2013

American football

Luz Mara Faras Gonzlez Liceo de Apodaca 06/03/2013 1

INDEX
History. 3 Characteristics. 5 Game play 6 Rules 7 Field. 7 Top 10 football players.. 8 Reference sources. 11 Personal opinion..... 11

AMERICAN FOOTBALL
HISTORY American football evolved from the sport of rugby football. The first football game, played on November 6, 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, was played with a round ball with 25-men on each team and resembled a combination of rugby andsoccer in its rules. After several years of irregular collegiate play with games played under varying rules, the representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York on October 19, 1873 to determine a set of rules for all colleges involved to follow. They developed 12 simple rules, establishing (among other things) 20-a-side teams and fields 400 by 250 feet while prohibiting the carrying or throwing of the ball; instead, the ball could be kicked. A notable absence from this conference was Harvard, who disagreed with the prohibition of running with the ball. Harvard gravitated towards rugby and ultimately played Yale in a variation of rugby in 1875. Two Princeton players attended the Harvard-Yale game and were thoroughly impressed with the sport, praising it to fellow students back at their college. In a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to "selling refrigerators to Eskimos", the two players managed to sell the sport to Princeton; Princeton then invited Harvard, Yale and Columbia to a meeting to "sit down and decide to play [rugby] the way Princeton wanted". The group adopted most of the rules of rugby union, but set different rules regarding touchdown scoring by counting four touchdowns as equal to a goal but of lesser value than a goal after touchdown. All of these schools except Yale formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, with Yale eventually joining in 1879. After several rejected suggestions, Yale player Walter Camp (now regarded as the "Father of American Football") succeeded in passing rule changes in 1880 that reduced the teams from 15 to 11 players and instituted the snap to replace the chaotic and inconsistent scrum. Camp had not the snap to result in major strategy changes, assuming teams would run the ball for a few plays before punting. The previous strategy had been to punt the ball if a scrum resulted in bad field position, and Camp assumed this would not change with the snap. However, a group of Princeton players invented a way to prevent opposing teams from scoring; holding the ball indefinitely and wasting time. Princeton used this strategy in the 1881 Princeton-Yale game. Princeton entered the game undefeated, as did Yale, and wanted to keep that record. To that end, they wasted the entire first half by holding the ball and gaining no yardage. Yale utilized this strategy in the second half under the orders of team captain Camp, who feared a miscue could turn the game to Princeton. This game (derided as the "blocking game") was extremely unpopular with fans of both teams, who had paid money to watch the game, and those in charge of the rules realized this exploitation would need to fixed immediately. Although reverting to the scrum was briefly considered, a rule passed in 1882 by Camp stated that a team would have three downs (tackles) to advance the ball five yards or else they would forfeit control of the ball to the other team. This rule change made American football a separate sport from rugby and the resulting five-yard lines added to the field made it resemble a gridiron in appearance. Other major rules changes included a reduction of the field size to 110 yards wide by 53.3 yards wide and the adoption of standardized scoring system that awarded four points for a touchdown, two for a safety and a goal following a touchdown, and five for a goal from field. Tackling below the waist was legalized in 1888, eliminating the last major remnant of rugby. Despite these rule modernizations and innovations, football remained a violent sport - dangerous mass-formations like the flying wedge resulted in serious injuries or even death for players. The situation reached its peak in 1905 when there were 19 fatalities nationwide, getting to the point where President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to eliminate the game if major changes were not made. To help improve safety, 62 schools met in New York City to discuss rule changes on December 28, 1905. The Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United

States, later named the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), was formed as a result of the proceedings. The legal forward pass was introduced in 1906 after its suggestion by John Heisman, albeit with a set of restrictions that made it have little impact at the time. Additionally, the time of play was reduced from 70 to 60 minutes and the distance requirement for a first was increased to 10 yards over three downs. Further, the neutral zone was created along the width of the football. In 1914, the roughing-the-passer penalty was implemented for the first time, while the rules were changed to allow eligible players to catch the ball anywhere on the field in 1918. Further, field goals were lowered to three points in 1909 and touchdowns raised to six points in 1912. The field was also reduced to 100 yards long, but two 10-yard-long end zones were created, and teams were given four downs instead of three to advance the ball 10 yards.

Characteristics American football, known as football in the United States, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players with an oval ball on a rectangular field 120 yards long and 53.3 yards wide with goalposts at either end. The team in possession of the ball (the offense) attempts to advance down the field by running with or passing the ball. In order to continue their drive, the offense must advance the ball at least 10 yards down the field in a series of four downs. If they succeed, they receive a new set of four downs to continue their drive, but if they fail, they lose control of the ball to the opposing team. The offense can score points by advancing the ball into the end zone (a touchdown) or by place or drop kicking the ball through the opponent's goalpost (a field goal), while the defense can score points by forcing an offensive turnover and advancing the ball into the offense's end zone or by tackling the ballcarrier in the offense's end zone (a safety). The team that has scored the most points by the end of the game wins. American football evolved from early forms of rugby (particularly rugby union) and association football (soccer), with the first game played on November 6, 1869. Rule changes from 1880 on by Walter Camp included the snap, 11-a-side teams and downs; further rule changes legalized the forward pass and created the neutral zone along the width of the football. Today, American football is the most popular sport in the United States, where the National Football League (NFL) is the most popular league. The league's championship, the Super Bowl, is among the most-watched club sporting events in the world.

Game play American football is played between two teams of 11 players each, with an oval (specifically prolate spheroid) ball. The basic format of the game involves two teams, one of which is in possession of the ball. The team in possession of the ball, termed the offense, tries to advance the ball towards the end zone, the scoring area at either end of the field. The other team, termed the defense, tries to stop the offense and prevent them from advancing the ball. A game begins with a kickoff; the kicking and receiving teams are determined by a pre-game coin toss. The kickoff occurs as a player on the kicking team (the placekicker) kicks the ball from a tee. The receiving team then catches the ball and runs towards the opposing end zone until they are tackled or step out of bounds, at which point the ball is considered dead. The point where the ball becomes dead is defined as the first line of scrimmage, and play begins from that point. Advancement of the ball occurs as a series of up to four discrete plays or downs. The offense must gain at least 10 yards in the four downs to continue advancing the ball. Before the start of the play, an official places the ball on the field so that the long axis of the ball is parallel to the sidelines. It is placed on or between the two sets of hash marks along the line, parallel to the goal line, where the previous play was declared dead. The two teams line up on either side of the line of scrimmage or "neutral zone", which is defined as the space as wide as the length of the ball extending from sideline to sideline parallel to the goal lines. Neither team may cross this neutral zone before the start of the play. A play begins with the snap, which occurs when the ball is lifted from the ground by one player on the offense (the center) and passed backwards to a second player (usually the quarterback). Play then continues until the ball becomes dead, at which point the down is considered over. If the player was tackled, steps out of bounds or his forward progress was stopped, the ball is placed at the spot of the tackle or where the player stepped out of bounds. If the ball became dead from an incomplete forward pass, the ball is placed at the same place it was at the start of the prior down. If the play resulted in a first down, a new set of four downs are given to the offense. If the offense does not advance the ball 10 yards in the four plays, they lose control of the ball to the defensive team. Normally, teams attempt either a field goal or choose to punt the ball away to the other team on fourth down, depending on their position on the field, rather than risk losing control of the ball. During the course of play, either team may be charged a penalty for violating various rules of play. An official will indicate that a penalty has occurred by throwing a yellow flag on the ground. Teams can score points in several ways in football; a touchdown, worth six points, is the primary means of scoring. It occurs when the offense advances the ball into the defense's end zone or when the defense takes control of the ball and, on the same play, advances the ball into the offense's end zone. Following a touchdown, the scoring team attempts to score either one or two points by kicking or advancing the ball into the end zone (known as the extra point and two-point conversion, respectively) from two (NFL) or three (amateur) yards back from the goal line. In practice, the extra point is virtually automatic at the professional level and slightly less so at the amateur level, while the two-point conversion has a significantly lower success rate. Teams can also score by a field goal, which occurs when the offensive placekicks or drop kicks the ball over the crossbar and between the goal posts at the back of the end zone. The offense is awarded three points for a field goal. A safety is scored by the defense when they tackle the ballcarrier in their own end zone. Following an extra point/two-point conversion attempt or successful field goal the scoring team must kick the ball off, while the team that is scored upon must kick the ball off after a safety.

Rules The rules of American football vary somewhat from league to league, but each level of the sport has a prominent, national body which determines a unified code of rules for that level of play. The National Football League (NFL) is the highest level ofprofessional football in the United States. The National Football League (NCAA), which manages university athletics in the United States for most colleges and universities, maintains the rules for college football, while high school football is overseen by the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). The largest organization for youth football (younger than high school age) is Pop Warner Little Scholars. Field Football games are played on a rectangular field measuring 120 yards (109.7 meters) long and 53.3 yards (48.7 meters) wide. Lines are placed along both the ends and sides of the field (known as end lines and side lines, respectively), and goal lines are marked 10 yards outward from each end line. Weighted pylons are placed on the inside corner of the intersections of the goal lines and end lines. placed along the sidelines as well as either 70 feet, 9 inches or 60 feet out from the sidelines (depending on the level of play), yard lines, continuous lines running from one end of the field to the other, and a one-yard-long line placed at the center of the two-yard-lines (in professional play) or three-yard-lines (in college play) at both ends of the field. Numerical marks indicating the yard lines in multiples of 10 are placed along both sides of the field. Goalposts are placed at the center of the plane of each of the two end lines; the crossbar of these posts (measuring 18 feet, 6 inches or 5.64 meters in professional and college play and 23 feet, 4 inches or 7.1 meters in high school play) is placed 10 feet above the ground, while the uprights on both ends of the crossbar are extended 30 feet (9.1 meters) in professional fields, a minimum of 30 feet in college fields, and a minimum of 10 feet (3.1 meters) in high school fields.Padding is placed around the base of the goal post, and oranged-colored ribbons are normally placed at the tip of both uprights.

Top 10 football players

10. Cam Newton 259 Points

9. Eli Manning 264 Points

T-7. Aaron Rodgers 274 Points

T-7. Chris Johnson 274 Points

T-5. Drew Brees 281 Points

T-5. Reggie Bush 281 Points

4. Peyton Manning 290 Points

3. Tim Tebow 291 Points

2. Michael Vick 292 Points

1. Tom Brady 293 Points

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Reference sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football http://www.rsvlts.com/2012/09/05/50-most-popular-nfl-players/ http://www.google.com.mx/search?hl=es&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=97 9&q=american+football&oq=american+footb&gs_l=img.1.0.0l10.1385.6083.0.7585.19.13.2.4.4.0.6 5.607.13.13.0...0.0...1ac.1.5.img._rFnJAc5kwY

Personal opinion To my view football is a sport very cool and very sharp at once.

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PICTURES

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