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...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Recognized content - show another

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

Super Bowl XLI was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League (NFL) champion for the 2006 season. The Colts defeated the Bears by the score of 29–17, winning their first championship since Super Bowl V in 1971 and fourth NFL championship overall. The game was played on February 4, 2007, at Dolphin Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. This was the first, and to date only, Super Bowl win for an AFC South team. This was also the first major professional sports championship ever won by an Indianapolis-based team.

This was the first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXX in which neither team was seeking its first title; however, it featured two teams ending long Super Bowl appearance droughts. The Colts, who finished with a 12–4 regular season record, were making their first Super Bowl appearance since winning Super Bowl V in the 1970 season during the team's tenure in Baltimore; they had moved to Indianapolis in 1984. Meanwhile, the Bears, who posted an NFC-best 13–3 regular season record, were making their first appearance since winning Super Bowl XX in the 1985 season. (Full article...)

List of recognized articles

General images

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

Image 1Colorado's first football team in 1890 (from History of American football)
Image 2The Hall is made up of several sections with display of the inductees at its heart (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 3A Native American college football team (from History of American football)
Image 4Sign at the old entrance to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 5Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium with the Hall of Fame in lower right (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 6A moment of the second game between Tufts and Harvard at College Hill, October 1875 (from History of American football)
Image 7Morgan Athletic Club (pictured c. 1900), predecessor of the Arizona Cardinals (from History of American football)
Image 8A game between the Hamilton Tigers and the Ottawa Rough Riders, 1910 (from Canadian football)
Image 9Lehigh 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 101906 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 111902 football game between the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan (from History of American football)
Image 12Diagram of a Canadian football field (from Canadian football)
Image 13Footballs and a helmet at a Calgary Stampeders (CFL) team practice (from Canadian football)
Image 141897 Latrobe Athletic Association football team: The first entirely professional team to play an entire season. (from History of American football)
Image 15Don Hutson in 1940. (from History of American football)
Image 16An early American football team, from the turn of the twentieth century (from History of American football)
Image 17High school football stadium in Manhattan, Kansas (from History of American football)
Image 18A 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 19A 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 20Inside the original structure in 2008 (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 21Washington Valor vs. Philadelphia Soul (2017) (from Arena football)
Image 22Original entrance to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 23Indoor Football League (from Arena football)
Image 24Jim Thorpe was the first president of the NFL. (from History of American football)
Image 25An Arena Football field in comparison to a standard American Football size. (from Arena football)
Image 26Walter 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 27Montreal 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 28Tom Davies of Pittsburgh runs against undefeated and unscored upon Georgia Tech in the 1918 game at Forbes Field (from History of American football)
Image 29An arena football goalpost structure featuring the rebound nets on either side of the uprights. (from Arena football)
Image 30The Big Game between Stanford and California was played as rugby union from 1906 to 1914 (from History of American football)
Image 31A college football game between Colorado State University and the Air Force Academy (from History of American football)
Image 32Touchdown monument outside the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in Hamilton, Ontario (from Canadian football)
Image 33One of the two Harvard vs. McGill games played in 1874 (from History of American football)
Image 34Hanged U-shaped Continental Indoor Football League goalpost (from Arena football)
Image 35A football signed by the 1974 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement class (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 36Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, originally built for the 1978 Commonwealth Games, pictured in 2005. (from Canadian football)
Image 37Sewanee's 1899 "Iron Men" (from History of American football)

Selected image

Quarterback

Credit: Mike Kaplan, USAF

In gridiron football, the quarterback is the leader of the offensive team. At most levels, but especially at the college and professional level, the quarterback is one of the most visible and important roles on the team, being responsible both for calling plays and making decisions during the play. Shown here is Shea Smith of the Air Force Falcons during the 2007 Armed Forces Bowl.

More selected pictures

Selected biography - show another

Foyt at the opening of the Foyt Wine Vault in Speedway, Indiana, in 2015

Anthony Joseph Foyt IV (born May 25, 1984) is an American professional football scout and former racing driver. He is a scouting assistant for the Indianapolis Colts, and drove in the IndyCar Series and briefly the NASCAR Busch Series. He is the third generation of the famous Foyt family and is married to the daughter of late Colts owner Jim Irsay.

Foyt began his career racing karts. He moved up through the open wheel racing ranks, winning the 2002 Infiniti Pro Series. When Foyt made his first Indianapolis 500 race in 2003, he became the youngest driver to start in the event. He continued in IndyCar for two more years until his back was injured at the 2005 Indianapolis 500. Later that season he made several NASCAR Busch Series starts. He was scheduled to continue in the Busch Series in 2006, but the team was bought out and his contract prevented him from driving a non-Dodge car. He returned to IndyCar late that season. He has not raced since 2009, although he drove for his grandfather's A. J. Foyt Enterprises team in trials for the 2010 Indianapolis 500. (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