We all know that the most popular sport in the world is Football or Soccer as Americans call it. And this is for good reason. The game is dynamic and features great plays with lots of tension and fun at the same time. The following article is a quick review over the rules and the image of American Football in attempt to also present how fascinating this game can also be. Of course a case can never be made that American Football (we will simply call it Football from now on) will ever be as popular as Soccer and we fully realise that only a specific audience will really follow it. However, it is imperative that we paint the proper picture and be well-informed because most European people see this game as a violent pushing and shoving without any thought or game flow whatsoever. All of this is simply not true as the game is one of the most complex you will ever encounter in your life. There is plenty of things to keep in mind while playing it and hundreds of plays and coded words to memorise. It cannot be played by everyone – it is as simple as that.
The rules while convoluted are also pretty simple on their face. You have two teams and the goal is to take the ball to the opposing end zone. This can be achieved by either carrying (rushing) the ball or by passing it forward. The game itself is played in series of downs. These are individual plays covering long or short distance. The next down starts where the previous one ended. Each Football club has two line ups – an offensive team and a defensive team. There is also a third line up – special teams. They are used during kick offs, punts, field goals and PATs but we will discuss this later. The length of the field is 100 yards but the 2 end zones are 10 yards long each and thus the total length of the field is 120 yards. There are also 2 goal posts in each end zone and they are also an essential part of Football when it comes to scoring. Since there are various ways of putting points on the board in this game, we will first discuss some of the basics and then come back to scoring in order to better understand the concept of football.
The game starts with a kick-off and the receiving team tries to return the ball as deep as possible possibly even scoring a touchdown on the return. This, however happens very rarely but when it does, it is a really spectacular play. The kicking team however sends 11 people to block and stop the kick returner in open field and they want to do it as quickly as possible as the stopping point of the ball carrier (kick returner) is the start point at which the offense starts its drive. A drive is called the set of plays and number of downs an offensive team gains before scoring or turning the ball over.
Every player on the team has his own role. Unlike other sports such as basketball and soccer where everyone can basically score or assist, in football players are expected to do certain things and very rarely go out of their role. An offensive lineup consists of a quarterback, running back, wide receivers, offensive line, tight end and sometimes a full back. You probably already know or have somehow heard that the quarterback is the most important player on the field. This is true. He is the signal caller and the passer of the ball. His job is to not only decide what to do with the ball once he has it but also to read the defense and make adjustments to the formation of his team. The complexity of the game requires a team to have coaches for each position:
- Quarterbacks coach
- Wide receivers coach
- Tight ends coach
- Running backs coach
- Offensive line coach
So let’s say that the kick returner was tackled at the 25 yard line. This is the line of scrimmage now – the position from which the ball is snapped. There are 5 offensive linemen and the middle one is the center. He snaps the ball back to the quarterback. Why? Well because the other team also has a line (defensive line) and their goal is to get to the ball. The center is not allowed to carry the ball himself and needs to pass it. This is why he “snaps” the ball to the quarterback. The offensive line then protects him from the defense which tries to get to the quarterback before he passes the ball and “sack” him. People often see this huge pushing in the middle of the field over the line of scrimmage. This is the two lines encountering each other but it is important to note that they are not allowed to hold, grab and trip each other. They can only push off and this is why even though we see generally big men there, they need to have quick feet. Quick feet are also required for a full house clearance in Barnehurst, as well. In other words this aspect cannot be underestimated in any field.
As the quarterback holds on to the ball he can decide to pass it to a wide receiver or a tight end. These players run pre-determined “routes” and try to get open for a pass. If a pass is complete then the second down starts from where the player who caught the pass was tackled. If a pass is incomplete then the second down starts from where the first one did. A team has 4 downs to cover 10 yards. After they cover at least 10 yards they receive a new set of downs and so on until they reach the end zone. A pass can be intercepted in mid-air by the defense which results in an immediate turnover and change of possession.
The quarterback can opt to hand the ball off to the running back and allow him to rush the ball. This is also a viable way of gaining yards and scoring points. A touchdown awards 6 points and the team kicks a 15 yard field goal afterwards for 1 extra point.
