they do not tend to be used by the majority of players due to their lack of requirement.

The danger of football and the equipment required to reduce it make regulation football impractical for casual play. Flag football and touch football are less violent variants of the game popular among recreational players.

Nutrition and dehydration

Football players typically begin their season while the weather is still extremely warm and with the dangerous combination of warm weather and high humidity, receiving dehydration is a great risk taken by the players.^[28] The players are usually required to follow a hydration schedule. It is extremely important for players to drink enough fluids because dehydration can seriously reduce athletic performance and increase the risk of heat illnesses. Most trainers and coaches make it imperative for their players to drink fluids before they are thirsty.^[29]

Organization in the United States

Main article: American football in the United States

Calendar

Traditionally, football is an autumn sport. A season typically begins in mid-to-late August and runs through December, into January. The professional playoffs run through January, and the Super Bowl is often played in the first week of February.

Amateurs playing on Thanksgiving

The NFL draft is usually held in April, in which eligible college football players are selected by NFL teams, the order of selection determined by the teams' final regular season records.

It is a long-standing tradition in the United States (though not universally observed) that high school football games are played on Friday night, college games on Saturday, and professional games on Sunday.

In the 1970s, the NFL began to schedule one game on Monday nights. Beginning in 2006, the NFL began scheduling games on Thursday and Saturday nights after the college football regular season concludes in mid-November, aired on the NFL Network.

In recent years, nationally televised Thursday night college games have become a weekly fixture on ESPN, and most nights of the week feature at least one college game, though most games are still played on the traditional Saturday.

Certain fall and winter holidays—such as the NFL's Thanksgiving Classic and numerous New Year's Day college bowl games—have traditional football games associated with them.

Despite this, there are a few professional leagues that have played in the spring, mainly to avoid competition with the established leagues. Examples include the now defunct XFL, the United States Football League, and the proposed All American Football League. Indoor football is played primarily in spring for this same reason.

At most levels of competition, college football teams hold several weeks of practices in the spring. These practices typically end with an intramural scrimmage open to the public. In certain areas, high school football teams also hold spring practices.

Outside the United States

Outside the United States, the sport is referred to as "American football" (or a translation thereof) to differentiate it from other football codes such as association football (soccer) and rugby football. In Australia and New Zealand the game is also known as gridiron football, or more commonly as gridiron, although in the United States the term gridiron refers only to the playing field itself.^[30] In much of the world, the term football is unambiguous and refers to association football.

The NFL has attempted to introduce the game to other nations and operated a developmental league, NFL Europa, with teams in five German cities and one in the Netherlands, but this league folded following the 2007 season. The professional Canadian Football League and collegiate Canadian Interuniversity Sport play under the only slightly different Canadian rules.

In the UK, 46 teams play in the British American Football League. The BAFL is comprised of three levels: The Premier, of which there are five teams; BAFL 1, of which there are 19 teams; and BAFL 2, of which there are 26 teams. While the lower level teams have their own championship games during BritBowl Weekend, only Premier league teams face each other in the BritBowl which is it held in Doncaster's Keepmoat Stadium. Unlike the NFL, the BAFL season is played through the summer (April to September), with the British university season spanning the autumn and winter.

In Mexico, the ONEFA is a college league with 26 teams in 3 conferences. It is the most important championship in Latin America.

In Japan, the X-League is a professional league with 60 teams in four divisions, using promotion and relegation. After the post-season playoffs, the X-League champion is determined in the Japan X Bowl. There are also over 200 universities fielding teams, with the national collegiate championship determined by the Koshien Bowl. The professional and collegiate champions then face each other in the Rice Bowl to determine the national champion.

In Germany, the German Football League whose elite division is called Bundesliga, has 12 teams partitioned into north and south conferences. The finalists from the playoffs determine the German champion during the German Bowl.

In Hungary, 18 registered teams participate in a the MAFL's two division league structure. The sport has grown significantly since 2004 and with some top Division I teams participating in the CEFL.

In Norway, div I consists of only two teams, Oslo Vikings and Eidsvoll 1814's. These two teams also compete in the European Football League but they play an annual game for the Norwegian Championship title. Norway has seven other teams that play in div II and this division is looked upon as the Norwegian Football League.

The International Federation of American Football is the governing body for American football with 45 member associations from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Oceania. The IFAF also oversees the American Football World Cup, which is held every four years. Japan won the first two World Cups, held in 1999 and 2003. Team USA, which had not participated in the previous World Cups, won the title in 2007.

Major American leagues have also held some regular season games outside of the United States. On October 2, 2005, the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers played the first regular season NFL game outside of the United States, in Mexico City's Estadio Azteca,^[31] From 2007, the NFL has played or has plans to play at least one regular season game outside of the United States. The NCAA will also play games outside of the U.S. In 2012, The United States Naval Academy will play the University of Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland.^[32]

Notes

^ In the United States and Canada, the term "football" may refer to either American football or to the similar sport of Canadian football, the meaning usually being clear from the context. This article describes the American variant.
^ Technically, the ball is a prolate spheroid. In the United States, while college football and Professional Football are essentially similar, there are significant differences. See 2006 NCAA Football Rules and Interpretations, Sec. 1, Art. 1
^ "FIF - Federazione Italiana Football" (in Italian). FIF. 04 April 2009. http://www.federfootball.org/. Retrieved on 2009-04-05.
^ "SAFV - Schweizerischer American Football Verband" (in German). SAFV. http://www.safv.ch/. Retrieved on 2009-05-19.
^ Superserien on www.amerikanskfotboll.com (Swedish)
^ "American Football in Israel". SAFV - Schweizerischer American Football Verband. Retrieved on 2009-05-19.
^ "American Football Bund Österreich". http://www.afboe.at/. Retrieved on 2009-05-19.
^ "Camp and His Followers: American Football 1876–1889". The Journey to Camp: The Origins of American Football to 1889. Professional Football Researchers Association. http://www.footballresearch.com/articles/frpage.cfm?topic=d-to1889. Retrieved on 2007-05-16.
^ "The History of Football". The History of Sports. Saperecom. 2007. http://www.historyoffootball.net/. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
^ "NFL History 1869–1910". NFL.com. NFL Enterprises LLC. 2007. http://www.nfl.com/history/chronology/1869-1910. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
^ "NFL:America's Choice" (PDF). National Football League. 2007. http://www.coldhardfootballfacts.com/Documents/NFL_all_about_SB_1-07.pdf. Retrieved on 2007-08-15.
^ ^a ^b "NFL Football Field Dimensions". SportsKnowHow.com. 2004. http://www.sportsknowhow.com/football/field-dimensions/nfl-football-field-dimensions.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-05.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Coin Toss". NFL Enterprises LLC. 2009. http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/cointoss. Retrieved on 2009-04-05.
^ "NFL Makes Some Rule Changes". 2008. http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gHSwbXq1wnH-jmEl-jV4W8M0Vd1wD8VQBFSG0. Retrieved on 2008-04-03.
^ "2005 Rules and Interpretations" (PDF). National Collegiate Athletic Association. 2005. http://www.ncaa.org/library/rules/2005/2005_football_rules.pdf. Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
^ Lawrence, Mark (2002-2005). "The Field". Mark Lawrence. http://football.calsci.com/TheRules4.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-05.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Beginner's Guide to Football". NFL Enterprises LLC. 2009. http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/beginnersguidetofootball. Retrieved on 2009-04-05.
^ 2007 Official Rules of the NFL. Triumph Books. 1 October 2007. ISBN 1699780288.
^ ^a ^b "Kickoff". NFL Enterprises LLC.. 2009. http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/kickoff. Retrieved on 2009-04-05.
^ "Safety". NFL Enterprises LLC.. 2009. http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/safety. Retrieved on 2009-04-05.
^ ^a ^b "Penalty Summaries". NFL Enterprises LLC.. 2009. http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/penaltysummaries. Retrieved on 2009-04-05.
^ Member - Pro Football Hall of Fame
^ Troan, John (02/24/2002). "Player Numbers by Position". John Troan. http://www.jt-sw.com/football/pro/index.nsf/Documents/0-jers-nums. Retrieved on 2009-04-05.
^ Diehl, Jerry L., ed. 1999 and 2000 NFHS Football Handbook. Robert F. Kanaby, NFHS Publications. p. 20.
^ Annual Survey of Football Injury Research 1931 - 2005, National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research. Updated January 18, 2006. Accessed October 31, 2006
^ Studies Suggest 10% of Arizona High School Football Players Will Suffer a Concussion During This Coming Season PR Newswire press release from the Brain Injury Association of Arizona, August 23, 2005. Accessed October 31, 2006
^ D'Souza, Dinesh (February 23, 1999). Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader. Free Press. p. 40. ISBN 0684848236.
^ Hemmelgran, Melinda. "Nutrient Needs of Young Athletes." The Elementary School Journal: Sports and Physical Education 91 (1991): 445-56.
^ Hemmelgran, Melinda. "Nutrient Needs of Young Athletes." The Elementary School Journal: Sports and Physical Education 91 (1991): 445-56.
^ "gridiron." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 01 Oct. 2007. [1].
^ S.F. 49ers, Arizona Cardinals to kick off in Mexico - San Francisco Business Times:
^ "Notre Dame And Navy Extend Series 10 More Years :: Irish and Midshipmen will meet at least until 2016, with the 2012 meeting set to be in Dublin, Ireland". Und.cstv.com. http://und.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/111005aac.html. Retrieved on 2008-11-24.

References

"Digest of Rules". National Football League. http://www.nfl.com/rulebook/digestofrules. Retrieved on 2007-10-31.
"History and the basics". National Football League. http://www.nfl.com/history. Retrieved on 2005-12-28.
"Playing with the Percentages When Trailing by Two Touchdowns". Montana State University. http://www.thesportjournal.org/2005Journal/Vol8-No4/starkey.asp. Retrieved on 2005-12-24.

External links

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American football

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