Portal:American football

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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, but 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.

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. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football", established 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 sport is closely related to Canadian football, which evolved in parallel with and at the same time as the American game, although its rules were developed independently from those of Camp. Most of the features that distinguish American football from rugby and soccer are also present in Canadian football. The two sports are considered the primary variants of gridiron football.

American football is the most popular sport in the United States in terms of broadcast viewership audience. The most popular forms of the game are professional and college football, with the other major levels being high-school and youth football. As of 2022, nearly 1.04 million high-school athletes play the sport in the U.S., with another 81,000 college athletes in the NCAA and the NAIA. The National Football League (NFL) has 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. In 2022, the league had an annual revenue of around $18.6 billion, making it the most valuable sports league in the world. 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. (Full article...)

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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. 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 the first Super Bowl since Super Bowl XXX in which neither team was seeking its first title. 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. The Bears' Lovie Smith and the Colts' Tony Dungy became the first African-American head coaches to coach in the Super Bowl, with Dungy the first to win. It was also only the second championship game or series in any of the four North American major professional sports leagues to feature two African-American head coaches or managers, the other being the 1975 NBA Finals. (Full article...)

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General images

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

Image 1Morgan Athletic Club (pictured c. 1900), predecessor of the Arizona Cardinals (from History of American football)
Image 2A moment of the second game between Tufts and Harvard at College Hill, October 1875 (from History of American football)
Image 3A football signed by the 1974 Pro Football Hall of Fame enshrinement class (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 4Don Hutson in 1940. (from History of American football)
Image 5Original entrance to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 6Walter 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 7An early American football team, from the turn of the twentieth century (from History of American football)
Image 8Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium with the Hall of Fame in lower right (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 91906 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 10The Big Game between Stanford and California was played as rugby union from 1906 to 1914 (from History of American football)
Image 11A 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 12A 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 13Lehigh 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 14Touchdown monument outside the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in Hamilton, Ontario (from Canadian football)
Image 15Diagram of a Canadian football field (from Canadian football)
Image 16Indoor Football League (from Arena football)
Image 171897 Latrobe Athletic Association football team: The first entirely professional team to play an entire season. (from History of American football)
Image 18One of the two Harvard vs. McGill games played in 1874 (from History of American football)
Image 19A college football game between Colorado State University and the Air Force Academy (from History of American football)
Image 20Footballs and a helmet at a Calgary Stampeders (CFL) team practice (from Canadian football)
Image 21Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, originally built for the 1978 Commonwealth Games, pictured in 2005. (from Canadian football)
Image 22Tom Davies of Pittsburgh runs against undefeated and unscored upon Georgia Tech in the 1918 game at Forbes Field (from History of American football)
Image 23Jim Thorpe was the first president of the NFL. (from History of American football)
Image 24The Hall is made up of several sections with display of the inductees at its heart (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 25Montreal Alouettes quarterback Anthony Calvillo looks down field with the ball during the 93rd Grey Cup game at BC Place. (from Canadian football)
Image 26Colorado's first football team in 1890 (from History of American football)
Image 27High school football stadium in Manhattan, Kansas (from History of American football)
Image 28Inside the original structure in 2008 (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)
Image 29Continental Indoor Football League goalpost (from Arena football)
Image 30A game between the Hamilton Tigers and the Ottawa Rough Riders, 1910 (from Canadian football)
Image 31Sewanee's 1899 "Iron Men" (from History of American football)
Image 32A Native American college football team (from History of American football)
Image 33An arena football goalpost structure featuring the rebound nets on either side of the uprights. (from Arena football)
Image 341902 football game between the University of Minnesota and the University of Michigan (from History of American football)
Image 35Sign at the old entrance to the Pro Football Hall of Fame (from Pro Football Hall of Fame)

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Gerald Ford

Credit: Gerald R. Ford Library

Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States, played center and linebacker for the Michigan Wolverines, helping his team to two national titles.

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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...)

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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

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My thoughts just before the first real college game of my life: The honor of my race, family, and self is at stake. Everyone is expecting me to do big things. I will. My whole body and soul are to be thrown recklessly about the field tomorrow. Every time the ball is snapped, I will be trying to do more than my part.

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— Jack Trice

Iowa State College Cyclones offensive tackle, in a letter to his family one day prior to his sustaining fatal injuries in a game betwixt his team and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers in Minneapolis, Minnesota

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