A quarterback searching for opportunity to throw a pass.

Advancing the ball in American football resembles the six-tackle rule and the play-the-ball in rugby league football. The team that takes possession of the ball (the offense) has four attempts, called downs, to advance the ball 10 yards towards their opponent’s (the defense‘s) end zone. When the offense gains 10 yards, it gets a first down, or another set of four downs to gain 10 yards. If the offense fails to gain a first down (10 yards) after 4 downs, it loses possession of the ball.

Except at the beginning of halves and after scores, the ball is always put into play by a snap. All players line up facing each other 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 between his legs to a teammate, usually the quarterback.

Players can then advance the ball in two ways:

• By running with the ball, also known as rushing. One ball-carrier can hand the ball to another; this is known as a handoff.
• 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 on a play and only from behind the line of scrimmage. The ball can be thrown sideways or backwards at any time. This type of pass is known as a lateral and is much rarer in American football than in rugby league or rugby union, where a backwards pass is mandatory.

A play (also called a down) ends, and the ball becomes dead, after any of the following:

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

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

At all times, players and fans must be aware of the sequence of downs and the distance to a new first down. When a team has a first down, the scoreboard or television screen flashes “1st and 10″ — that is, first down and 10 yards to go. If the team gains three yards on the first play, for example, the next down will be “2nd and 7.” If the team gains 6.5 yards on the next play the scoreboard may say “3rd and inches.” If a team gains a first down within the ten yard line then the scoreboard or television reads “(the down) and goal.”

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

A standard football game consists of four 15-minute (typically 12 minutes in high school football) periods (called quarters), with an intermission (called halftime) after the second quarter. The clock stops after certain plays; therefore, a game can last considerably longer (often more than three hours in real time). 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, ending the game. In a regular-season game, if neither team scores, the game is a tie. In a post-season game, play continues with additional overtime periods until the tie is broken, as in the 1971 Christmas Day double-overtime game between the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs, the longest game in NFL history. College overtime rules are more complicated and are described at Overtime (sport).

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

American football is played on a rectangular field 120 yards (110 metres) long by 53 1/3 yards (49 metres) wide. The longer boundary lines are sidelines, while the shorter boundary lines are end lines. Near each end of the field is a goal line; they are 100 yards apart. A scoring area called an end zone extends 10 yards beyond each goal line to each end line.

Yard lines cross the field every 5 yards, and are numbered from each goal line to the 50-yard line, or midfield (similar to a typical rugby league field). Two rows of lines, known as hash marks, parallel the side lines near the middle of the field. All plays start with the ball on or between the hash marks.

At the back of each end zone are two goal posts (also called uprights) that are 18.5 feet apart(24 feet in high school). The posts are connected by a crossbar 10 feet from the ground. Successful kicks must go above the crossbar and between the uprights. (At professional, college, and some high school fields, the uprights and crossbar are attached by a curved bar to a padded post outside the field of play, to reduce the chance of players running into the supports. Many high schools, though, use an H-shaped structure located behind the endlines, allowing the structure to be used as a soccer goal as well.)

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 almost all of the 53 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 (see below). In the NFL, players’ jersey numbers are distributed according to a strict system (e.g. quarterbacks always wear between 1-19).

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Since the 1960s, football has outranked baseball as the most popular spectator sport in the United States ^[2]. The 32-team National Football League (NFL) is the most popular and only major professional American football league. Its championship game, the Super Bowl, is watched by nearly half of U.S. television households, and is also televised in over 150 other countries. Super Bowl Sunday has become an annual ritual in late January or early February. Football is also the most watched sport on television in the United States.

The NFL also operates a developmental league, NFL Europe, with teams in five German cities, and one in the Netherlands.

A Colorado State University player runs with the ball as an Air Force Academy player lines up a tackle.

College football is also extremely popular throughout North America. Several college football stadiums seat more than 100,000 fans — which regularly sell out. Even high school football games can attract five-figure crowds, especially in football hotbeds like Alabama, Western Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Ohio, Georgia and Texas. The weekly autumn ritual of college and high-school football — which includes marching bands, cheerleaders and parties (including the ubiquitous tailgate party) — is an important part of the culture in much of smalltown America. It is a long-standing tradition in the United States (though not universally observed) that high school football games are played on Friday, college games on Saturday, and professional games on Sunday (with an additional professional game on Monday nights).

Certain fall and winter holidays — most notably Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years’ Day — have traditional football games associated with them.

Football is also played recreationally by amateur club and youth teams (e.g., the Pop Warner little-league programs). There are also many “semi-pro” teams in leagues where the players are paid to play, but at a small enough salary that they generally must also hold a full-time job.

Pro football is played in the United States and in the above-mentioned NFL Europe league. The professional Canadian Football League plays under Canadian rules. The sport is popular as an amateur activity in Mexico and American Samoa and to a lesser extent in Japan, Europe and Australia.

Organized football is played almost exclusively by men and boys, although a few amateur and semi-professional women’s leagues have begun play in recent years.

Footnotes

1. ^ MacCambridge, Michael. America’s Game, Random House, 2004.

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American football, known in the United States and Canada ^[1] simply as football, is a competitive team sport. The object of the game is to advance the football towards the opposing team’s end zone and score points. The ball can be advanced by carrying the ball, or by throwing or handing it from one teammate to the other. Points can be scored in a variety of ways, including carrying the ball over the goal line, throwing the ball to another player past the goal line or kicking it through the goal posts on the opposing side. The winner is the team with the most points when the time expires and the last play ends.

Outside of the United States and Canada, the sport is usually referred to as American football (or sometimes as gridiron or gridiron football) to differentiate it from other football games, especially association football (soccer) and rugby football. In Japan, it is referred to as “amefuto” (an abbreviation). American football evolved as a separate sport from rugby football in the late 19th century. Arena football is an invented variant of American football. Canadian football, which also descended from rugby, is closely related to the American sport with a few key differences; the word “football” in Canada can mean American football or Canadian football depending on context. Many in both Canada and the northern United States consider American and Canadian football to be two codes of the same game.

The ball used in American football has a pointed oval or vesica piscis shape, and usually has a large set of stitches along one side.

Footnotes

1. ^ The word “football” in Canada can mean American football or Canadian football depending on context. An Association for Canadian Studies survey finds that more Canadians watch the National Football League than the Canadian Football League (PDF file), but both codes are popular in Canada.

References

• Digest of Rules. National Football League. Retrieved on December 28, 2005.
• History and the basics. National Football League. Retrieved on December 28, 2005.
• Playing with the Percentages When Trailing by Two Touchdowns. Montana State University. Retrieved on December 24, 2005.

Links

• The National Football League (NFL) – the top professional league
• NFL Players Association
• NCAA [2] (complete college football rules are available as a PDF file)
• American Football Coaches Association
• Movie of 1903 football game between the University of Chicago and the University of Michigan
• Chronology of many events in the NFL
• The Women’s League
• Annual Survey of Football Injury Research
• Football Basics
• Football FAQ
• Football Plays, Drills & Fundamentals – Resource for coaches & players.
• The American Football Players Directory
• The Israeli Football League (IFL)

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