American football

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This article is about the American variation of gridiron football. For a broader usage of the name,
see American football (disambiguation).

American football

Larry Fitzgerald (in blue) catches a pass while Cortland Finnegan (in

red) plays defense at the 2009 Pro Bowl.

Highest governing body International Federation of American

Football

Nicknames
 Football
 gridiron

First played November 6, 1869

New Brunswick, New Jersey, United
States
(Princeton vs. Rutgers)

Characteristics

Contact Full-contact
 Team members 11 (both teams
may freelysubstitute players between
downs)

Type  Team sport

 ball game

Equipment  Football
 Football helmet
 Pads (shoulder and knee)

Venue Football field (rectangular: 120 yards

long, 53 1/3 yards wide)

Glossary Glossary of American football

Presence

Country or region Worldwide

Olympic No (demonstrated at the 1932 Summer

Olympics)[1]

World Games Yes (invitational sport

at 2005 and 2017 Games).

American football, referred to as football in the United States and Canada and also known
as gridiron,[nb 1] is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with
goalposts at each end. The offense, which is the team with possession of the oval-shaped football,
attempts to advance down the field by running with or passing the ball, while the defense, which is
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 primarily scored 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 match of American football was played on November 6, 1869between two college
teams, Rutgers and Princeton, under 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 parallel and
contemporary to the American game, and 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 as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States. The most popular forms
of the game are professional and college football, with the other major levels being high school and
youth football. As of 2012, 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
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, and the league has an annual revenue of around US$10 billion. Other leagues exist
worldwide, but the sport does not have the international popularity of other Amer