Football Articles

Article / Updated 10-19-2022

After the regular football season, the National Football League (NFL) schedule moves into the playoffs, which decide who advances to the Super Bowl. In regular-season games, teams compete for the best win-loss records, and those teams with the best records advance to the playoffs. The NFL schedules all those regular-season games — 256 in a typical season — to separate the good teams from the bad. On every level of sports, people want to declare a champion. In the NFL, a total of 12 teams qualify for what amounts to the road to the Super Bowl. The Super Bowl is the NFL championship game. It pits the winner of NFL's American Football Conference (AFC) against the champion of the NFL's National Football Conference (NFC). The game was born out of the merger agreement between the former American Football League and the NFL in 1966. Wildcard and divisional playoff games Each conference has four divisions: North, South, East, West. Six teams from each conference qualify for the playoffs, with the four division winners qualifying automatically. These winners are joined by two teams called wildcard teams, who qualify based on the win-loss records of the remaining teams in each conference that didn’t finish first in their respective divisions. The two division winners with the highest winning percentages host second-round games, skipping the first round of competition. The third and fourth division winners host the wildcard teams in the first round. The winners of the two wildcard games advance to the second round of contests, called divisional playoff games. The lowest-rated wildcard winner plays the division winner with the best record, and the other wildcard winner plays the division winner with the second-best record. Both division winners enjoy home field advantage, meaning that they host the games. Conference championship games For the Conference Championship games (the third round), any surviving division champion automatically hosts the game. If two division winners survive, the team with the better winning percentage hosts the championship game. If the two surviving teams have identical records, home field is based on how the two teams performed in head-to-head competition during the season, and then on who had the best winning percentage in conference games. The Super Bowl is such a huge television and fan attraction that cities routinely bid for the game, offering to defray many of the league’s expenses for hotels and travel. In fact, the Super Bowl is so large that cities are selected three to four years in advance. This gives the cities the necessary time to prepare. In the two weeks between the two conference championship games and the Super Bowl, plenty of hype and hoopla about the game arises. The two teams usually arrive in the host city on the Sunday prior to the game, along with more than 2,500 members of the media. The event has a national flavor to it. With ticket prices from $500 to $700, and most fans paying five times that amount via ticket scalping, the Super Bowl has become more of a corporate event than a bastion for hard-core football fans. You almost have to be somebody important or know somebody important to attend. The Commissioner’s Party — which owners, coaches, and NFL executives attend on the Friday night prior to the game — is an even tougher ticket to acquire.

Cheat Sheet / Updated 10-18-2022

American football is about trying to make points by passing, carrying, or kicking an oblong ball (with two pointed ends) into your opponent's end zone. Football is a rough-and-tumble game with its own jargon, including some terms that are just plain odd. For example, a strong safety is a defender, and a regular safety is a play that scores two points — go figure. But knowing the lingo (including the fun slang) and the players, not to mention common penalties, can take you a long way toward getting a handle on this popular American sport.

Article / Updated 07-21-2022

Today, the National Football League (NFL) is divided into two conferences: the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). Each conference consists of 16 teams and is divided into four divisions — East, West, North, and South — of four teams each. These division titles don’t necessarily correspond to geographic parts of the country, though. For example, the St. Louis Rams are in the NFC West, yet St. Louis is smack-dab in the middle of the United States. The American Football Conference Here are the four regional divisions for the American Football Conference (AFC): East Division: Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, New York Jets West Division: Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, San Diego Chargers North Division: Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers South Division: Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans These teams in the AFC were once part of the old American Football League (AFL): Buffalo Bills Miami Dolphins New England Patriots New York Jets Denver Broncos Kansas City Chiefs Oakland Raiders San Diego Chargers Cincinnati Bengals Tennessee Titans The National Football Conference The National Football Conference (NFC) is divided into the following regional groups: East Division: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders West Division: Arizona Cardinals, St. Louis Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks North Division: Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings South Division: Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers These three teams once formed the original NFL: Arizona Cardinals Chicago Bears Green Bay Packers

Article / Updated 06-30-2022

Although the dimensions of a football field are the same, from high school to the NFL, every stadium seems different. That’s because all across America, the atmosphere inside each stadium, or the architectural character of the stadium itself, tends to be unique to that region. But every field shares some common characteristics. Football stadiums As you probably know, a stadium is the whole structure or area in which football and other games are played: the field, the stands, and so on. Stadiums come in all shapes and sizes. The important thing is that they allow room for the 100-yard-long football field. NFL and college stadiums come in two main varieties: domed stadiums and outdoor stadiums. Domed stadiums are designed so that the players and the fans don’t have to deal with the weather; they always have a roof over their heads, and the teams always play on artificial turf. When you’re talking about big-time football, both types of stadiums generally seat between 50,000 and 107,000 screaming fans. How long and wide is a football field? There’s nothing like a football field. Here's what you see on a football field, whether you’re on the field or in the stands: Field dimensions: The dimensions of a football field haven’t changed much through the years. The field has been 100 yards long and 53 1/3 yards wide since 1881. In 1912, the two end zones were established at 10 yards deep and have remained so ever since. Consequently, all football games are played on a rectangular field that’s 360 feet long x 160 feet wide. The marks on the field: All over the field, you see a bunch of white lines. Every line has a special meaning: End lines: The lines at each end of the field Sidelines: The lines along each side of the field Goal lines: The goal lines are 10 yards inside and parallel to each end line Field of play: The area bounded by the goal lines and sidelines 50-yard line: The field is divided in half by the 50-yard line, which is located in the middle of the field End zones: The two areas bounded by the goal lines, end lines, and sidelines Yard lines: They run parallel to the goal lines at intervals of 5 yards and are marked across the field from sideline to sideline. These lines stop 8 inches short of the 6-foot solid border in the NFL. Yard lines give players and fans an idea of how far a team must advance the ball in order to record a first down. Consequently, the field is numbered every 10 yards, starting from the goal lines. All these lines and numbers are white. Hash marks: They mark each yard line 70 feet, 9 inches from the sidelines in the NFL. On high school and college football fields, the hash marks are only 60 feet from the sidelines. Two sets of hash marks (each hash is 1 yard in length) run parallel to each other down the length of the field and are approximately 18 1/2 feet apart. Player benches: They are 6 feet outside the border of the field, or 6 feet from the sidelines, is an additional broken white line that defines an area in which only coaches and substitute players may stand. Six feet farther behind this broken white line is where the bench area begins. The team congregates in the bench area during a game, watching teammates play or resting on the benches. Within this area, team doctors and trainers also examine injured players. The playing surface: There are two types of surfaces are used in football — natural grass and artificial turf. Each has its pros and cons: Natural grass: Generally, natural grass is similar to your backyard lawn or any baseball outfield: It’s green, soft, and beautiful, but it needs to be mowed, watered, and replaced. Artificial turf: Some artificial surfaces are made from synthetic nylon fibers that resemble very short blades of grass; other artificial surfaces have tightly woven fibers that give the feel of a cushioned carpet. Artificial surfaces are cheaper to maintain than natural grass. Then again, in many stadiums, the artificial surface is also harder than natural grass because it’s often laid over cement, blacktop, or dirt. And on extremely hot days, artificial surfaces retain the heat, making a day that’s 95 degrees Fahrenheit feel like a 100-degree day. Goalposts: The goalpost serves as the guideline for the kicker, whose goal is to sail the ball high between the goalpost’s two vertical bars, an act that’s sometimes called splitting the uprights. The goalpost rises from the back of the end zone.

Article / Updated 06-21-2022

Football is the ultimate team game, and you need to motivate your players to work as a team. Although the sport allows individuals in some positions (such as quarterbacks, who can elude defenders and scramble downfield) to create plays on their own, you and your team are much better off if you can get everyone to work together as a cohesive unit on the field. Finding a surefire route to teaching the essence of teamwork among your players is difficult. Try getting the players to begin seeing the enormous benefits that accompany working as a team (rather than as a bunch of individuals) with the following pointers: Praise team efforts in practices and after the game. Recognize the efforts of the team whenever possible. If you're conducting a passing drill and the offensive unit scores a touchdown, you may tend to acknowledge the youngster who caught the touchdown pass or the quarterback who delivered the ball. But what about the other players involved? How about the blocking by the offensive line? How about the wide receiver on the other side of the field who ran such a good pattern that they lured the safety over to cover them, providing an easier target for the quarterback on the other side? When you spread your praise among all the players who play a role in scoring, players begin to understand that each of them plays a very important role on the team. Get the kids to praise one another. Encourage the kids who score touchdowns to acknowledge the teammates who helped get them to the end zone. Getting kids in the habit of giving one another high fives or telling each other "great pass" or "nice block" forges bonds and strengthens team unity. Promote sideline support. Encourage players who aren't in the game to stay involved by cheering and supporting their teammates. This role keeps them involved in the action instead of glancing over to see what their parents are doing or what kind of food their friends are buying at the concession stand. Hearing teammates' cheers also provides extra encouragement for the players on the field. Allow individual freedom — at times. Although you should sometimes give players individual freedom to create plays on their own, you need to do so within the team setting. At some point during the game, you may want to give your quarterback a chance to run the ball after dropping back to pass, and calling these types of plays are part of the game. But when that player ignores an open teammate they could have passed to because they want to run, they threaten team chemistry. Remind that player that they have teammates for a reason and to be sure to look out for them. Avoid the captain syndrome. Continually relying on two or three players to serve as team captains throughout the season elevates them above the rest of the squad. Instead, giving every player the opportunity to lead warm-ups in practice or head a drill infuses the team with the sense that everyone's equal. In most youth football programs, "official" team captains usually aren't required until around the age of 14. Naming temporary captains is just another tool you can use to build kids' self-esteem and make them feel like valued team members. Here are a few general tips you can employ to help spur your players on to become the best they can be after they buckle the chin straps: Love what you're doing. If you have a sincere passion for football and for teaching it to children, your excitement and enthusiasm will rub off on the team, and they'll respond accordingly. Set attainable goals for youngsters. Forget about trying to win every game or having the league's highest-scoring offense. Those aren't realistic goals for kids, some of whom are just learning how to properly put on all the safety equipment. If a child senses that your expectations are far-fetched, they wonder what's the point of even trying, and their play on the field suffers. This negatively impacts the entire team. Recognize the good things happening on the field. Stop practice to point out when a player does something really well, not just when a player makes a mistake. Being positive is simply one of the best motivational tools around. Don't motivate through fear or threats. Making a child run a lap for failing to perform at an expected level has no place in youth football. Kids are there to learn and to learn from their mistakes, not be humiliated or punished for them. This motivation-through-fear tactic is likely to chase members of your team away from the sport in the years to come. If they're giving everything they've got and it's just not clicking for some reason, find another method or take a different approach to teach the skill.

Article / Updated 05-04-2022

Part of your responsibility when coaching football is knowing and understanding what to expect — both physically and emotionally — from youngsters who play the game at a particular age level. Coaching kids ages 6 and under Children in this age bracket have probably never played football before, and this season may very well be their first experience in an organized team setting. Your job is simply to introduce them to some of football's most basic elements and whet their appetite for future participation. Children at this age generally aren't concerned about how their football skills compare to those of others on the team. These kids are primarily interested in being with friends and having fun learning and playing the sport. Football players between ages 7–9 Youngsters at this age become interested in mastering some of the basics of the sport. They crave feedback from coaches and parents on how they perform certain skills and how they're progressing with new ones. They begin noticing their teammates' abilities and skill levels. When coaches verbally recognize one of their peers for properly executing a skill, they want to earn that same feedback. The desire to compete carries much more prominence for some youngsters in this age range than for others. Children who have older siblings may be particularly competitive, because they've watched their brothers compete in football or other sports, and the younger siblings are finally getting their turn to display their skills. Playing football at ages 10–12 More than likely, these children have had some experience playing football in the past and are continuing because it's piqued their interest. Keep the positive momentum going by adding to their foundation of skills. Fuel their desire to continue playing by conducting practices that are both challenging and fun. Quite often, sports take on added importance at this juncture in kids' lives, and some of them really want to do well. As children hit this age range, many become more competitive. They begin embracing the challenge of putting their skills to the test and enjoy competing against others their age. When they're able to help the team prevail, these players feel immense satisfaction accompanied by a unique feeling of accomplishment that's specific to the wonderful world of football. Coaching youngsters between ages 13–14 Welcome to the challenging world of the teenager! These kids have already developed many of the basic skills needed to play the sport and now want to improve them. Be aware that children at this age are typically searching for their personal identity, so try getting to know them on a personal level by asking who their favorite football players or football teams are. Of course, this tip is great for building good coach-player bonds with kids of all ages. Reaching players who are ages 15 and above Gaining the respect of your players is always important to your coaching success, and that's particularly true when coaching kids ages 15 and older. These teens have developed a real passion for the sport. They attend football camps, perhaps lift weights year-round in preparation for the season, and in some cases, may actually be more knowledgeable in some areas of the sport than you are. If you volunteer or get recruited to coach this age group, don't panic! Instead, welcome the chance to enhance your coaching abilities and embrace the opportunity to coach these kids, who have a deep-rooted love for the game. Be sure to let them know that you value their opinions, suggestions, and input regarding the team. A youngster's passion for football is wonderful, and that enthusiasm actually helps make your job easier.