(American)Football explained
I decided to write this last night when I was playing Madden, and the wife started asking questions I thought she already knew the answers to. "Why was that a penalty?" "What's 'line of scrimmage'?" "What's a blitz?" I guess when it all comes down, football has a lot of rules and penalties, especially compared to basketball and baseball, America's other two main sports. I'll take it slow. I'll deal with NFL football, as it's the most widely seen.
First things first. The football field is a large open grass field, measuring 120 yards(360 feet) long, and 53 1/3 yards(160 feet) wide. At each end of the field is a 10 yard "end zone," leaving 100 yards in between as the actual playing surface. At the end of each end zone is a large upright "goal post." An arm that reaches up, and makes a large "U" shape. This is used for kicking field goals, and extra point attempts(I'll explain those later). The goalpost is 10 feet high and 18 feet, 6 inches wide. On the playing surface, every 10 yards is marked with a line across the field. There are also shorter "hash marks" along the sideline marking each yard. Also, in the middle of the field, lining up with each arm on the goalpost is a row of hash marks, one yard apart, extending from end zone to end zone. When the ball is downed, the referee places the ball back in between these hash marks. If a player is tackled outside of the hash marks, or steps out of bounds, the ball is placed just inside the hash mark to that corresponding side. If he's tackled within the hash marks, the refs place the ball at that lateral spot between the hash marks. The spot of the ball out to either side of the field is known as the "line of scrimmage."
In football, your team tries to move the ball as deeply into the other team's territory as possible. You do this by throwing(passing) or running(rushing) the ball. You have 4 attempts-"downs"- to move the ball 10 yards. If you're successful, you get 4 more attempts until you reach the opposite end of the field, the "end zone," your team scores 6 points. If you don't make it all the way to the end, you have two options. Your team can kick a field goal, worth 3 points, if you're close enough. Otherwise, you kick the ball away, or "punt" it to the other team. The other team will try to run the punt back as far as possible before being stopped, at which point they take over on offense, and your team tries to stop THEM. After each play, the referees determine where the ball was "down," where the player with the ball was tackled or stepped out of bounds. They place the ball at that point, or at a corresponding point between the hash marks.
Player Positions:
There are 11 players per side on the field at a time. 11 offensive players trying to score, 11 defensive players trying to stop them. Here's a breakdown of those positions, what they do, and where they line up.
Offense: I'll start where a lot of people get forgotten: the offensive line.
The offensive line are the unsung heroes of the team. The line consists of 5 players:
Center- The center lines himself up directly over the ball. His primary roles are to help block for the pass, help block for the run, and to give, or "snap" the ball to the quarterback at the beginning of each play. He also helps the quarterback call out protection, essentially, tell the other linemen where he sees the defense lining up and where to expect them to attack.
Guards- Lined up at each side of the center are the guards. These guys have a similar, but more simplified role than the center, in that they merely pass and run block. The guards will occasionally leave their spot beside the center to pass or run block on the opposite side.
Offensive Tackles- the OTs will line up outside of the guards and do pretty much the same job. Blocking is the main purpose of these guys. In rare occassions, they may also act as "receivers," which I'll explain later.
This is an awful lot to swallow right now. I'll stop here for now, and pick back up later.
First things first. The football field is a large open grass field, measuring 120 yards(360 feet) long, and 53 1/3 yards(160 feet) wide. At each end of the field is a 10 yard "end zone," leaving 100 yards in between as the actual playing surface. At the end of each end zone is a large upright "goal post." An arm that reaches up, and makes a large "U" shape. This is used for kicking field goals, and extra point attempts(I'll explain those later). The goalpost is 10 feet high and 18 feet, 6 inches wide. On the playing surface, every 10 yards is marked with a line across the field. There are also shorter "hash marks" along the sideline marking each yard. Also, in the middle of the field, lining up with each arm on the goalpost is a row of hash marks, one yard apart, extending from end zone to end zone. When the ball is downed, the referee places the ball back in between these hash marks. If a player is tackled outside of the hash marks, or steps out of bounds, the ball is placed just inside the hash mark to that corresponding side. If he's tackled within the hash marks, the refs place the ball at that lateral spot between the hash marks. The spot of the ball out to either side of the field is known as the "line of scrimmage."
In football, your team tries to move the ball as deeply into the other team's territory as possible. You do this by throwing(passing) or running(rushing) the ball. You have 4 attempts-"downs"- to move the ball 10 yards. If you're successful, you get 4 more attempts until you reach the opposite end of the field, the "end zone," your team scores 6 points. If you don't make it all the way to the end, you have two options. Your team can kick a field goal, worth 3 points, if you're close enough. Otherwise, you kick the ball away, or "punt" it to the other team. The other team will try to run the punt back as far as possible before being stopped, at which point they take over on offense, and your team tries to stop THEM. After each play, the referees determine where the ball was "down," where the player with the ball was tackled or stepped out of bounds. They place the ball at that point, or at a corresponding point between the hash marks.
Player Positions:
There are 11 players per side on the field at a time. 11 offensive players trying to score, 11 defensive players trying to stop them. Here's a breakdown of those positions, what they do, and where they line up.
Offense: I'll start where a lot of people get forgotten: the offensive line.
The offensive line are the unsung heroes of the team. The line consists of 5 players:
Center- The center lines himself up directly over the ball. His primary roles are to help block for the pass, help block for the run, and to give, or "snap" the ball to the quarterback at the beginning of each play. He also helps the quarterback call out protection, essentially, tell the other linemen where he sees the defense lining up and where to expect them to attack.
Guards- Lined up at each side of the center are the guards. These guys have a similar, but more simplified role than the center, in that they merely pass and run block. The guards will occasionally leave their spot beside the center to pass or run block on the opposite side.
Offensive Tackles- the OTs will line up outside of the guards and do pretty much the same job. Blocking is the main purpose of these guys. In rare occassions, they may also act as "receivers," which I'll explain later.
This is an awful lot to swallow right now. I'll stop here for now, and pick back up later.