Portal:American football

The American Football Portal

American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with possession of the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with the ball or throwing it, while the defense, the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance the ball at least ten yards in four downs or plays; if they fail, they turn over the football to the defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue the drive. Points are scored primarily by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of soccer and rugby. The first American football game was played on November 6, 1869, between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton, using rules based on the rules of soccer at the time. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football", established the snap, the line of scrimmage, eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs. Later rule changes legalized the forward pass, created the neutral zone, and specified the size and shape of the football. The sport is closely related to Canadian football, which evolved in parallel with and at the same time as the American game, although its rules were developed independently from those of Camp. Most of the features that distinguish American football from rugby and soccer are also present in Canadian football. The two sports are considered the primary variants of gridiron football.

American football is the most popular sport in the United States in terms of broadcast viewership audience. The most popular forms of the game are professional and college football, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2022^[update], nearly 1.04 million high-school athletes play the sport in the U.S., with another 81,000 college athletes in the NCAA and the NAIA. The National Football League (NFL) has one of the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world. Its championship game, the Super Bowl, ranks among the most-watched club sporting events globally. In 2022, the league had an annual revenue of around $18.6 billion, making it the most valuable sports league in the world. Other professional and amateur leagues exist worldwide, but the sport does not have the international popularity of other American sports like baseball or basketball; the sport maintains a growing following in the rest of North America, Europe, Brazil, and Japan.

Unlike most other ball sports, like basketball, baseball, and soccer, players of American football are not expected to play both offense and defense- usually, each player is assigned to either offense or defense, not both. As such, each individual player usually only plays for, at most, about half of the game. In modern professional American football, it is very rare, although not unheard of, for players to play both offense and defense. Players who play on both sides of the ball are more common in high school and college football. (Full article...)

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Keggy the Keg is the unofficial mascot of Dartmouth College, an Ivy League college in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Keggy is an anthropomorphic beer keg, created in 2003 by members of the college humor magazine the Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, to fill the mascot void that followed the abolition of the unofficial Native American mascot in 1974. Due to its nature, the mascot was controversial on Dartmouth's campus, and it was reported on in a variety of national media. With time, however, it has become an "ingrained part of Dartmouth culture". (Full article...)

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General images

The following are images from various American football-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Colorado's first football team in 1890 (from History of American football)
Image 2Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo looks down field with the ball during the 93rd Grey Cup game at BC Place (November 2005) (from Canadian football)
Image 31902 football game between the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan (from History of American football)
Image 4Indoor Football League (from Arena football)
Image 5Touchdown monument outside the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in Hamilton, Ontario (from Canadian football)
Image 61906 St. Louis Post-Dispatch photograph of Brad Robinson, who threw the first legal forward pass and was the sport's first triple threat (from History of American football)
Image 7A football signed by the 1974 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement class (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 8Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football", pictured here in 1878 as the captain of the Yale University football team (from History of American football)
Image 9A game between the 4th Canadian Armoured Division Atoms and First Canadian Army Red and Blue Bombers, in Utrecht, Netherlands, October 1945 (from Canadian football)
Image 10The Big Game between Stanford and California was played as rugby union from 1906 to 1914 (from History of American football)
Image 11A moment of the second game between Tufts and Harvard at College Hill, October 1875 (from History of American football)
Image 12Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium with the Hall of Fame in lower right (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 13Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, originally built for the 1978 Commonwealth Games, pictured in 2005. (from Canadian football)
Image 14An early American football team, from the turn of the twentieth century (from History of American football)
Image 15An arena football goalpost structure featuring the rebound nets on either side of the uprights. (from Arena football)
Image 16Jim Thorpe was the first president of the NFL. (from History of American football)
Image 17Sign at the old entrance to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 18One of the two Harvard vs. McGill games played in 1874 (from History of American football)
Image 19Original entrance to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 20Tom Davies of Pittsburgh runs against undefeated and unscored upon Georgia Tech in the 1918 game at Forbes Field (from History of American football)
Image 21A college football game between Colorado State University and the Air Force Academy (from History of American football)
Image 22A Native American college football team (from History of American football)
Image 23Sewanee's 1899 "Iron Men" (from History of American football)
Image 241897 Latrobe Athletic Association football team: The first entirely professional team to play an entire season. (from History of American football)
Image 25Morgan Athletic Club (pictured c. 1900), predecessor of the Arizona Cardinals (from History of American football)
Image 26Inside the original structure in 2008 (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 27The Hall is made up of several sections with display of the inductees at its heart (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 28A modern down indicator box is mounted on a pole and is used to mark the current line of scrimmage. The number on the marker is changed using a dial. (from Canadian football)
Image 29Don Hutson in 1940. (from History of American football)
Image 30Diagram of a Canadian football field (from Canadian football)
Image 31Lehigh Valley Steelhawks (gold jerseys with black accents) vs. Triangle Torch (black jerseys with red and yellow accents) play an American Indoor Football game at Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, March 25, 2016 (from Arena football)
Image 32High school football stadium in Manhattan, Kansas (from History of American football)
Image 33Hanged U-shaped Continental Indoor Football League goalpost (from Arena football)
Image 34A game between the Hamilton Tigers and the Ottawa Rough Riders, 1910 (from Canadian football)
Image 35Footballs and a helmet at a Calgary Stampeders (CFL) team practice (from Canadian football)

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Quarterback

Credit: Mike Kaplan, USAF

In gridiron football, the quarterback is the leader of the offensive team. At most levels, but especially at the college and professional level, the quarterback is one of the most visible and important roles on the team, being responsible both for calling plays and making decisions during the play. Shown here is Shea Smith of the Air Force Falcons during the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl.

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Tuineau A. Alipate (/tuːˈnaʊ ˌælɪˈpɑːteɪ/; August 21, 1967 – October 15, 2021) was a gridiron football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) and Canadian Football League (CFL). After playing college football at Washington State University, Alipate played for the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL from 1989 to 1992. In 1989, he was part of the Roughriders team that won the 77th Grey Cup. After being cut by the Roughriders, Alipate tried out for multiple NFL teams and received a practice squad position with the New York Jets. He went on to play for both the Jets and the Minnesota Vikings from 1994 to 1996, primarily on special teams. He also had a short stint with the Green Bay Packers in 1995. (Full article...)

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Calendar

2023 season: NFL • NCAA FBS (Bowl games)
Jan 8	College Football National Championship: #1 Michigan vs #2 Washington
Jan 13-15	NFL: Wild Cards
Jan 20-21	NFL: Divisional games
Jan 28	NFL: Conference games
Feb 4	NFL: Pro Bowl Games
Feb 11	NFL: Super Bowl LVIII