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Football Knowledge

The game of American football is a derivative of rugby. Many Northeastern schools were playing a rugby-like game in which the goal was to advance the ball past the opposing team. The first collegiate football game was held in 1869 between Princeton and Rutgers.

In 1873, Columbia, Princeton, Rutgers and Yale met and created the first set of rules for intercollegiate play under the Intercollegiate Football Association. A few years later, Yale coach Walter Camp led the change from fifteen to eleven players per team and introduced the system of downs. Over the next fifty years, many changes were put into place, including the forward pass. Additional equipment and rules were added or changed to make the game safer.

The Origins of Professional American Football
Professional football developed in the early twentieth century. In 1920, the American Professional Football Association (APFA) was created with ten professional teams.

The APFA became the National Football League (NFL) in 1922. In 1933, the NFL split into two divisions and the first National Championship game was played.
Other professional leagues tried to challenge the NFL. None were as powerful as the American Football League (AFL), which had the financial backing to challenge the NFL in drafting players out of college and generating television contracts.

In 1966, the two leagues merged and the first Super Bowl was played in 1967, where the Green Bay Packers defeated the Kansas City Chiefs 35-10.

American football today is one of the most popular sports in the world. Television contracts range in the billions of dollars and advertising spots during the Super Bowl can cost over three million dollars for a thirty-second ad.

The Rules of Football
American football is played on a field measuring 360 feet long by 160 feet wide with end zones and field goal posts at each end.

Football is a timed game of sixty minutes broken into four fifteen-minute quarters. There are eleven players on each side, offense and defense.

During the game, the offensive team has four opportunities per possession to advance the ball ten yards. These opportunities are called downs. If the team is unsuccessful after four downs, the ball goes to the opposing team at the spot where the last down ended. In most cases teams punt the ball after the third down if they have not gone at least ten yards.

The ball may be advanced by either running or passing the ball. Teams are penalized if they make an illegal play.

Scoring
Scoring can happen in five different ways:

• Touchdown: Touchdowns are worth six points and occur when a team passes or runs the ball across the opposing team's goal line. Defenses can score touchdowns if they intercept a pass or recover a fumble and make it across the goal line without being tackled.
  
  
• Field goal: A field goal is worth three points and is achieved by kicking the ball through the field goal posts and over the horizontal bar from anywhere on the field. 
  
  
• Safety: A safety is worth two points and is scored by the defense when they tackle an offensive player in the offense's end zone.
  
  
• Extra Point: An extra point is worth one point and is achieved by kicking the ball through the field goal posts from the two-yard line after a touchdown.
  
  
• Two-Point Conversion: Instead of kicking an extra point, a team may try for a two-point conversion after a touchdown. The team has one opportunity to reach the end zone with a run or pass from the two-yard line.

Positions on Offense
The quarterback is responsible for calling plays and distributing the football. He touches the ball on every offensive play. The quarterback has the option to run with the ball, throw it to another player or hand it off to another player.

Wide receiver is a position dedicated almost entirely to catching forward passes. At the beginning of each play they will run downfield to receive passes from the quarterback. The tight end is also a receiving player who is also used to block for running plays or to provide extra protection on passing plays.

The fullback and tailback are predominantly dedicated to running the football. The fullback is generally a blocker that opens running lanes for the tailback, who is typically smaller but a faster runner.

The offensive line consists of seven players. The left end, left tackle, left guard, center, right guard, right tackle, and right end. The two end positions are eligible pass receivers and may be close to the other linemen (tight) or spread from the others (wide). The middle five players are responsible for blocking defenders. The center also snaps the ball to the quarterback to begin each play. Kickers and punters are responsible for kicking field goals and extra points and punting the ball after unsuccessful third downs.

Positions on Defense
Defensive positions are likewise assigned responsibilities. These players will match up with their counterparts on the offensive side of the ball.

The defensive line generally consists of two defensive ends and two defensive tackles. The ends line up opposite the two offensive tackles and attempt to stop plays by rushing around them. The defensive tackles line up opposite the offensive guards to stop plays run up the middle.

Linebackers play behind the defensive line and are responsible for playing both the line of scrimmage and further down the field. There are generally three linebackers, each assigned the right, middle or left side of the field.

The two cornerbacks shadow the wide receivers and are responsible for breaking up pass plays. The two safeties play behind the linebackers and cover both the pass defense and running defense.

Interesting Facts About Football
American football is filled with interesting facts. Here are a few:

• The largest margin of victory in a professional football championship game was when the Chicago Bears defeated the Washington Redskins 73-0 in 1940.
• The longest winning streak in collegiate football history is 47 games, achieved by the Oklahoma Sooners between 1954 and 1957.
• The only player to win the Heisman Trophy (awarded to the best collegiate football player) twice was Ohio State running back Archie Griffin in 1974 and 1975.
• The Pro Football Hall of Fame began inducting people in 1963. Members of the first class include George Halas, Jim Thorpe, Harold (Red) Grange and Bronko Nagurski.