Mike Callanan

1
Mike Callanan
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The Game Of Football

• The Field is 100 yards long (and 160 feet wide).
  The middle of the field is the 50 yard line. The
  lines are labeled every 10 yards descending in
  both directions from the 50 yard line. Thus there
  are two 40 yard lines and no 60 yard line. Each
  team owns half of the field (they switch sides
  every 15 minutes of play). Thus, the two 40 yard
  lines are distinguished by who owns them. The
  "zero yard line" is called the goal line. The
  areas to either side of those 100 yards,
  extending 10 yards past the goal lines, are
  called the end zones. Teams try to get the ball
  past the opponent's goal line into the end zone
  to score a touchdown. At far edge of each end
  zone are the goal posts which, together with the
  cross bar, look like a big H. These are used only
  when a team decides to kick a field goal instead
  of going for a touchdown or to kick for an extra
  point after scoring a touchdown. To score the
  field goal or extra point, the ball must go
  between the vertical posts and over the bar.

3
The Start Of The Game
Kickoffs At the start of the game there is a
coin toss to see which team gets the ball first.
The team that has the ball is the offense the
other team is the defense. A football game is
supposedly one hour, but takes about three hours
to play because the clock is often stopped for
various reasons. The game is divided into 15
minute quarters with a major division at 30
minutes which is called half time. At the end of
the first and third quarters, the players merely
switch sides. The ball is moved to the
corresponding point on the other side of the
field, and play continues. This switching of
sides evens up any advantage due to the sun or
wind. The players leave the field for 20 minutes
at half-time. After half-time, play does not
continue where it ended. Instead, the team that
originally lost the coin toss gets to have the
ball first following another kickoff. At the
start of each half and after each touchdown or
field goal (when it's time to let the other team
have the ball), the defending team starts by
placing the ball on a tee at their 35 yard line
and kicking the ball toward the other team. This
is a kickoff. The other team tries to catch the
ball and run it back as far as possible. If the
player catching the ball sees there is no hope of
running it back, he raises his hand asking for a
fair catch. In a fair catch, the defending team
may not tackle him and he may not run with the
ball. If the ball is kicked into the end zone and
no one catches it or the player catching it does
not run with it, there is a touchback and the
first play starts at the offense's 20 yard line.
Unlike a touchdown, a touchback does not score
any points.
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4
Essentials Of The Game

• Downs The offense has 4 plays or downs to cover
  10 yards or more. A play ends when the player
  with the ball is either stopped or goes
  out-of-bounds or if the ball is thrown and missed
  (which is called an incomplete pass). A player is
  stopped when his knees touch the ground either
  because he was tackled by a defensive player or
  because he fell. When a play is over an official
  blows a whistle. Normally, teams try to cover the
  10 yards in 3 plays or less. If they don't make
  it in 3 plays, they use the 4th down to kick the
  ball toward the other team. The ball is not
  placed on the ground and kicked as it is in a
  kickoff. Instead, the ball is snapped back to the
  kicker who kicks the ball. This is punting. Teams
  don't have to punt on 4th down. Sometimes, if the
  distance to complete the 10 yards is very short
  or if a team is far behind in the score, they
  elect to go for it on 4th down--to try to
  complete the 10 yards with another play. If they
  fail to make it on 4th down, the ball is turned
  over on downs where it ends up. On 4th down, if
  they are close enough to the defense's goal
  posts, the offense may also elect to kick a field
  goal. If the field goal misses, the ball is
  turned over to the other team where it was before
  the field goal attempt.
• If a team succeeds in advancing 10 yards or more,
  they get a first down. That is, they get a new
  set of 4 downs to make another 10 yards

5
How to put points on the board

• Scoring The object of the game is to score more
  points than your opponent. A touchdown is worth 6
  points. After a touchdown, the team then attempts
  to kick the ball through the goal posts to get an
  extra point. Because this kick almost always
  works, most people think of a touchdown as being
  worth 7 points and then subtract a point if the
  extra point kick is missed. The team that scored
  the touchdown has the option of trying to get the
  ball into the opponent's end zone again in just
  one running or passing play instead of kicking
  for the extra point. If this two point conversion
  works, they get two points instead of just one.
  This is, however, more than twice as difficult as
  kicking an extra point.
• A field goal is worth is worth 3 points.
• If an offensive player is stopped in his own end
  zone, the defense scores a safety which is worth
  2 points. This rarely happens. After a safety,
  the offense must kick the ball to the other team
  with a free kick where the kicker kicks the ball
  from his own 20 yard line. It's called a free
  kick because the kicker may not be tackled.

6
The Positions on the field
7
Number of People allowed to play

• The Players Each team has 11 players on the
  field. Before a play starts, the offensive
  players meet in a huddle to decide which play to
  use. Plays are normally selected by the coaching
  staff who radio their selection to the quarter
  back who then tells the other players. The
  defensive players might also huddle to select
  their own strategy for the next play. The players
  then come up to the line of scrimmage which is an
  imaginary line drawn from one side of the field
  to the other through the tip of the football
  closest to the defense. Each team must stay on
  their own side of the line of scrimmage until the
  play starts.
• The offensive team typically has a quarter back
  (the team leader), two additional players behind
  the quarterback often called the fullback and the
  tailback, five players in a line in front of the
  quarter back called the offensive line, and three
  receivers off to either side of the offensive
  line that are called tight end, split end, and
  flanker. The tight end is close to the offensive
  line the others are further away. The center
  player of the five linemen on the offensive line
  is the center.
• The defensive team typically has four linemen in
  front, three line backers in back of them and
  four defensive backs further back or to the sides
  called corner backs and safeties.

8
The Penalties Of Football

• Penalties The people in the stripped shirts are
  the officials. They carry out various tasks such
  as raising their arms to signal a touchdown or
  field goal, deciding if a pass was caught in
  bounds or out-of-bounds, placing the ball on the
  line of scrimmage for the next play, measuring to
  see if 10 yards have been covered, and assessing
  penalties for rule infractions. To call a
  penalty, an official takes a piece of yellow
  cloth, called a penalty marker or flag, from his
  pocket and throws it on the ground. There is then
  a flag on the play.
• Illegal procedure An offensive linemen moved
  before the play started or a receiver who was in
  motion before the play started did not move
  parallel with the line of scrimmage. Or the
  quarterback was past the line of scrimmage when
  he threw a pass. 5 yard penalty.
• Ineligible Receiver Down-field An offensive
  lineman was too far advanced past the line of
  scrimmage when the quarterback threw a pass. 5
  yard penalty.
• Delay of Game The offensive team took more than
  25 seconds to start the play. 5 yard penalty.
• Grounding the Ball The quarter back threw the
  ball away instead toward a possible receiver
  because he was about to be sacked. 5 yards and
  loss of down.
• Off-sides A defensive player moved across the
  line of scrimmage and either made contact with an
  offensive player or failed to get back before the
  play started. 5 yard penalty.
• Holding An offensive lineman used his hands
  while blocking. 10 yard penalty.
• Clipping, Illegal Block, Chop Block Blocking a
  player from the back. This can hurt a player
  because he doesn't know the hit is coming. 10
  yards.
• Pass Interference Grabbing or tackling the pass
  receiver while the pass is in the air. The
  defender must wait until the ball arrives.
  However, the defender can try the catch the ball
  himself, so he may collide with the receiver as
  they both try to make the catch. If there is
  interference, the penalty is 15 yards and a first
  down is granted even if the ten yards has not
  been made.
• Unnecessary Roughness, Roughing the Passer,
  Roughing the Kicker Tackling someone after he no
  longer has the ball or after the play is over. 15
  yards.
• Facemask Grabbing the front of a player's helmet
  during a tackle. 15 yards if flagrant 5 yards if
  incidental.
• Unsportsman-like conduct 15 yards.
• After a penalty is called, the other team can
  accept or decline the penalty. When a penalty is
  assessed, the ball is brought back to the
  original line of scrimmage and the penalty is
  marched off from there. The down is then repeated
  unless the penalty includes loss of down. That
  is, the play with the penalty does not count as
  one of the four allowed to get 10 yards. Thus, if
  the team with the penalty did poorly on the play,
  the other team may want to turn down the penalty
  and accept the play as it was.
• If both teams get a penalty on the same play, the
  play is repeated from the original line of
  scrimmage.
• The maximum penalty is half the distance to the
  goal line even if a larger penalty would
  otherwise be assessed.

9
The Fundamentals Of Football

• The Plays The offensive linemen all put a hand
  on the ground except for the center who puts both
  hands on the ball. The quarter back stands behind
  the center with his hands between the center's
  legs. The quarterback calls out a series of
  signals. Only the offensive players know which
  signal starts the play the defense has to wait
  to see the play start before they can react. Once
  the secret signal is given, the play starts when
  the center snaps the ball to the quarterback. The
  offense has a maximum of 25 seconds from the end
  of the previous play to start the next play
  unless a time-out has been called.
• In a pass play the quarterback takes a few steps
  back, waits for someone to get open, and throws
  the ball to that person. That pass receiver can
  be any offensive player other than a lineman.
  During a pass play, the defensive front four rush
  the quarterback hoping to either make him throw
  the ball early or perhaps even sack him by
  tackling him before he throws the ball. The
  offensive linemen try to prevent this by blocking
  the defensive linemen. However, the offensive
  lineman are not allowed to use their hands while
  blocking. Meantime the defensive backs cover the
  receivers (try to stop the receivers from
  catching the ball) by either running with them in
  man-to-man coverage or by covering any receivers
  in their part of the field in zone coverage.
  Sometimes the defensive team blitzes by sending
  one or more defensive backs after the quarter
  back. That can be dangerous because it can leave
  a receiver open--but that won't matter if they
  can sack the quarterback.
• If the pass is not caught before it touches the
  ground, it is an incomplete pass and the ball
  returns to the original line of scrimmage. If a
  pass is picked off (caught) by a defensive
  player, it is an interception and the ball is
  turned over to the other team.
• In a rushing play the quarterback hands the ball
  off to the tailback or, sometimes, the fullback
  and that person runs with the ball. The offensive
  linemen try to open holes in the defensive line
  for the rusher to run through by blocking the
  defensive linemen. If the rusher fumbles by
  losing the ball before the play is over, there is
  a mad scramble while everyone tries to pounce on
  the ball. If a defensive player recovers the
  fumble, the ball is turned over to the other
  team.

10
The Time of The Game

• The Clock The last two minutes of a half can
  take a long time to play. Throughout the game,
  the clock is stopped whenever there is an
  incomplete pass or the player with the ball runs
  out-of-bounds. And the clock is stopped
  temporarily when there's a first down so the
  officials can move the chains at the side of the
  field that are used to measure the 10 yards. And
  each team has 3 time-outs they can call per half
  to stop play for a couple of minutes. In the last
  2 minutes, the offense uses incomplete passes and
  running out-of-bounds just to stop the clock.
  Unlike professional football, there is no "two
  minute warning."