Portal:American football

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The American Football Portal

American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, 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 passing 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. 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 a game wins.

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 1.1 million high-school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually. The National Football League, the most popular American professional football league, 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 in the world. The league has an annual revenue of around US$15 billion, making it the most valuable sports league in the world. Other professional leagues exist worldwide, but the sport does not have the international popularity of other American sports like baseball or basketball. (Full article...)

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The Super Bowl XLVI halftime show took place on February 5, 2012, at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana as part of Super Bowl XLVI. It was headlined by Madonna, who became the first sole female headliner since Diana Ross in 1996. It featured guest appearances by LMFAO, Nicki Minaj, M.I.A. and CeeLo Green. Including collaborations with Cirque du Soleil, choreographer Jamie King as music director, and multimedia show producer Moment Factory, the show was critically acclaimed, setting a Super Bowl halftime show record at the time of 114 million viewers, higher than the viewership of the game itself.

Preparations began in January, with Madonna saying that the rehearsal was the most exhausting one in which she had ever participated. Costumes were designed by Riccardo Tisci, Givenchy, Miu Miu and Prada. The production team was allotted seven minutes to set up the stage, 12 minutes for the performance and eight minutes to take down the stage. The modular structure was assembled from a truck, with a large white fabric in front as media screens for Moment Factory. Projection mapping was used by video-hardware manufacturer Barco, with films modified for the spectators and the television audience. The stadium was equipped with Sharpys lighting arrangements from Clay Paky, and the show used Sennheiser sound equipment. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Jim Thorpe was the first president of the NFL. (from History of American football)
Image 2The Hall is made up of several sections, with display of inductees at its heart (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 3Colorado's first football team in 1890 (from History of American football)
Image 4An early American football team, from the turn of the twentieth century (from History of American football)
Image 5A game between the Hamilton Tigers and the Ottawa Rough Riders, 1910 (from Canadian football)
Image 6Walter 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 7The Big Game between Stanford and California was played as rugby union from 1906 to 1914 (from History of American football)
Image 8A Native American college football team (from History of American football)
Image 9Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium with the Hall of Fame in lower right (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 10An arena football goalpost structure featuring the rebound nets on either side of the uprights. (from Indoor American football)
Image 11Sewanee's 1899 "Iron Men" (from History of American football)
Image 12A 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 13One of the two Harvard vs. McGill games played in 1874 (from History of American football)
Image 141906 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 151902 football game between the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan (from History of American football)
Image 16Morgan Athletic Club (pictured c. 1900), predecessor of the Arizona Cardinals (from History of American football)
Image 17Diagram of a Canadian football field (from Canadian football)
Image 18Lehigh 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 Indoor American football)
Image 191897 Latrobe Athletic Association football team: The first entirely professional team to play an entire season. (from History of American football)
Image 20Inside the original structure in 2008 (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 21Footballs and a helmet at a Calgary Stampeders (CFL) team practice (from Canadian football)
Image 22Don Hutson in 1940. (from History of American football)
Image 23A football signed by the 1974 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement class (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 24A 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 25Touchdown monument outside the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in Hamilton, Ontario (from Canadian football)
Image 26Sign at the old entrance to the PFHOF (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 27Original entrance to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 28Tom Davies of Pittsburgh runs against undefeated and unscored upon Georgia Tech in the 1918 game at Forbes Field (from History of American football)
Image 29A moment of the second game between Tufts and Harvard at College Hill, October 1875 (from History of American football)
Image 30A college football game between Colorado State University and the Air Force Academy (from History of American football)
Image 31High school football stadium in Manhattan, Kansas (from History of American football)
Image 32Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, originally built for the 1978 Commonwealth Games, pictured in 2005. (from Canadian football)
Image 33Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo looks down field with the ball during the 93rd Grey Cup game at BC Place. (from Canadian football)

Selected image

Cleveland Browns Stadium

Credit: Chris Brown

Cleveland Browns Stadium is a football stadium located in Cleveland, Ohio. Home of the Cleveland Browns National Football League franchise, it sits on 31 acres (13 ha) of land on the shores of Lake Erie and has a capacity of at least 73,200.

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Perry c. 1954

Fletcher Joseph Perry (January 22, 1927 – April 25, 2011) was an American professional football fullback who played in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and National Football League (NFL). He played for the San Francisco 49ers from 1948 to 1960, the Baltimore Colts from 1961 to 1962, and returned to the 49ers in 1963 for his final year in football. He was exceptionally fast, a trait uncommon for a fullback and one which earned him the nickname, "the Jet". The first African-American to be named the NFL Most Valuable Player, he became one of American football's first black stars.

After playing a season of football for Compton Junior College, Perry joined the U.S. Navy. While playing football in the military, he was spotted by the 49ers, who signed him into the AAFC. He spent the next 13 seasons playing for San Francisco, where he was featured in the "Million Dollar Backfield", made three straight Pro Bowl appearances, and in 1954 was named the NFL MVP by United Press International (UPI). He was the first player in the NFL to rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons, doing so in 1953 and 1954. Perry retired in 1963 as the league's all-time leader in rushing yards, and in 1969 he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His jersey number 34 was retired by the 49ers in 1971. (Full article...)

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Calendar

2022 season: NFL • NCAA FBS (Bowl games)
Dec 25	NFL on Christmas	Green Bay vs Miami Denver vs Los Angeles Rams Tampa Bay vs Arizona
Dec 29	Holiday Bowl	#15 Oregon vs North Carolina
Dec 29	Alamo Bowl	#12 Washington vs #20 Texas
Dec 30	Orange Bowl	#6 Tennessee vs #7 Clemson
Dec 31	Sugar Bowl	#5 Alabama vs #9 Kansas State
Dec 31	Peach Bowl	#1 Georgia vs #4 Ohio State
Dec 31	Fiesta Bowl	#2 Michigan vs #3 TCU
Jan 2	Cotton Bowl Classic	#10 USC vs #16 Tulane
Jan 2	Rose Bowl	#8 Utah vs #11 Penn State
Jan 2	Citrus Bowl	#17 LSU vs Purdue