My favorite season is finally here, football season! For those of you who are not as excited as me or know nothing about football, this article will help you understand the game and hopefully you will come to love it as much as I do.
The first thing that you need to know is the goal of football. The goal is to score points by passing, carrying or kicking the ball into the other team’s end zone. The end zone is the last ten yards of the field that are painted in the home team’s colors.
Now that you have the goal of football figured out, here is some basic terminology that is essential to understanding what is happening during a game.
- Down- A down is like a “chance” or a “try.” On offense, a team gets 4 downs to go 10 yards (by either passing or running the ball). If the team fails to go the 10 yards they turn the ball over to the other team.
- Punt- A punt is a kick used on the fourth down when the offense couldn’t go ten yards and therefore must give the other team the ball. The ball is kicked so that the other team has to start on offense further away from the end zone, making it harder for them to score.
- Field Goal- A field goal is a kick that is worth 3 points when the ball is successfully kicked through the goalpost (the big yellow sticks)
- Touchdown- A touchdown occurs when the ball is either thrown or run across the goal line into the end zone. A touchdown is worth 6 points.
- Extra point- An extra point occurs after a touchdown. It’s just like a field goal, but it’s only worth one point.
- Penalty- A penalty occurs when a player or a team breaks a rule. An official throwing a yellow flag onto the field signals a penalty. The head official will then explain the penalty and the punishment.
It is also important to know the positions of the players. I have broken the players down into offensive players, followed by the defensive players.
Offense
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Quarterback- The quarterback is the one who throws the ball (to a receiver), hands off the ball (to the running back), or runs himself. He’s basically in charge of the offense.
- Running back- The running back is the one who runs with the ball when the quarterback hands the ball to him.
- Wide Receiver- The wide receiver is one of the people to whom the quarterback throws the ball.
- Tight end- the other guy to whom the quarterback throws.
- Offensive line- The big guys that try to make sure the quarterback and running back are not pummeled by the other team.
Defense
- Defensive Line- The big guys trying to pummel the running back and quarterback of the opposing team.
- Safety- This player is the furthest defender from the ball. They tackle people when they catch the ball.
- Cornerback- Like the Safety these guys tackle people when they catch the ball. The only difference between these guys and a safety is that cornerbacks defend shorter passes and a safety defends longer passes.
Obviously there is a lot more involved in a football game but armed with these basics you can watch a game and actually understand what is happening!