This article is about the American variation of gridiron football.

For other
uses, 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 governin International
g body 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 freely substitute 
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 Ga
mes).
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, 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 their rules
were developed independently from that of Camp's). 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. 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. 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
American sports like baseball or basketball.