Introduction to American Football

By Alan

American Football

American football is played on a rectangular field called a gridiron that is 120 yards long by 160 yards wide. The gear for football is made up of shoulder and chest pads, special football sneakers with cleats at the bottom, a helmet with concussion padding, some padded pants that go up to your knees, and sometimes special gloves that helps the player get better grip when they catch the ball. There are penalties including targeting, holding, charging, and lots more. Because the clock stops during injuries, time outs and when the ball carrier goes out of bounds, A regular game can last 2-3 hours.The Offenses job is to score points for the team. They do that by carrying the ball and running the ball into the opponent's end zone for 6 points, then add an extra point with a field goal. The quarterback leads the offense along with many other players including the offensive tackles, tackles, and Offensive Lineman and center makes a safe pocket for the quarterback and gives him protection so he doesn’t get tackled before he makes a play. The center also does the job of snapping or throwing the ball through his legs to the quarterback so he can make a play. Other positions on the offense include wide receivers, tight ends, fullbacks, halfbacks, and running backs. The running backs usually catch short passes or take a handoff from the quarterback while tight ends and wide receivers catch passes and block for running backs at the back of the field. Fullbacks and halfbcks are used to block for running backs trying to get through. The offense is needed, but the defense is just as important. Their job is to try to stop the other team from scoring by tackling the opposing player carrying the ball, breaking up passes, and forcing the opposing player out of bounds. The defense includes many positions. The defensive tackles, defensive ends and defensive linemen try to tackle the quarterback before he can make a play and tries to stop running backs from gaining yards and scoring. The defensive backs, safeties, and cornerbacks are the last line of defense. They put pressure on the quarterback by trying to break up pass plays and trying to tackle tight ends, wide receivers, and running backs who break through. In Between the two lines of defense is another line of defense built up of outside and inside linebackers, and the middle linebacker. The middle linebacker is like the quarterback of the defense. They do the same jobs as the other defensemen do, breaking up passes, tackling the ball carrier, all those stuff.
Then there are the special teams. This team is responsible for onside kicks, punts, kickoffs, and field goals. It includes the kicker for kickoff and field goals, and the placeholder for field goals. The punter is responsible for punting or kicking the ball to the other team if their team can’t move the ball downfield. And then there is the head coach and assistant coaches. These people manage the team and players, make draft decisions, and help out during games and practices.The Hall of Fame that includes all the retired player’s statues for each player that was nominated. It’s located in Canton, Ohio. Injuries are very common in football so be careful when you play it. The biggest game in pro football is the Super Bowl. Each team tries to be champions in their division and their small league to get to the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl trophy, the Vince Lombardi trophy, was named after the legendary Green Bay Packers head coach and New York Giants assistant coach that led the Packers to two Super Bowl wins in 1967 and 1968. Every team in the NFL, NFC and AFC are qualified in the playoffs including the New York Giants, New York Jets, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, Philadelphia Eagles, New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Stars, Baltimore Ravens, Seattle Seahawks, Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders have won the super bowl and all the playoff games 1 or more times but the Houston Texans, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings, Carolina Panthers, Tennessee Titans, San Diego Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, Jacksonville Jaguars, and the Cincinnati Bengals have yet to win the biggest prize in football history. And those are just the basics of football. You can learn more at your local school or library.