Portal:American football

The American Football Portal

American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and 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 the ball at least ten yards in four downs or plays; if they fail, they turn over the football to the defense. 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 the game wins. In the case of a tie after four quarters, the game enters overtime.

American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of soccer and rugby. The first American football game was played on November 6, 1869, between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton, using rules based on the rules of soccer at the time; by 1875, the sport had adopted rules similar to rugby union. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football", established concepts that would define the sport, among them 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 modern sport is closely related to Canadian football, which evolved in parallel with and at the same time as the American game; 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. Over a million Americans played college or high school football in 2022, and the National Football League (NFL) has one of 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. 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. Flag football, a variant of the sport, will be played at the 2028 Summer Olympics. (Full article...)

Recognized content -

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

The 1948 Cleveland Browns season was the team's third in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). After winning the AAFC crown in 1946 and 1947, the league's first two years of existence, the Browns repeated as champions in 1948 and had a perfect season, winning all of their games.

The season began with a number of roster moves, including the addition of linebacker Alex Agase and halfbacks Ara Parseghian and Dub Jones. Following training camp and two preseason games, the Browns began the regular season with a win against the Buffalo Bills. Led by quarterback Otto Graham, fullback Marion Motley and ends Mac Speedie and Dante Lavelli, the Browns followed with a string of victories leading up to a November matchup with the San Francisco 49ers. Both teams had perfect records to that point, the 49ers relying heavily on the offensive production of quarterback Frankie Albert and end Alyn Beals to win their first 10 games. The Browns beat the 49ers 14–7, and followed two weeks later with another narrow victory over San Francisco, their closest competition in the AAFC in 1948. (Full article...)

List of recognized articles

General images

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

Image 1Original entrance to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 2Indoor Football League (from Arena football)
Image 3Sign at the old entrance to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 4An arena football goalpost structure featuring the rebound nets on either side of the uprights. (from Arena football)
Image 5Morgan Athletic Club (pictured c. 1900), predecessor of the Arizona Cardinals (from History of American football)
Image 6Jim Thorpe was the first president of the NFL. (from History of American football)
Image 7A 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 8Footballs and a helmet at a Calgary Stampeders (CFL) team practice (from Canadian football)
Image 9Inside the original structure in 2008 (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 10A football signed by the 1974 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement class (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 11Tom Davies of Pittsburgh runs against undefeated and unscored upon Georgia Tech in the 1918 game at Forbes Field (from History of American football)
Image 121902 football game between the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan (from History of American football)
Image 13Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, originally built for the 1978 Commonwealth Games, pictured in 2005. (from Canadian football)
Image 14Diagram of a Canadian football field (from Canadian football)
Image 15A college football game between Colorado State University and the Air Force Academy (from History of American football)
Image 16Hanged U-shaped Continental Indoor Football League goalpost (from Arena football)
Image 17Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo looks down field with the ball during the 93rd Grey Cup game at BC Place (November 2005) (from Canadian football)
Image 18Don Hutson in 1940. (from History of American football)
Image 19The Big Game between Stanford and California was played as rugby union from 1906 to 1914 (from History of American football)
Image 20A Native American college football team (from History of American football)
Image 21Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium with the Hall of Fame in lower right (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 22A game between the Hamilton Tigers and the Ottawa Rough Riders, 1910 (from Canadian football)
Image 231906 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 24Colorado's first football team in 1890 (from History of American football)
Image 25A moment of the second game between Tufts and Harvard at College Hill, October 1875 (from History of American football)
Image 26A 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 27Lehigh Valley Steelhawks (gold jerseys with black accents) vs. Triangle Torch (black jerseys with red and yellow accents) play an American Indoor Football game at Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina, March 25, 2016 (from Arena football)
Image 28The Hall is made up of several sections with display of the inductees at its heart (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 29Sewanee's 1899 "Iron Men" (from History of American football)
Image 30One of the two Harvard vs. McGill games played in 1874 (from History of American football)
Image 31An early American football team, from the turn of the twentieth century (from History of American football)
Image 321897 Latrobe Athletic Association football team: The first entirely professional team to play an entire season. (from History of American football)
Image 33Walter 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 34Washington Valor vs. Philadelphia Soul (2017) (from Arena football)
Image 35Touchdown monument outside the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in Hamilton, Ontario (from Canadian football)
Image 36High school football stadium in Manhattan, Kansas (from History of American 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.

Selected biography -

Jackie Ray Slater (born May 27, 1954), nicknamed "Big Bad Jackie", is an American former professional football player who was an offensive tackle for 20 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played his entire career with the Rams franchise: 19 seasons in Los Angeles, from 1976 to 1994, and one game in St. Louis in 1995. Slater holds the record amongst all offensive linemen who have played the most seasons with one franchise.

A graduate of Jackson State University, he was a teammate of Walter Payton. Drafted in the third round of the 1976 NFL draft, Slater seldom played his first few years before starting in 1979. Known as the most consistent member of one of the most potent offensive lines in NFL history, Slater was selected to seven Pro Bowls and broke a record for most seasons with one team. His jersey number was retired and he was inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001. (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

“

He couldn't spell 'cat' if you spotted him the 'c' and the 't'.

”

— Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson

Comment made on former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw.

Did you know...

...that running back Garrison Hearst is the only player in league history to have twice won the Comeback Player of the Year Award?
...that the Sutherland version of the single-wing offensive formation, named for coach Jock Sutherland, pictured, had fallen into nearly-complete disuse on the collegiate and professional levels by 1970?
...that only one player since 1998, University of Miami Hurricanes linebacker Dan Morgan in 2000, has claimed the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and the Chuck Bednarik Award in the same year?

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American football

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International American football

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Variations of American football

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Stubs: Help expand Category:American football stubs

Lists

WikiProjects

WikiProject Sports
- WikiProject American football
  - WikiProject American Football League
  - WikiProject Arena Football League
  - WikiProject College football
  - WikiProject National Football League
    - WikiProject Pittsburgh Steelers
    - WikiProject Chicago Bears
    - WikiProject Green Bay Packers
    - WikiProject New England Patriots
    - WikiProject San Francisco 49ers
    - WikiProject Los Angeles Rams
- WikiProject Canadian football
- WikiProject European League of Football

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