American Football Brief

American Football Brief


American football (known simply as football in the United States and Canada), also called gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players each on a rectangular field with goalposts at either end. The offence, the team in possession of the oval football, tries to take the field with the ball by running or passing, while the defense, the team without possession of the ball, tries to stop the offence and take the ball for itself. The offence must cover at least ten yards within four downs or plays. If it fails to do so, it hands the football to the defense, but if it is successful, it is given a new series of four downs to continue the drive. Points are scored primarily by passing the ball into the opponent's end zone for a touchdown or kicking it through the opponent's goal posts for a field goal. The team that has scored the most points at the end of a game wins.


American football developed in the United States and grew out of the sports of football and rugby. The first American football game was played on November 6, 1869 between two university teams, Rutgers and Princeton, and was based on the football rules of the time. A series of rule changes drafted by Walter Camp, the "father of American football," beginning in 1880 introduced the snap, the line of scrimmage, teams of eleven players, and the concept of downs. Later rule changes legalized the forward pass, created the neutral zone, and established the size and shape of football. The sport is closely related to Canadian football, which developed in parallel and at the same time as the American game, although its rules were developed independently of those of the camp. Most of the characteristics that distinguish American football from rugby and football are also found in Canadian football. The two sports are considered the most important variations of gridiron football.


American football is the most popular sport in the United States in terms of viewership. The most popular forms of the game are professional and university football, while the other main forms are high school and youth football. In 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 university athletes played the sport annually in the United States. The National Football League, the most popular American professional football league, has the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world. Its championship game, the Super Bowl, is one of the most watched club sporting events in the world. With annual revenues of about $15 billion, the league is the most valuable sports league in the world. There are other professional leagues around the world, but the sport does not have the international popularity of other American sports like baseball or basketball.


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