American FootballNow I know that a few people on here aren’t into the NFL but if you aren’t, and you are adamant you don’t want to get into it then just don’t read the thread. Yes, they wear padding. Yes, they have cheerleaders, and yes there is far too much razzamatazz surrounding the game.But the actual game itself is much more than this, and its much more than “a load of fat guys running into each other”. So I’ll briefly attempt to introduce the sport to those who have never or hardly seen it, and honestly – just watch one game. You can usually tell after one game (when you know how it works) whether you’ll like the sport or not.
Basics
Offence in blue, Defense in redOkay the basics first. Each team has three units. Offence, Defense (they’re American, they can’t spell, never mind), and Special Teams. While one team’s Offence is on the field, they have possession of the ball and their objective is to move it down the field to the other end. As you may guess, the opposition’s Defense is in place to stop it happening.
The Field
The field itself is 100 yards long. No more, no less. It is marked out with a line every 10 yards down the field, and smaller hash marks signalling each yard. Behind the goal line at each end is an Endzone that is ten yards deep, at the back of which is a set of goalposts.
In possession of the ballThe offense, once in control of the ball, has four opportunities (also known as ‘downs’) to move the ball up the field ten yards. Each time they are successful, no matter what attempt it is of the four (what down it is), they are rewarded with a fresh set of four downs. If they can’t manage it after four downs, then possession is handed over to the other team, then their offence comes on and the defense replaces the unsuccessful offence.
Special TeamsNow for the Special Teams. These guys aren’t on the field as often, and are largely involved with kicking the ball more than anything else. Special Teams begin the game with the Kickoff. The team who kicks the ball off will ordinarily start on Defense, as they are kicking the ball to the other team, who will then go on offense.
On the kickoff itself, the Kicking team will be made up of the kicker himself, and 10 others. The Receiving team has 11 players dotted about, and any are eligible to catch the ball. The kick takes place from the kicking team’s 30-yard line, and basically the kicker boots it from there as far as he can, while the other ten charge down the field.
Someone on the receiving team will catch it, and equally as basically, attempt to run it back upfield as far as he can before being tackled. This is the spot where his offence take the field, and the game begins.
The main other time when Special Teams are used are on Fourth Down. As I mentioned after four downs if a team hasn’t moved the ball ten yards, possession changes hands. So usually if a team is on 4th Down, they will attempt one of two things. If they are in kicking range of the goalposts, they could attempt a Field Goal, a place kick from where the ball currently is on the field. If successful, the offence scores three points, and the game restarts with them kicking off back to the other team.
However, if on 4th Down the offence aren’t within Field Goal range, then they will usually Punt the ball. This is a kick out of the hands of the designated Punter, as far downfield as possible, and like the Kickoff, can be returned by the opposition.
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Still with me? Bear with me, I’m trying to keep it as easy-to-understand as possible but it really isn’t easy to trim it down much more than this!
To try and make it a bit more interesting, and not just pages and pages of paragraphs, I will walk you through a sample section of the game, and explain little bits as I go along. To make it more understandable I will use two well-known real teams, the Dallas Cowboys and the Washington Redskins (who ironically meet on Sunday night).
* Dallas win the coin toss, and elect to receive the ball first, meaning they will kick-off in the second half. Washington has choice of which end to defend first.
* Washington kickoff, and Dallas return the ball to their own 30 yard line.Note: If a kickoff goes so far that it goes out of the endzone, a Touchback is given, which gives the receiving team the ball from their own 20-yard line. If a player catches it in his own endzone, he can either run it back or kneel down with the ball (“down the ball”) which also results in a touchback.Now Dallas have four attempts to move the ball ten yards. They can either ‘run’, or ‘pass’ the ball.* Dallas run the ball, and make a decent pickup of 7 yards. They are now at their own 37-yard line and the down becomes 2nd & 3 (2nd down and three yards to go)The main man in the middle of the offense is called the Quarterback. For a run, he will usually hand it off to a Running Back, who will attempt to run as far upfield as he can with the ball.* Dallas then go for a pass play, and with a 14-yard pickup move past the original 10-yard target and get a fresh set of downs. They move into Washington’s half, and their First Down will take place from the opposition’s 49 yard line.For a pass play, the Quarterback will attempt to throw it towards another player (usually a Wide Receiver) to gain yardage. This is usually a high-risk/high-reward way of moving the ball upfield. It is harder to pull off, but usually brings more yardage than a run play. * Dallas attempt another pass, but it isn’t caught and falls incomplete (usually known simply as an incomplete pass). It becomes 2nd & 10.
* A run is attempted, and it gains three yards, putting Dallas in a 3rd & 7 position from Washington’s 46.3rd down is a crucial play because it’s the last time (normally) when a team can attempt to get another 1st down before they are forced to kick the Field Goal, or punt it away. 3rd & anything above 2 or 3 is notoriously difficult, but definitely not impossible.* A huge pass play down the sideline results in the Dallas receiver going all the way for the touchdown, and the extra point is converted to make it Dallas 7-0 Washington.Once a play reaches the opposition endzone – a pass or run – the drive ends and the offence is awarded 6 points – known as a touchdown. Bear in mind that the ball does not actually need to be touched down to be classed as a touchdown (as it does in Rugby). Simply crossing the goal line in possession of the ball, or catching in the endzone is good enough
After a touchdown is scored, an Extra Point attempt comes straight after where the offense have a Field Goal attempt from the 2-yard line which if successful adds one more point to the Touchdown.------
That is enough to be going on with. There is far more to the game, I haven’t gone into positions, turnovers and quite a bit more. But the best way to learn the game is to watch it. It takes time to pick it up. I’ve been watching it for nearly 15 years and I’m still learning new things.
The new season starts very soon – within the next half hour or so – so if you are awake and are more interested in the game, then here’s your perfect chance to get into the sport. You don’t need a team early on, just watch. If you watch for a few months, a team will pick you. Everyone has different styles, different things they look for, and after a while you just start to think “I like these guys.”
So there’s my “brief” (ha) introduction to the game, but believe me it can’t be much briefer to give you a rounded understanding of the basics. Of course if you watch it and don’t like it, then at least you tried it. I tried with the Tour de France in the summer and it didn’t grip me.
But just give it a go! The Minnesota Vikings travel to the New Orleans Saints in a rematch of last season’s NFC Championship game (equal to a playoff semi-final), which the Saints won and then went onto win last year’s Super Bowl.
The NFL starts now, get Sky Sports 1 on!
