If you ever find yourself at a Friday night football game, struggling to understand why everyone’s shouting at the ref, or what a “pick-six” is, this is for you. American football is typically defined as a sport played with an oval shaped ball, with 11 players playing on a field marked out as a gridiron. Points are mainly scored through touchdowns and field goals.
Moving on to the key terms necessary to understand any football game at any given level. You’ll notice that almost every sport relies on some kind of scoring system. In football, scoring is the number of points a team earns by getting the ball into the opposite end zone or kicking it through the goalposts. You’re able to score by getting a touchdown, which counts as six points, a field goal for three points, and a safety for two points. Then there’s fouls and penalties: a foul is an illegal action committed by a player against an opponent that breaks the rules of the game, which can result in a free kick or penalty for the opposing team. A penalty is a sanction imposed on a team for a rules violation, or “foul.” Consequences are dependent on the type of football (American vs. association football), but generally involved a loss of yards, loss of a down, or an automatic first down of the opposing team.
In football, there are some simple do’s and don’ts that provide structure to the game and help any novice who’s attempting to follow along. These rules involve two teams trying to score by moving the ball into the opponent’s end zone, using a system of four downs to gain ten yards for a new set of downs, or kicking field goals/touchdowns for points. Key elements include offense vs. defense and gaining yardage through runs or passes. There is also a clock-based structure with four 15-minute quarters, with the most points winning. The most common penalties (or don’ts) in football include illegal contact (Holding, Face Mask, Roughing the Passer/Kicker) and pre-snap infractions (False Start, Offside, Delay of Game), leading to yardage penalties and sometimes automatic first downs, which basically just impact gameplay and flow, as well as field position. Penalties like Unsportsmanlike Conduct address player behavior, while Defensive Interference grants significant gains or, again, automatic first downs.
Then you have the various positions; understanding the roles they play within the game is crucial when forming your own takes on football. The most vital positions in football include the quarterback, otherwise known as the “trigger man,” who gets the ball at the beginning of the play, as well as the player who decides where to put the ball on the field, the edge rusher who applies pressure to the opponent’s quarterback when on offense, and a receiver. If there’s a player that everyone’s cheering for, it’s most likely the receiver, who is responsible for getting the ball into the other team’s end zone successfully, making big plays, and receiving passes. Note that they are often the one that runs the fastest and also the farthest. Additionally, there are offensive and defensive tackle, who protect the running backs when they’re completing a play, and offensive linemen, the biggest players on the field who protect the quarterback, Tight Ends who are a mixture of a wide receiver and a lineman, along with several other roles athletes are called to play.
Now that you understand the basis of the game, which includes getting the ball to your opponents end zone, ultimately gaining the most points at the end of the game’s four quarters, you’ll be able to confidently argue with your dad about who’s winning the division of your favorite team, who’s going to the playoffs, and maybe even put together your own fantasy football team. And congrats, you’re not a dummy anymore!
