ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?
By Richard R. Lange, PhD

(1)    When you think of football, you are probably thinking of a game in which a black and white ball is kicked into a goal, but when Americans think of football, the game they think of is quite different. It is played by 250 lb (about 115 kilos!) men in helmets, covered with protective pads. The ball isn't even round, and the game involves far more throwing than kicking. American football is a very popular pasttime in the United States. Fans fill giant stadiums every Sunday afternoon and Monday night, often braving snow and wind to see their favorite teams in action. Even children enjoy the game,  but it may seem quite complicated to people who are watching it for the first time.

(2)    The playing field is 120 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide, slightly longer and narrower than a soccer field. There are 100 yards between the goal lines. The 50 yard line is right in the middle of the field.  As you can see in Figure 1, the yard lines are painted on the field.

(3)    The objective in American football is to score more points than the opposing team does, within one hour of playing time.  Let’s say that two teams are playing: the Lions and the Bears.  There are 11 people from each team on the field at all times.  At all times one of the two teams has possession of the ball. Each team has a goal line which they defend, while the other team tries to get the ball over that line.

(4)    The best way to get points is to score touchdowns. A touchdown is when you get the football across the other team’s goal line. This can be done by crossing the goal line while carrying the ball or by catching the ball while you are standing across the goal line in the end zone. This gives the team six points.

(5)    The game consists of  plays, which begin when a team picks up the ball or kicks off. There are usually between 60 and 90 plays in a game. When a team takes over possession of the ball, they have four downs (opportunities to run, or execute, a play) in which to gain (move the ball) 10 yards. When they have moved the ball 10 yards, they get four more downs. 

(6)    To begin the game, there is a coin toss The winner of the coin toss chooses which team gets the ball first. Let’s pretend that the Lions win the coin toss and decide to get the ball first. It means that the Bears have to kick the ball to them. So the Bears put the ball at their own 30 yard line (30 yards from the goal line that the Bears defend) and kick it towards the Lions’ goal line. This is called the kickoff. Usually the kick travels through the air pretty close to the goal line, meaning the player has kicked it perhaps 60-70 yards.  So one of the Lions catches it and tries to run all the way to the Bears' goal line.  Sometimes he is very clever and makes it all the way, but usually not.  In our example, let us say he only makes it back to his own 20 yard line before he is brought to the ground. He is considered 'on the ground' when any part of his body other than his hands and feet touches the ground.  Bringing him to the ground is called tackling.  The Lions are now 80 yards away from scoring a touch down.  In the above example, the play started when they kicked off.  The play stopped when the player carrying the ball was tackled.  

(7)    Let us imagine a new play. The Lions  take over possession of the ball at their own 30 yard line.  The place on the field where the ball has changed possession is called line of scrimmage.   This is an imaginary line that is parallel to the Yard lines shown in the figure.The Lions are now considered on offense. And the Bears are on defense.  The Lions now run a play by having someone called the Center pick up the ball (that’s when this play begins)  and hand it to a player called the Quarterback.   The Center has a few players lined up on either side of him, called the Offensive Linemen. They are supposed to protect the Quarterback by blocking   Everyone lines up parallel to the line of scrimmage and just behind it.   Before the play, the Bears all have to stay on the other side of the line of scrimmage.  When the play starts, the Quarterback can run with the ball himself or give it to someone else.  This is called a run.   He can also throw it through the air to one of his teammates.  That is called passing.  If the ball is dropped or the player with the ball is tackled, the play is over. 

(8)    Now, when the Lions start off at their own 30 yard line, they can run  four plays.  If they gain a total of 10 yards with those four plays, they get a first down, meaning they can run four more plays. Usually, if they are still in their half of the field when it is time to run the fourth play, they use that fourth play to punt the ball (kick it) towards the other team's goal line.  If the Lions only gained 5 yards with their first 3 plays, they would punt, because if their fourth play only got 4 yards, the Bears would have a great advantage by taking over the ball only 29 yards from the goal line.  So the Lions punt the ball, kicking as far as they can, so that the Bears will have a long way to go.

(9)     If the Lions manage to keep the ball and score a touchdown, they will kickoff the ball to the Bears, who will then take their turn with the ball. 

(10)   So what strategy should the Lions use?  They might try to get a little bit of yardage at a time, making sure they get 10 yards in three plays so they continue to be allowed more plays.   Or, they might try to get a lot of yards in one play by throwing the ball far downfield to one of their own people. Or they might throw a short pass and hope their receiver, the player who catches the ball, can continue to run to the goal without being tackled.   But the Lions must be careful when they pass the ball, because if they make a poor pass, the Bears might catch it! This is called an interception.  Sometimes, when a defender intercepts the ball, he is able to run all the way to the goal line and score a touchdown.  So the team which is on defense can score points also.   Actually, the Lions must also  be careful if they run the ball, because they might drop it. This is called a fumble. If the ball is fumbled, anybody can get it! The other team could take possession of the ball.

Figure 2

(11)    Once a team scores a touchdown, giving them six points, they get to try for an extra point.   They do this by having a play where they kick the ball through the uprights and over the goal post.  (see Figure 2) This is usually an easy kick (only 20 yards) but it is not a sure thing.  Also, if a team gets close to the goal line but do not score a touchdown, they might try a field goal for three points.  They will do this if they execute three plays without getting ten yards and so have one more play to execute.  Field goal kicks are usually from between 20 yards and 50 yards away.   What happens is that the center throws the ball from the ground (this is called a hike) to the quarterback, who puts it on the ground so that the kicker can kick it through the goal posts.  Usually, the kickers are people who are good at soccer,  American and Canadian football teams often hire European soccer players to be their kicker.  Since the goalposts are at the back of the end zone rather than the front, and the kicker has to kick the ball from 7 yards behind the line of scrimmage, the field goal length is 17 yards longer than where he is on the field.  In other words, if he is on the 23 yard line and faces a fourth down and decides to kick, the quarterback would get the ball and put it at the 30 and it would be a 40 yard field goal attempt.  If the Lion  kicker misses it, the Bears get the ball where the quarterback put it down (in this case the 30 yard line).  The Bears also may try to block the kick.  If they do, it is very exciting, as anyone can get the ball and run with it.