Portal:American football

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The American Football Portal

American football (referred to simply as football in North America), 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 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. A game is won by the team with the higher number of points, which 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.

American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of soccer and rugby. The first American football match 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. , 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 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. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Recognized content - show another

Entries here consist of Good and Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.

U.S. Bank Stadium, the site of the game.

The Minneapolis Miracle (also known as the Minnesota Miracle) was the National Football Conference (NFC) divisional playoff game played between the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on January 14, 2018, and specifically its final play. The game was played as part of the National Football League (NFL)'s 2017–18 playoffs. This was the fourth playoff game between these two franchises in their histories.

The Saints came back from a 17–0 first-half deficit and established a 24–23 lead with 25 seconds remaining in the game. On the last play of the game, Vikings quarterback Case Keenum threw a 27-yard pass to wide receiver Stefon Diggs; Saints safety Marcus Williams missed a tackle, allowing Diggs to run to the end zone to complete the 61-yard touchdown pass. This game was the first in NFL playoffs history to end in a touchdown as time expired. (Full article...)

List of recognized articles

General images

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

Image 1A football signed by the 1974 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement class (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 2An AFL goalpost (from Arena football)
Image 3A moment of the second game between Tufts and Harvard at College Hill, October 1875 (from History of American football)
Image 4Jim Thorpe was the first president of the NFL. (from History of American football)
Image 5Morgan Athletic Club (pictured c. 1900), predecessor of the Arizona Cardinals (from History of American football)
Image 6High school football stadium in Manhattan, Kansas (from History of American football)
Image 7Diagram of a Canadian football field (from Canadian football)
Image 8A college football game between Colorado State University and the Air Force Academy (from History of American football)
Image 9An arena football goalpost structure featuring the rebound nets on either side of the uprights. (from Arena football)
Image 10Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo looks down field with the ball during the 93rd Grey Cup game at BC Place. (from Canadian football)
Image 11Sign at the old entrance to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 121902 football game between the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan (from History of American football)
Image 13Walter 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 14Lehigh Valley Steelhawks (gold jerseys with black accents) vs. Triangle Torch (black jerseys with red and yellow accents) play an Indoor Football League at Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, March 25, 2016 (from Arena football)
Image 15Don Hutson in 1940. (from History of American football)
Image 16Original entrance to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 17Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium with the Hall of Fame in lower right (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 18Colorado's first football team in 1890 (from History of American football)
Image 19An early American football team, from the turn of the twentieth century (from History of American football)
Image 20The Big Game between Stanford and California was played as rugby union from 1906 to 1914 (from History of American football)
Image 21Touchdown monument outside the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in Hamilton, Ontario (from Canadian football)
Image 22A Native American college football team (from History of American football)
Image 23Tom Davies of Pittsburgh runs against undefeated and unscored upon Georgia Tech in the 1918 game at Forbes Field (from History of American football)
Image 24The Hall is made up of several sections with display of the inductees at its heart (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 251906 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 261897 Latrobe Athletic Association football team: The first entirely professional team to play an entire season. (from History of American football)
Image 27Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, originally built for the 1978 Commonwealth Games, pictured in 2005. (from Canadian football)
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 29A game between the Hamilton Tigers and the Ottawa Rough Riders, 1910 (from Canadian football)
Image 30Footballs and a helmet at a Calgary Stampeders (CFL) team practice (from Canadian football)
Image 31Inside the original structure in 2008 (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 32A 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 33One of the two Harvard vs. McGill games played in 1874 (from History of American football)
Image 34Sewanee's 1899 "Iron Men" (from History of American football)

Selected image

Gerald Ford

Credit: Gerald R. Ford Library

Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States, played center and linebacker for the Michigan Wolverines, helping his team to two national titles.

More selected pictures

Selected biography - show another

Steven Craig Morrison (born December 28, 1971) is a retired professional American football linebacker who played for the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League (NFL) from 1995 to 1998. He is currently the associate head coach/linebackers coach at Bowling Green Falcons football. He previously served as the linebackers coach for the Eastern Michigan Eagles football team, on the coaching staff at Western Michigan, and as the linebackers coach at Syracuse Orange football. Prior to these professional experiences, he had excelled in college football as an All-Big Ten Conference inside linebacker from 1990 to 1994 for the Michigan Wolverines, whom he served as captain. In high school, he had been a Detroit Free Press first-team All-State (Michigan) and second-team All-Midwest selection in football and an All-American in lacrosse.

After retiring from professional football as a player, he gained his first two years of coaching experience as the defensive coordinator for Michigan High School Athletic Association football champion Brother Rice High School (his high school alma mater). He then served as an assistant coach at the University of Michigan for three years. He then assumed a role as an assistant at Western Michigan University. At Western Michigan, he has served as the linebacker coach after spending a year as the defensive line coach. The 2009 Western Michigan Broncos season marked Morrison's fifth season on the team's staff, his fourth as linebacker coach and his second as defensive coordinator. He then went on to serve as the linebackers coach at Eastern Michigan and Syracuse. In 2019, he was hired as the associate head coach/ linebackers coach at Bowling Green State University. After the conclusion of the 2022 season, Morrison was promoted to defensive coordinator. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

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

Selected quote

“

Every time a football player goes to play his trade he's got to play from the ground up—from the soles of his feet right up to his head. Every inch of him has to play...If you're lucky enough to find a guy with a lot of head and a lot of heart, he's never going to come off the field second.

”

— Vince Lombardi

Green Bay Packers head coach, on the import of a player's having intellect and passion

More selected quotes