SPORTS WORLD
American Football
Game play in American football consists of a series of downs, individual plays of short duration, outside of which the ball is dead or not in play. These can be plays from scrimmage – passes, runs, punts, or field goal attempts (from either a place kick or a drop kick) – or free kicks such as kickoffs and fair catch kicks.
Scoring and Gameplay: The winner is the team that has scored the most points at the end of the game. There are multiple ways to score in a football game.
Maneuvers: The primary and important purposes of tackling are to dispossess an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend.
Strategy: There are a vast array of positions, formations, strategies, plays and types of play calling systems that are utilized. If a strategy is for a particular game, it is known as a game plan.
Penalties: Officials initially signal penalties by tossing a bright yellow colored penalty flag onto the field toward or at the spot of a foul. Many penalties result in moving the football toward the offending team's end zone, usually in 5 yard increments.
Downs: The team in possession of the football has a limited number of downs to advance ten yards or more towards their opponent's goal line. If they fail to advance that far, possession of the ball is turned over to the other team.
Teams and Positions: Each team has 11 players on the field at one time. The specific role that a player takes on the field is called his position.
Field: Football games are played on a rectangular field that measures 120 yards (110 m) long and 53.33 yards (48.76 m) wide.
Equipment: The term football refers to a prolate spheroid ball used in the context of playing gridiron football. Footballs are often made of cow hide leather, as such a material is required in professional and collegiate football.
Officials and Fouls: Officials are responsible for enforcing game rules and monitoring the clock. All officials carry a whistle and wear black-and-white striped shirts and black hats except for the referee, whose hat is white.