can someone please explain american football to me?

[Soviet Heavy]

I've been living in the American South for about 2 months now and I still have no idea what the appeal of American Football is...of course half of the people down here are more into College Football than the NFL which baffles me to no end.

College Football is huge in the States because many colleges and universities will dole out huge grants and scholarships to athletes in order to get them to play for their teams. Additionally, College football is where the NFL got its start, as the version of football we know today is derived from the rules set down by the original adaptations of the American colleges early sports programs.

 

[KeyMaster45]

I've been living in the American South for about 2 months now and I still have no idea what the appeal of American Football is...of course half of the people down here are more into College Football than the NFL which baffles me to no end.

The appeal is the same as any other sport; the fan camaraderie, beer, appreciation of strategy, beer, the idolization of athletes, and beer. As for why college football is more popular in the South, I'd have to say that it's probably in part to the generally rural nature of southern states. Sure we'll show allegiance for the "state" NFL team, but since the majority of the population doesn't live in major cities we tend to rally around the colleges that are either in town, we attended ourselves, or is a nationally recognized state college like LSU. Though in a state like Louisiana the majority of people that live here are likely going to have a diploma from LSU in some form as they have campuses spread out across the state.

I've never really been into football, but that's my closest guess. You may want to ask someone who's passionate about college football, or just football in general why one is more favored over the other. Though in Louisiana it's quite possible that's just born out of the fact that our "state" NFL team only won the superbowl for the first time a few years ago after not having been to it since like the 50s.[footnote]There were multiple jokes prior to that about how hell would freeze over before the Saints won the Superbowl.[/footnote] Can't speak for the other Southern states as I only know vaguely about Alabama and how they're on our shit list because Nick Sabine is a traitorous bastard; I'll have to ask for clarification on that the next time I see my grandfather.

so far the rules seem like a mash-up between rugby union, rugby league and real football (i refuse to call it soccer)

You can blame the British for coming up with that name actually, for once it can't be said we filthy Americans were the ones to bastardized the English language.

The word soccer is a colloquial abbreviation of association (from assoc.) and first appeared in the 1880s. An early usage can be found in an English 1892 periodical. The word is sometimes credited to Charles Wreford Brown, an Oxford University student said to have been fond of shortened forms such as brekkers for breakfast and rugger for rugby football. (See Oxford -er) Clive Toye noted "A quirk of British culture is the permanent need to familiarize names by shortening them. ... Toye [said] 'They took the third, fourth and fifth letters of Association and called it SOCcer.'?

 

[JonnyHG]

It's called 'football', but it's played with the hands. Except sometimes everyone lets someone kick it. Also their goals are suspended in the air.

What's up with that?

Yeah, speaking of their goals, they don't have crossbars like a proper football goal, they're shaped like a Y. So what happens if a guy kicks the ball over the "imaginary crossbar"? Is it still considered a goal?

Also, I admit it looks like an interesting sport. The endless breaks between plays that last for about 10 seconds make me lose all interest, though. I don't understand anything about rugby either, but I find it more enjoyable simply because I feel like I'm actually watching a game of people chasing a ball.

Yes, all that matters is that it is between the uprights and above the lower bar. Getting it above the top would be rather impressive anyways given that the uprights are a minimum of 30 feet high, and the kicker will be as much as 180 feet away from the base (possibly more, but most kickers miss from that range.)

The horizontal section of the goal is referred to as a crossbar. If a field goal is attempted and the kicker kicks the ball higher than the vertical posts reach, any part of the ball must pass through any section of where the posts would be if they extended up even higher. This rule only applies if it's not obvious that the ball is kicked between the two posts of course.

 

[Kyrinn]

It's called 'football', but it's played with the hands. Except sometimes everyone lets someone kick it. Also their goals are suspended in the air.

What's up with that?

It's called football because it was derived from a group of sports under the general title of "football", which includes rugby and association football (which is where we get "soccer" from). The term was used to describe sport on foot where 2 teams attempt to bring a ball into a specific scoring zone. So really not that different.

American Football is one of those things with a lot of little rules that really aren't going to be understood by someone who doesn't play/actively watch it. The general idea however is that the team with possession the ball tries to advance it down the field, the other team tries to stop them.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Typical game line up: Two teams try to place a ball in some place that the other team is trying to make sure the ball never goes. When the other team gets the ball, the exact same thing happens except flipped around.

(Watch some demo clips on YouTube if you are bad imagining)

So there's offense and defense. Offense has a straight line of people that are trying to break up the defending line of people through coordinated movements so that the ball carrier can run past the line of defense. The defense is trying to break through the offense in a similar coordinated movements so that people standing behind the line of defense (linebackers, easy to remember) can run through the offensive line and deny the ball carrier.

For example, the defensive lines coordinates all of the linemen to split the offensive line down the middle, a linebacker runs through the opened space and knocks the ball carrier (should he still be there) into the next lowest draft pick. Main form of moving your average six foot one, two-hundred fifty pound linemen is to run a similarly sized man into his face and try to overcome him before he overcomes your guy.

Offense is different because they have possession of the ball, lack any linebackers, and can actually throw the ball. Their plan isn't to out-meat the defense, but to distract the defense enough so that the quarterback can pass the ball to some other ball carrier, and the ball carrier can run through an opened spot that the linemen temporarily opened up. The second the ball touches the ground, that play is finished, the next play starts at the closest yard to where the ball initially dropped.

Offense has four 'plays' (called downs) to move the ball forward a total of ten yards, or ten meters. Every ten yards, the down counter is rest back to one, until the possession of the ball is lost, the offense runs out of downs, or if offense scores. Sometimes, if the offense is certain it can't get past that ten yard marker, they will punt the ball, giving possession of the ball back to the defense, but first by kicking the ball as far away from their own endzone as they can.

Scoring is mainly done with touchdowns (six points), running the ball into the endzones (the end of a field) of the opposing side, but can be done in safeties (two points) (a reverse touchdown of forcing a team into their own endzone), field goals (three or one points) (kicking the ball in between the "|_|" shaped poles), and conversions (two points) (exact same thing as a touchdown, but different). After a touchdown, offense lines up again around ten yards from the enemy's endzone and has a chance to make a one-point field goal (easy) or a two-point conversion (significantly harder).

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Anyway... typical animosity and quibbling aside, 'football' is actually an old English catch all term for ball sports played on foot (to distinguish it from stuff like polo... or jousting... ¬_¬ ...!). So American Football is actually, accurately, a form of 'football'.

In addition to basketball, hockey, volleyball, baseball, golf and tennis? Well, you learn something every day!

But really, rugby and American Football are sister sports. Same goals and touchdown/try line, same tackling style, same shape ball. The only major difference is you can pass forward in the American version. American Rugby would be a much more appropriate name for the sport. I'm not sure of the history of the two sports but it's pretty obvious the American version developed out of the British/Irish Rugby tradition rather than Football.

 

[Brian Tams]

I see there are plenty of fine rules explanations, so I'll skip that.

A lot of people here don't know that the full name for American Football is Gridiron Football, as it is played on a gridiron instead of a pitch, and is a game that's based off of both Soccer (football) and Rugby.

Also (and I think somebody said this) but the name "Football" is both a throw back to its roots (in both football and rugby football), as well as referring to the ball as it is one foot from tip to tip.

The more you know.

Oh, and if you're wondering why a game was shown on your local broadcasting network (and I'm assuming you live in England), but there was a Gridiron Football game played in London today.

 

[spartan231490]

I was just flicking through the channels and american football is on. Ive never seen it before at all and i dont have a clue whats going on

I can only assume its a bit like rugby except they wear pads and theres a lot more breaks in play

The best way I can describe it is to say that in soccer or rugby you fight over the ball, in football you're really fighting over territory. The offense uses the ball to advance down the field, while the defense is primarily concerned with halting that advance, not getting the ball. The breaks facilitate this because there is a set way to determine when the offense has stopped advancing. It's faster when you're playing for fun because pro ball has been highly commercialized into a profit engine, they want to put a full advertisement in each break so they encourage slow play.

 

[Weaver]

It's called 'football', but it's played with the hands. Except sometimes everyone lets someone kick it. Also their goals are suspended in the air.

What's up with that?

thats about all ive gathered so far. There also isnt much play going on, it just seems that they have one push forward then stop for some adverts. when i watch a game of proper football that played with your feet it lasts 90 mins with a 15 minute break at half time. this just seems to be constant breaks

Welcome to North American sports. It's really just a bit advertising scheme; there's barely a game to watch most of the time.

 

[Drummodino]

Yea I don't get it either. I've tried watching it before and got bored. Same with baseball and Nascar actually. I guess I'm just not a big fan of American sports (although I don't mind basketball).

I love Australian football though so I guess it's very dependent on where you grew up.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Yea I don't get it either. I've tried watching it before and got bored. Same with baseball and Nascar actually. I guess I'm just not a big fan of American sports (although I don't mind basketball).

I love Australian football though so I guess it's very dependent on where you grew up.

Or not. I grew up in the home of AFL (Melbourne) and can't stand the sport. Although I blame that on my teachers all through school forcing it on us, and friends talking about it non-stop. I'd still take it over baseball and NFL though, christ those are boring sports.

 

[Kyrinn]

Anyway... typical animosity and quibbling aside, 'football' is actually an old English catch all term for ball sports played on foot (to distinguish it from stuff like polo... or jousting... ¬_¬ ...!). So American Football is actually, accurately, a form of 'football'.

In addition to basketball, hockey, volleyball, baseball, golf and tennis? Well, you learn something every day!

But really, rugby and American Football are sister sports. Same goals and touchdown/try line, same tackling style, same shape ball. The only major difference is you can pass forward in the American version. American Rugby would be a much more appropriate name for the sport. I'm not sure of the history of the two sports but it's pretty obvious the American version developed out of the British/Irish Rugby tradition rather than Football.

That name doesn't really work though. American Football is a type of football. Rugby is not a classification of sport like football is (though there are different forms of rugby afaik). Hence it would be more accurate to call it American Football. Same reason why Gaelic Football is not Gaelic Rugby. They are separate sports that fall under the same classification.
Also the other sports you mentioned would not be classified as football. Hockey, golf, and baseball all use some form of hand-held tool, rather than just hands and feet. A case could be made for volleyball and basketball but I don't think it would work because there is no kicking movement involved.

 

[Blood Brain Barrier]

Anyway... typical animosity and quibbling aside, 'football' is actually an old English catch all term for ball sports played on foot (to distinguish it from stuff like polo... or jousting... ¬_¬ ...!). So American Football is actually, accurately, a form of 'football'.

In addition to basketball, hockey, volleyball, baseball, golf and tennis? Well, you learn something every day!

But really, rugby and American Football are sister sports. Same goals and touchdown/try line, same tackling style, same shape ball. The only major difference is you can pass forward in the American version. American Rugby would be a much more appropriate name for the sport. I'm not sure of the history of the two sports but it's pretty obvious the American version developed out of the British/Irish Rugby tradition rather than Football.

That name doesn't really work though. American Football is a type of football. Rugby is not a classification of sport like football is (though there are different forms of rugby afaik). Hence it would be more accurate to call it American Football. Same reason why Gaelic Football is not Gaelic Rugby. They are separate sports that fall under the same classification.
Also the other sports you mentioned would not be classified as football. Hockey, golf, and baseball all use some form of hand-held tool, rather than just hands and feet. A case could be made for volleyball and basketball but I don't think it would work because there is no kicking movement involved.

Why isn't rugby a classification of sport? Rugby league, rugby union - both are types of rugby. You could say the same about American Football. And I'd argue Gaelic Football is closer to association football than rugby, just with the ability to tackle with your hands and hold the ball.

When I watch rugby I see very little kicking. It's a very minor part of the game, even less than heading is in football. And yet people still call rugby "footy" or "football". I don't know what runs through their heads to be honest. I think they just like the word.

 

[The Danger]

As an American, there is one thing I can tell you with at least some degree of confidence.

Despite its name, American Football is more similar to another predominantly European sport than "European" football. I am, of course, referring to parliamentary democracy.

Also, wtf is rugby?

 

[Asita]

Um...I'm going to defer to Akeem here.


...You know what? On second thought, I think I'm going to toss the ball to VideoJug instead


Yeah, that's a much better explanation, I think. Covers the basics, at the very least, and in a more concise manner than I'd trust myself to give.

 

[Rutskarn]

(American Football is fucking insane when it comes to sponsorship, commercials, players being assholes, etc). Watching a game of Rugby and knowing nothing about the sport is a million times more entertaining than watching American Football with no prior knowledge.

you seemed to have hit the nail on the head, it just seems very commercial to me almost as if it was a game designed for TV whereas rugby and football have been adapted for TV. American football seems a bit over complicated for the sake of being over complicated

normal football is very simple, two teams of 11 and each team has to put the ball in the other teams net without using their hands or arms (except the keeper). if a player is forward of the last defender when the ball is played to them then its offside. if the attacking side hits the ball past the goal the opposing goalkeeper gets the ball, if the defending team hit it out and its a corner for the attacking team. thats pretty much all you need to know, its an easy game to follow

Here's a good way of thinking about it:

Soccer (or European Football) and rugby are more reactive games. The game is continuous, and encourages players to respond to input and action in realtime. In other words, they are Real Time Strategy games.

American Football is more of a Turn-Based Strategy game. Each break in the game represents a new opportunity to anticipate the opponent's strategy and formulate your own.

Keep an open mind.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Honestly, your best bet is to read the Wikipedia article on it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football

And read this one on Football strategy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football_strategy

The basic overall rules of the game are relatively simply and can generally be inferred by watching, but there are a lot of smaller rules and penalties that are difficult to understand unless you read up on them. I love American Football, but I'll be the first to admit even I don't understand some of the rules, and they occasionally seem extremely subjective ('pass interference' being a perfect example).

I love it for three mains reasons:
1: Depending on your field position, you can make a breakaway play or get an interception or fumble and score a touchdown in about 10 seconds, and thus there's almost never a time when a team can't make a comeback and win (some years ago, the Colts scored 20 points in one minute, 48 seconds to win the game).
2: It's incredibly strategic, and the more you learn about it the more you'll understand how important formations and plays are.
3: It's insanely suspenseful, since it so often comes down to "if this play works we win, if it doesn't we lose".

 

[HellsingerAngel]

Just because I haven't seen it yet and love to add further confusion to confusing things...

Canadian Football plays roughly the same way as American Football with a few notable differences:

1. A regulation field is 110 yards as opposed to the American 100 yards.

2. A team only has 3 downs (attempts) to move the ball at least 10 yards instead of the American 4 attempts.

3. Each team may have twelve players on the field at one time but the same amount of players are permitted to be on the line of scrimmage, designating that extra player to be in the backfield.

4. A standard CFL ball tends to be slightly smaller than a standard NFL ball.

5. The scrimmage is set up with a full yard gap in Canadian rules, where as American rules set up scrimmage at eleven inches. While somewhat inconsequential these days, CFL rules stipulate the snap of the ball must be done between the legs for it to be legal, where as NFL rules do not state this.

6. There is no "fair catch" rule in the Canadian rule set. Players who did not start behind the kicker must stay at least five yards away from the ball until the opposing side has made contact with the ball. The kicker or any player who began play behind the kicker may advance the ball as if they had gained possession of the ball from a turn over if they are able to recover it after the kickoff/punt has been made, resulting in all twelve players being "onside" on a kickoff.

7. All players in the backfield may remain in motion during the snap in Canadian Football, except for the quarter back.

8. Teams only have twenty seconds to begin their play in CFL rules, where as NFL rules state 25 (40 at college levels).

9. Each team only has one time-out per half as opposed to three.

10. There is a three minute warning as opposed to a two minute warning. After the three minute warning, a delay of game penalty diverges greatly in that it is considered a loss of down instead of a five yard penalty if on the first two downs and a doubled 10 yard penalty if on the third down.

11. A final play must always be run in Canadian Football if the clock runs out before the ball is snapped, often having a play starting with 0:00 time on the clock.

12. The defensive line may only hold a valid receiver within one yard of the line of scrimmage as opposed to five.

13. When a ball is fumbled (a player loses control of the ball while in play) out of bounds, the team to have last touched the ball is awarded possession on the next down, unlike American rules where the team with the last clear control of the ball (I.E. considered not to be fumbling the ball) has possession on next down. A player may not intentionally bat or kick a ball out of bounds to gain possession, though incidental contact is counted as a fair touch for this rule.

14. Any ball that is kicked into the endzone is considered fair unless it was kicked through the goal posts (a field goal) or came into contact with them. If the receiving team is unable to get the ball out of the endzone or the ball goes out of bounds after being touched the kicking team is awarded a single point (called a rogue) and the receiving team begins play at their 35-yard line. If the ball is not touched and goes out of bounds during the kick, the receiving team begins play at their 25-yard line and no points are awarded.

15. After a successful field goal, the scored upon team may a)receive a kick-off, b)kick-off at their own 35-yard line -or- c)begin scrimmage at their 35-yard line.

16. A player may kick the ball at any point on the field at any point during a play. This is known as an "open field kick".

17. During a two-point conversion, the ball is placed at the five yard line as opposed to the two yard line.

18. Receivers may only have one foot in the boundaries of play for a catch to be considered good.

If you bothered to read through all of that rules tripe, it's very obvious that Canadian Football encourages a lot more open play with a much more offensive oriented game. You tend to see a lot more gambles being taken due to the chances of your players being tackled becoming slimmer and possession often changes sides much more frequently because of players being onside more frequently and the reduced amount of downs (chances) to gain that precious ten yards. Plays are often "bigger" with throwing plays going longer and running plays going farther because of this, as well as because of some key differences in how the clock is run between plays that I find too fiddly to get into.