Why do they call it American Football?

[Tonythion]

Because handball is 1) taken 2) sounds really gay

 

[TheLiham]

Because Armoured Grabass still sounded gay?

I mean its rugby with armour! Why the armour?

 

[Arehexes]

Because it's descended from "proper" football. Some guy got pissed one day while playing football, picked up the ball, and charged the goaltender with it.

I loved that, it was so epic

 

[katsumoto03]

That's it. It's official. American foodball shall forever be known to be as Handegg.

 

[Shock and Awe]

Its one of those silly things we americans do to piss off the world. I kid of course.

Slightly off topic: People who always go on about Football being better than American Football need to get off their high horse. At least American Football players are not constantly faking injuries.

 

[themyrmidon]

The actual universal name of the sport is Gridiron,but for reason already mentioned (descent) it has become Football in America, or American Football to the rest of the world.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

Maybe it just needs a prefix? like "watchable" football.

Much better now.

/thread.
Seriously, you should thank us for making a game called "football" that is actually entertaining.

 

[skim172]

The term "football," historically, referred to peasant games that were played "on foot," as opposed to on horseback, like the aristocrats played. The term does not mean the ball is contacted by the foot. Gridiron (US and Canadian) football traces its origin to these games, as do rugby, Australian, and association variants.


A lesson on the proper language, from your good friends in North America.

For the record, the term "soccer" originated in England.

 

[purpleflamingo]

How come no one here has brought up Aussie Rules Football?

As far as I can tell, Gaelic (spelling?) football came as a variation of soccer (International football) then rugby came from Gaelic football and gridiron (American football) and Aussie Rules came from rugby.

btw even though I am Australian, in order of preference for me it goes:
Rugby League
Soccer
Rugby Union
Gridiron
Gaelic Football
Aussie Rules

btw II:
Why do Americans say 'Aussie' like retards?
its pronounced 'Ozzie'
haven't you ever heard our ridiculously over-enthusiastic spectators at the olympics/world cup?

Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie!
Oi Oi Oi!

 

[templargunman]

Football is actually a term meaning "game in which pig skin is carried along a field by burly men" in the native American tongue of Cowlitz.

If you don't believe me it means you're not an idiot.

 

[Yostbeef]

Mind your business that's why!

Instead of trying to comprehend something so trivial why not try to understand how the game is played?I see so many people belittling the game just because of a name.

 

[Plurralbles]

because handegg sounds stupid.

I'll admit american football is kind of stupid, but the name has stuck and it's not going anywhere whether you like it or not.

I'll call soccer football though, just to pander to incredibly pretentious foreigners. We have our way, we do not mess with you, let us be.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

How the hell should I know? If you care so much, go look it up. I couldn't be bothered. I don't do sports so I don't care.

 

[Nieroshai]

Ball kicked with a foot vs. a ball that somewhat resembles a swollen foot.

 

[Vykrel]

Also, it should be United States Handegg, not American Handegg.

or just American Handegg, considering we are the only country with "America" in its name. derp

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

Because football doesn't relate specifically to the sport in the UK that we know and love as football. Football is any sport that entails using your foot to move a ball, even if it's a desperate situation.

Also, before you say that American football doesn't actually use a ball; a ball does not have to be spherical to be a ball.

 

[elvor0]

Why do they call hockey hockey? It needs no explanation. It's just what people call it sometimes. No one is more right than another. It's like complaining that a tiger is called a tiger when it should be called "large striped mammal" or something.

I am gonna have to call you out on that one, football is initself a descriptive noun wheras Tiger is a name given to a specific type of large cat to differenciate it from others. It would be like someone calling a Leopard a large striped mammal, when it clearly isnt, just as American Football is based around the use of hands, wheras traditional football is based around the use of feet.

 

[elvor0]

bah sodding captcha, double post.

 

[Mello Yello]

I'd always wondered why American Football is more popular than Rugby in the US, until I realised that both Baseball and 'Footbarll' are seem to have been designed with commercial breaks in mind.
Play stops or pauses continuously throughout a game, usually just for long enough for another multi-million dollar commercial to play.

It's also just long enough to make another run to the kitchen for Doritos.

You make a good point, American sports and football in particular are commercialized as heck, but that's not what the framers of the rules had in mind when they made them. The difference in pacing is just a matter of taste. I'll be completely honest, there is something to be said for soccer and the kind of non-stop action it offers. After a straight minute of play, you kind of fall into a meditative state, absorbed in the flow of the game. There's plenty of appeal in that.
With football, on the other hand, the play resets to a standard setup every play, significantly changing the way organized plays work.

 

[theonlyblaze2]

Because this is the U.S.A. and we like to be difficult.