What I Learned: American Football

What I Learned: American Football


















Arianna Cheree McCall
May 15, 2008
Physical Education
2nd Block
Ms. Solomon
Essay

American football is a competitive team sport known for its intense physical play with mixing strategy. There are many other 'football sports' but the one that will be covered in this paper is simply known to the Americans as football.

There is so much going on in the game, so all newcomers to the game must remember the objective. The object of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. There are many plays such as the running play, passing play etc.
If you look back in the early times of new sports American football can be traced to the early versions of rugby football. Especially both sports were played in the United Kingdom during the mid-19th century. And between both of them the ball is kicked at a goal and ran over a line. The difference between the two is that football is a lot more organized, whereas the rugby football is just unorganized pain, many people watch the sport for the risk of injuries.
After many changes in the many different 'footballs,' American football was dubbed the Son of Rugby. This basically introduced new dimensions for the players on the football field. Around the late 19th century the induction of the 'line of scrimmage' and the 'down-and-distance' rules were in effect. Colleges took advantage of this sport, and the ringleaders where some coaches like Amos Alonzo Stagg, Knute Rockne, and Glenn "Pop" Warner, who adopted the 'forward pass.'
This had something to do with the new popularity of collegiate football, which caused them to become the dominant version of the sport for the very first ½ of the 20th century. Thus traditions came about; like the 'Bowl Games' it attracted a national audience for collegiate teams. And now as of year 2008, college football still holds a widespread appeal in the United States.  The very first game was on November 6th, 1869, with Rutgers University verse Princeton University.
But in order to pay dues, you have to not only the history of American football but the origins as well. Professional football; as far as the origin, can be traced back to 1892, with William "Pudge" Heffelfinger's $500.00 contract to play in a game for the Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. And so, in 1920 the American Professional Football Association was born. The APFA today is known as the NFL which stands for the National Football League, and two years later, it became the major league of American football. The sport was such a great hit, that it became a national phenomenon. There are so many different ideas of what made the game so great but one proven fact was the 1958 NFL Championship Game; which dubbed football popular. It was a contest that holds the title of "Greatest Game Ever Played." So much hype the NFL had a rival league; the American Football League (AFL) and they began to play in 1960. There was so much pressure to merge the senior league between the two leagues and which that ended up happening.
So much animosity the two leagues agreed to have a common 'draft' and play in a common season-ending championship game, and calling it the AFL-NFL World Championship. Two years passed and the game's name was officially stuck with Super bowl. And the AFL and the NFL gave birth to the 'Super Bowl,' and it has become the most watched television even in the United States on an annual basis.
NFL won the first two Super Bowls, but on Super Bowl III, the underdogs proved victorious. It was a lot of favoritism towards the Baltimore Colts losing to the New York Jets and that game, was one of the reasons the two leagues fused and formed a new 26-team league.
Learning the rules of the game can be complicated, but once you get your dosage, it should be an easy flow. Well you already understand that the objective of football is to advance the opponent's end zone for a touchdown, or to kick field goals, and to prevent the other team from doing the same, and the team with the most points when the time has expired wins. So let's move on to the time of play.
College and pro games are sixty minutes long. Each game is divided into to quarters and they last fifteen minutes each. But in high school football, it is twelve minutes a quarter. But due to the time being stopped the games usually last and exceed three hours.
There are other reasons for the time to stop, like officials' time-out. Many speculations can occur during a game and he referee must signal the clock to restart once the issue is resolved or the question has been answered. But there are additional situations where officials must take a time-out to administer a penalty or for an injured player, so they can be removed from the field.
In order to divide up the game and give the players a good break the second and third quarters are called halftime. This is the part of the game where the teams change ends of the field at the end of the first quarter and the end of the third quarter. Most of time, there is some form of entertainment occurring at this time, like cheerleaders, a band, or singers.
So after being refreshed with that entertainment the most memorable moments are the last ones, because they are the most crucial especially when it is overtime. Overtime is played when a game is tied at the end of four quarters. When it comes to the National Football League, sudden death is what they call overtime periods as they last fifteen minutes in length, meaning that the team that scores first, by any means, wins and the game automatically ends.
In the high school and college world of football, the procedure for overtime also known as the Kansas plan ensure that each team has equal opportunity to score. As far as college, both teams are granted possession of the ball at the opponents' 25 yard line. There are about two coin flips throughout this game by the way. (Determining who has possession first at the beginning of the game, and deciding that during overtime.) There are many levels to the football game, so that is why High School, Pro, and College games have some individuality about them.
Knowing how to play, and playing the game is two different things. When you play football, before we engage in a kickoff, the captains must participate in the coin toss. After that it's all about receiving a kickoff. Once a member of the receiving team gains possession of the ball from the kickoff, they may attempt to run as far they can to their goal and receive a touchdown. The runner would eventually be manned down and that spot would become the line of scrimmage. The line of scrimmage is basically an invisible line in which the two teams stand opposing each other facing their own goals.

After getting a glimpse of the game, you need to know all of the positions and their jobs on a team. There are eleven players on the field at one time on any American football team. Because of the way and the rules of the game, the positions are chopped up into two teams Offense and Defense.
One the offensive team you have the quarterback; who possesses the ball, hands off to a back, passes to a receiver, he runs the ball himself, spikes the ball, or takes a knee. On the offensive unit, the over positions are known as linemen, quarterback, tight ends and receivers. The offense also has an offensive line, which is filled with a center, two guards, two tackles, and one or two tight ends. When they call them backs they mean running backs also known as tailbacks, and they frequently carry the ball. The fullback, they usually just block, they also occasionally carry the ball or just receive passes. As far as wide receivers their job is to just catch passes.
The breakdown of the offensive is: head coach, offensive coordinator, and its offensive philosophy. The Center just performs the normal blocking functions of all linemen and is the player who puts the ball in play by means of the snap. The offensive guard, are just functioned to block on both running and passing plays. SO rather than blocking straight ahead, a guard will pull, basically moving around behind the other offensive linemen when starting the play. So in order for this to accurately take place they would have to block the player on either side of the center, and then in an inside running play; the trap or an outside running play; the sweep.
Moving on to the offensive tackle it plays on either side of the guards. Their role is just to block on both running and passing plays. A tight end plays on either side of the tackles. Mixed between blockers and pass receivers, tight ends are sometimes substituted for a wide receiver. It would be done as in short yardage situations where receivers are not needed.
A wide receiver is a speedy pass-catching specialist. Their primary job is to pass routes and get open for a pass, even though they are occasionally called out to block. in football this particular player may line up on the line of scrimmage and be counted as one of the necessary seven players on the line in a legal formation as a split end next to the tight end.
Another position is the fullback, the FB, who is positioned behind the middle of the line. Falling in many categories, like running, blocking, and short receiving. Classic fullbacks are more power runners than a running back.
Still one of the most impressive positions is the Running Back, RB or just the halfback. This player is generally the fastest on the offensive team. They are quick players, preferably making cutbacks to try to find hole in the defense. Similar to, and also known as the tailback, it is the deepest of all backs. And all of these positions tie in to this last one. The QB, you know, the quarterback, it's one of the most important positions, almost like the ringleader of the game.
No game is right without a balance, so if there is an offense, there must be a defense. The defensive team is the team that is not in possession of the ball. And their objective is to basically prevent the other team from scoring, and possibly intercept. One of the differences between the two teams is that the defense team has no formal defined positions. The player can line up anywhere on his side of the line of scrimmage and just perform any legal action. Must many, because of this, suffer, due to the rule of man off sides.
Defense goes from, the defensive team to the defensive line to the secondary and finally the defensive backs. The Defensive end is where you play on the opposite outside edge of the defensive line, just functioning to attack the passer preventing them from making a successful play. Following this position is the defensive tackle. It is also known as the defensive guard. They basically, tackle the side by side linemen who are or could be in the position of gaining the upper hand in that play. Very fun to play, tackling people to the ground, and stopping then from continuing and from helping their team, advance in the game.
The linebacker on the secondary plays behind the defensive line and then performs various jobs based on the situation. A lot of people are divided by the Left side and the Strong side. The strong side linebacker usually is lined up adjacent from the offensive's tight end, since they are the strongest linebacker they must be able to shed lead blockers quickly in enough tome to tackle the running back.
Another back following the linebacker is the cornerback. Their job is to cover the wide receivers. They attempt to prevent successful QB passes by either smacking the ball, or by just catching the pass themselves.
Next in line is the Safety. Like the your only hope, safeties are considered the last line of defense and most of the time help the corners with deep-pass coverage. There are two kinds of safeties. The strong safety; is usually the better as far as strength and size. They provide extra protection against run plays and by standing between the free safety and the line of scrimmage. A free safety is the second one; this one is obviously the smaller and faster one out of the two. And a free provides extra pass coverage verses protection. Recently, there has been a search for a merger, one who can be a hybrid that can cover both jobs. The role on the team would be greater because safeties are also used in different blitzes.
More positions follow the Nickel back and the Dime back. Dealing with some formations an extra defensive back is needed is called the Nickel, and the sixth is the Dime. They are used to rush the quarterbacks or running backs, just more quick that linemen or more linebackers can. If good at blitzing and tackling, a cornerback will sometimes be referred to as a nickel back to distinguish themselves from cornerbacks.
Those were official positions, that last throughout the game, and adapt to the new situation and game play, but these are the specialized players on teams that only have one specific job. The kicker, the holder, long snapper, and the Kick returner; they generally deal with the ball when being kicked and its distance. The punter, Up back, punt returner, and gunner play off the punts, cheap scores, that will eventually lead to turnovers. And finally, the wedge buster and the hand team, who are only used during onside kicks.
Football is not just an American game, outside of the US; the NFL has attempted to introduce the game to other nations and its function a developmental league. The National football league Europa, the Canadian Football League, the German Football League, the International Federation of American Football...all due to the American football. And now major American leagues have also held some regular season games outside of the United States. Just three years ago, on October 2nd, 2005, the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers played the very 1st regular season of the NFL games outside of the Americas, in Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. And in 2012, the Us Naval Academy will be playing the University of Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland.
So much has occurred in the past of the football as far as its history and facts. But the modern history of football and its present state shouldn't go unnoticed. We are at our 42nd super bowl. It is the most watched show period that appears on television, a great diversity in race and age, from the people who play it professionally to the people who play it in their back yards and watch it faithfully on TV. And the following is the official list of National Football League  teams: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Buffalo Bill, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers, the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, the Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Redskins, Arizona Cardinals, the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, and last but not least the St. Louis Rams. Those are the teams that entertain, impress, and sometimes disappoint us every year.
Many things affect people. The way they talk, walk, and basically the way they live. Football is a way of living; not just a sport. It's an outlet, it's therapeutic. From little boys, with dreams of being famous, from little girls, whose mother told them they could be anything they wanted so they chose the most male dominate sport ever, to the newly drafted NFL player who feels like they are on top of the world. Football in my book means, chance, away to be something better.
It doesn't matter if you are going to become or go pro, it's the rush that you feel when you are playing the sport. There are risks, just like any other sport, but football sets itself apart from any other, incorporating so many things in to one game, and so many different types of people on one field. Track, Basketball, Olympics all of that, because it takes a multi-talented quad-threat to be good at this game, not just a triple, because your body could give out on the field, but your heart could be posted and focused.
After looking on so many sites, and links, and talking to some people, I wanted to tell you want I learned and what I knew about the game. The American sport is so contagious in a positive to the point that, it can influence you without you even realizing it. Realizing it takes a lot; dedications, drive, heart, talent, commitment, passion, practice, I know that really wanting something consists of all of these qualities. And I can take that and apply it to any and everything that I do. Some say it's just a sport, I say it's a way of life, what do you think?
-American Football-