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Knowledge with Nick (Part 1): The Basics of the Basics

Check out my Prelude to this series here

What is Football?

'Football' to many nations is understood to be that sport where Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo dazzle millions week-in and week-out. However, football has a very different meaning once we go over the pond (West that is). In America, European football is referred to as soccer and commands nowhere near the levels of fanaticism it garners elsewhere in the world.

America's sporting landscape is dominated by the so-called 'Big Four' sports: football, baseball, basketball and ice hockey. While baseball claims to be America's favourite pastime, football is the country's true love.

What's in a Name: Football or Hand Egg?

A common question that gets asked is why is it called football when the sport is primarily played with hands. Football, it needs to be remembered, evolved from both rugby and soccer. Both of these sports have had slight influences which can still be seen in today's modern game e.g. 11 players are on the field (like soccer) and the centre position (like rugby). As the sport developed overtime and began to gain its own identity, the name football stuck. The 'American' football moniker developed as a way of differentiating when someone (not American) was referring to football or soccer. Just as a side-note, many people still often refer to rugby as 'footy', so next time you want to go and bash football with the hand-egg criticism, remember to consider this aspect first.

What's Going On?

When you first watch a football game it can seem to be nothing more than disorganized chaos; with larger-than-life men smacking into each other and chasing after a tiny oval shaped ball. However, football is actually a highly tactical sport and one which requires a tremendous amount of physical dexterity and intelligence.

The main criticism I hear from any friends or random people about football is either that "the sport is too slow" or "you pay a person $500,000 to chuck a ball between his legs and then sit on a bench and drink Gatorade". This highlights the main issue that people who attempt to watch football have: they come to the sport with the wrong mindset. Soccer and rugby (go Springboks!) are high-octane sports that at times can be free-flowing from end to end. Football is not always like that, it's much more of a chess match, a battle of wits between opposing teams. The best way I can describe how to go about watching football is to approach it like you would a tennis match or test cricket series: savour the moments of individual brilliance, recognise the preparation teams have put in and appreciate the fact that ad breaks let you grab chow or go to the bathroom.

The Format of the Game

Time

Football is a sport which, if you strip away the two-minute warnings, unsuccessful challenge reviews (particularly this season) and adverts, is 60 minutes in duration. These 60 minutes are then split up into four quarters of 15 minutes each. At the beginning of each quarter the direction in which the offense is attacking will change. A 12 minute half-time (unless it's the Super Bowl) is then taken after the conclusion of two quarters. The beginning of the second half (or third quarter) will essentially be like a soft restart of the game. So despite games usually taking three to four hours, the amount of in-game time is actually comparable to other common sports.

Field

Football is played on a rectangular field measuring 100 yards in length (91.44 metres) and 53.3 yards wide (48.8 metres) wide. There are an additional 10 by 53.3 yard spaces on either side of the field which are referred to as 'endzones'. The endzones are the regions of the field in which teams try to get the ball into to score points. The field itself is divided into small incremental hash marks of one yards (0.91 metres). The half-way line of the field is the 50 yard line and this perfectly splits the field in two. The field is then boldly marked in descending multiples of 10 as the distance to the endzone decreases on either side.

Therefore, your more bold field markings will look as follows: [Endzone] 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 40, 30, 20, 10 [Endzone].

In the centre of each endzone are a pair of goal posts.

Players

At any given time on the field there will be 22 players, split into offense and defense (there is also a phase known as special teams, but we will cover that in a later post). Substitutions are unlimited, but they can only occur when the ball is dead and not in live play. While NFL rosters comprise of 53 players, the game day squad is reduced to 46 active players, with teams having to declare seven inactive players at least 90 minutes before kick-off.

Aim of the game

To score points, duh! Teams in possession of the ball are given four chances to move the football 10 yards, either by throwing or running the ball (known as a set of downs). Each set of downs is broken up into 1st down, 2nd down, 3rd down and 4th down. If the team gets 10 or more yards, they are given a new set of 'downs' and will have to move the ball another 10 yards. The starting position for the set (line of scrimmage) will be the yardage spot at which the player in possession of the ball is tackled or runs out of bounds. This continues until a team has successfully gotten the ball into the endzone (known as a touchdown).

If you are watching an NFL game on TV you will often see blue and orange lines on your screen. The blue line is the line of scrimmage, while the orange line denotes the distance which the offense needs to get to within that particular set of downs.

However, should the team fail to get the required yards in four attempts, the spot at which they were marked at on 4th down then becomes the spot from which the other team's offense will take control of the ball. For this reason, you will see teams kicking away the football on 4th down (known as a punt), so as to force the opposing team to start from further away. If the offense is near the defense's endzone on 4th down, they can either attempt to convert the down into a new set of downs (by getting the necessary yardage) or kick a field goal.

The defense's aim is to prevent the offense from successfully moving the ball to convert a set downs. The closer to the offense's endzone which the defense is able to do this, means that the likelihood that the offense will be in a scoring position is decreased.

Scoring

There is actually quite a variety of ways in which points are scored, however, for now we will keep it very simple. If the offense kicks a field goal it is worth 3 points. If the offense scores a touchdown it is worth 6 points. Once a touchdown is scored the offense is faced with a decision: kick a point-after-touchdown (PAT), or attempt to run or pass the ball into the endzone from 2 yards out (worth 2 points). The latter is a far riskier choice, so you will more often than not see teams kick the PAT. The team that wins at the end is the one that has scored the most points. The defense is also able to score points, but that's a breakdown for another day.

Closing Thoughts

Football can be highly intricate and we have not yet even begun to scratch the surface of the basics. For the next edition, I will focus on breaking down the NFL itself and how the league is structured with regards to divisions and conferences. However, I am keen to hear what you'd like to learn about, so that we can make this series as tailored-to-need and interactive as possible.

Enjoy @Ravens all!

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