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American football portal

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American football is a popular sport in the United States. A descendant of rugby football and closely related to the sport of Canadian football, the game took its modern form in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the many innovations and rule changes instituted by Walter Camp.

The game is played between two teams of eleven players each. One team, called the offense, is in possesion of the ball and attempts to score by moving the ball towards their opponents goal area, called the end zone. The other team, called the defense, attempts to prevent the offense from scoring and take the ball from them. American football is not a continuous-action sport, instead action takes place in short engagements called downs. Before the beginning of a down, the two teams line up on opposite sides of the ball, separated from each other by the line of scrimmage. The ball is put into play by an action called a "snap", beginning the down. During play, the offense may choose to do four things with it:

  • They may advance the ball by running towards their opponent's end zone.
  • They may advance the ball by throwing a forward pass.
  • They may attempt a field goal by kicking the ball through the tall goal posts at the back of their opponent's end zone.
  • They may forfeit control of the ball to the other team by punting the ball to them.

Play stops, and the down is over, when any of the following occur:

  • The player with the ball is tackled to the ground.
  • A forward pass hits the ground uncaught.
  • The player with the ball steps out of bounds.

The offense is given four downs to advance the ball a minimum of ten yards; doing so gets them another four downs. If they fail to advance the ball at least ten yards in any four-down series, they forfeit control of the ball to the defense, and the two teams switch roles. The defense may also gain control of the ball by taking it from the offense, either by recovering a fumble or catching a forward pass themselves, called an interception, or if the offense chooses to punt the ball. After a score, the team on offense sends the ball to the defense via a kickoff.

To aid in the placement of the ball between downs, and to judge how far the offense has advanced the ball, the field itself is marked by a grid of yard lines. Major lines run the width of the field every five yards, with "hash marks" at one-yard intervals between them. This pattern resembles a cooking grille, or "gridiron", which leads to the sport being refered to as gridiron football, especially in countries where soccer is the dominant form of football.

There are several methods of scoring in American football:

  • A touchdown occurs when the team in control of the ball moves it into their opponent's end zone. Touchdowns are worth six points, and earns the team a chance to score additional points, either by kicking it through the goal posts for a convert, worth one point, or by running or passing the ball into the endzone for a two-point conversion.
  • A field goal occurs when the offense kicks the ball through the goal posts, either by place kick or drop kick. Field goals are worth three points
  • A safety occurs when the defense tackles the player with the ball in their own end zone. A saftey is worth two points for the defense, and also forces the offense to forfeit the ball via a "free kick".

American football allows free substitution, where any player may enter or leave the game at any stoppage in play, which in football are frequent. This allows a practice known as "platooning", whereby separate groups of players play on defense, offense, and "special teams". Players usually play in only one of the many highy specialized positions on the field.

Organized leagues exist for American football. Youth leagues, such as Pop Warner Little Scholars, manage the sport for children. At the high school level, the sport is organized by state level high school sports associations, coordinated nationally by the National Federation of State High School Associations. The National Collegiate Athletic Association is the largest university-level sports association, and the highest level of college football is played by the NCAA's Football Bowl Subdivision. Professionally, the 32-member National Football League is the highest level of American football. The NFL championship game, known as the Super Bowl, is annually the most-watched televised sporting event in the U.S.

 

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