Sports: Football

Football

American football is a distinct type of football that developed in the United States in the 19th century from soccer and rugby. Football is played by school, college and professional teams and is one of the most popular American sports, attracting thousands of participants and millions of spectators annually. American football was made popular by teams representing colleges and universities. Even today, despite greatly increased interest in professional football, college football games, played by more than 600 teams, are attended by more than 35 million spectators each year.
The NFL is big business for players, owners, advertisers, and other industries tied to the sport. In addition to promoting civic pride and national exposure, NFL franchises generate huge revenues for host cities. Cities often compete for teams, offering prospective teams bigger and better stadiums, guaranteed fan support, and various economic incentives. The Super Bowl is the final contest of the NFL's season and determines the league's annual champion. The National Football League now has a European "conference," with German teams in Berlin, Düsseldorf and Frankfurt.

At the Movies

Here are some great movies about American football:

Any Given Sunday, 1999.

Starring Al Pacino and Cameron Diaz; about the struggles of football players, their coaches and club owners. Contains some of the best sport action scenes ever! Directed by Oliver Stone.

Jerry Maguire, 1996.

Starring Tom Cruise and Renée Zellweger; about a sports agent and his only client - a troubled American football player.

The Replacements, 2000.

Starring Keanu Reeves; about a bunch of substitute players hired by club owners during a pro football strike.

The Mystery of American Football

So you’ve always wanted to know: is there more to American football than running, pushing and throwing a funny-looking ball?

There are two teams with 11 players on each side. The game begins with one team (the offense) having possession of the football. Players on the offensive team may run with the ball or throw it. The aim is to get the ball into an area called the end zone to score points. The defense tries to stop the offensive team and take over possession of the ball. If it succeeds or the offensive team scores, the teams switch roles. The offense has four chances (or downs) to gain 10 yards in the direction of the end zone. If the team succeeds in moving the ball 10 or more yards, it gets another set of four downs. If the team fails, it loses possession of the ball. If the player carrying the ball is knocked to the ground — or tackled — play is stopped. There are different ways to score points. To get six points the team must score a touchdown — they must carry the ball across the goal line into the end zone (or catch it there from a passing player). After scoring a touchdown, the team may score another point: a player tries to kick the ball through the goal posts. The offense may also try to kick a field goal, worth 3 points — a player called a placekicker must kick the ball through the goalpost uprights and over the crossbar. A game has four quarters (each lasting 15 minutes). There may be overtime in case of a tie. The field measures 100 yards (91 meters) long and 53 yards (48 meters) wide. The end zones on each end of the field measure additional 10 yards (9 meters) There are white lines on the field called yard markers to help everyone see how far the ball is from the end zone.

Background

Abridged from US State Department IIP publications and other US government materials.