|
Background
Information:
American football, known in the
United States simply as football and
sometimes as gridiron outside the
United States and Canada, is a sport
played between two teams of eleven.
The objective of the game is to
score points by advancing the ball
into the opposing team's end zone.
The ball can be advanced by running
with it or throwing it to a
teammate. Points can be scored by
carrying the ball over the
opponent's goal line, catching a
pass thrown over that goal line,
kicking the ball through the
opponent's goal posts or tackling an
opposing ball carrier in his own end
zone.
American football is closely related
to Canadian football but with some
differences in rules and in the
configuration of the field, in
particular the presence of eleven
players on the field rather than
twelve and the allowance of four
downs per possession rather than
just three. The larger number of
downs results in more offensive
rushing in American football than in
the Canadian game.
In the
United States, the major forms are
high school football, college
football and professional football,
which are essentially similar but
feature slightly different rules.
High
school football is governed in the
U.S. by the National Federation of
State High School Associations.
College football is governed in the
U.S. by two bodies: the National
Collegiate Athletic Association and
the National Association of
Intercollegiate Athletics. The major
league for professional football is
the National Football League. Over
the years, there have been other
notable professional football
leagues, including the All America
Football Conference during the
1940s, the American Football League
during the 1960s, the United States
Football League during the 1980s,
and the currently active United
Football League.
The
sport is also played outside the
United States. National and
collegiate leagues exist in the
United Kingdom, Germany, Italy,
Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Japan,
Mexico, Israel, Spain, Austria, and
several other European, American,
Asian and Pacific Island
nations.[10] The International
Federation of American Football acts
as an international governing body
for the sport on five continents,
but the organization has little
standing in the United States
compared to the aforementioned
bodies and leagues.
|
