Curious about the National Football League (NFL)? Well, this rookie guide is for you.
The league was established in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association (APFA) before it was renamed as the National Football League for the 1922 season.
The NFL is divided between the National Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). The NFL is also one of the four major professional sports leagues in North America and was regarded as the highest professional level of American football in the world.
Objective
Just like any other leagues, the objective of this game is to score more points than your opponent within the given time. Here are some of the key points every player must remember:
- The players have to move the ball down the pitch before it gets into the ‘end zone’ for a touchdown
- The players can only throw the ball to a teammate while running
- Each team has four chances to move the ball 10 yards forwards
Players
Even if the football team is usually made up of 53 members, there should be 11 active players on each squad. The team is then divided into the attacking, defence, and special team.
The attacking team is usually composed of smaller, stronger, and faster type of players. The defence team is composed of larger and powerful players who can stop the opponents from running. The special team is a combination of larger and faster players who are responsible for kicking and punting side of the game.
The Field
The field is usually 100 yards long and 160 yards wide. If you have noticed, the lines drawn on the field have 10 yards interval. This is to determine how far the players went. There are also ‘end zones’ at every end of the pitch which is 10 yards in length.
Jersey Numbers
Unlike other games, the jersey numbers written on their uniform actually determines their position in the team.
Here is a quick rundown of the jersey numbers and position in the squad:
- 1-9: Quarterback, kicker and punter
- 10-19: Quarterback, wide receiver, kicker and punter
- 20-29: Running back, cornerback and safety
- 30-39: Running back, tight end and cornerback, safety
- 40-49: Running back, tight end and cornerback, safety
- 50-59: Offensive line and defensive line, linebacker
- 60-69: Offensive line and defensive line
- 70-79: Offensive line and defensive line
- 80-89: Wide receiver and tight end
- 90-99: Defensive line and linebacker
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Penalties
Here is a quick rundown of the penalties given to the players:
| BLOCKING BELOW THE WAIST | An illegal block below the waist |
| BLOCK IN THE BACK | When a blocker tackles a non-ball-carrying opponent from behind and above the waist |
| CHOP BLOCK | When an offensive player hits a cut block on a defending player that is already blocked by another offensive player |
| CLIPPING | When a blocker hits a non-ball carrying opponent from behind and below the waist |
| DELAY OF THE GAME | Any type of action that delays the next play |
| FACE MASK | When a player grabs an opponent’s face mask while attempting a block or tackle |
| FALSE START | When an offensive player illegally moves before the snap of the ball |
| HELMET-TO-HELMET COLLISION | When a player’s helmet collides with another helmet |
| HORSE-COLLAR TACKLE | Tackling another player by grabbing inside their shoulder pads or jersey |
| ROUGHING THE PASSER | When a defender continues to try to tackle a passer after they have thrown the ball |
| ROUGHING THE KICKER | When a defender tackles a kicker after failing to block a kick |
| SPEARING | When you tackle an opponent with your helmet |
| UNFAIR ACT | Refers to any type of flagrant and illegal act that can have a major impact on the game |