American Football

American football has become the most popular sport in America since 1972, surpassing baseball. According to a survey, 43% of Americans choose American football as their favorite sport. The game is so well-received that many Americans consider the Super Bowl an unofficial holiday. If you are not yet a fan, here’s an insight into American football, America’s greatest game.

American football is a sport that is played by two teams using an oval ball. Both teams will try to score by taking this oval ball into the opponent's end zone, and each time the ball is successfully planted in the end zone, points will be given. This method of scoring is called a touchdown. Touchdowns will allow the scoring team to get additional points with either a kick or a second touchdown right after.

There is another way to score in American football, and that is by kicking the ball between the goal posts and over the cross bar. This is called a field goal. The third way a football team can score is by getting a safety. This happens when the defensive team forces the offensive team to retreat into the end zone and tackles them there. These scoring techniques come with different point denominations. A touchdown gets a score of 6 points, and yields the opportunity to score 1 more point with a conversion kick or 2 points with a second touchdown. A field goal gets 3 points while a safety is good for 2 points.

American football started as a variation of the European game of rugby. The first ever college football game was played in 1869 in New Jersey. During this game, the rules for the sport were adopted from soccer. The slow development of the unique rules for American football began to take shape in 1880 when the scrimmage or the struggle was introduced into the game. Then two years later, the system of downs was integrated into the sport. From here, major rules were to be made because the game seemed too dangerous, with several instances of rough play that resulted in deaths. This led to the creation of better safety equipment and stricter rules to ensure the safety of the players. In 1920, the game transcended from being a college sport to a professional sport, and a professional league called National Football League or NFL was formed in 1922.

To date, there are about 32 professional teams that make up the NFL, and thousands of teams belonging to high school and college leagues. This extensive participation shows that the sport of American Football has come a long way from being just a variety of an English sport. It has evolved to become what it is today, the biggest sport in America.