Can anyone explain American football??

Having read this thread, I think the safe answer is; It seems not!

You can’t take out anyone you like, btw. You can only block, meaning get in someone’s way – you can’t tackle or hold people without the ball.

It’s a bit more than “get in someone’s way” molgrips: a lead blocker can floor anyone that’s in front of them as long as they don’t grab them.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-1MQ0Cnbhs[/video]

Watch #10 on the offense in the second clip get cleaned out by #80. That’s a block.

Yes, that’s what I meant. “Holding” is an offence.

My son plays a bit – just started this year, and I recognise a lot of the recurring themes:

1) Great game to play, not so fantastic to watch live – I’m sure that watching it live in the US where they put on a show and there are hot cheerleaders is marvellous, on a cold Sunday in some sports complex near Newcastle airport, where the only distractions are the availability of a hot cuppa and a bacon butty, not so much. It really is “play for 15 seconds, talk about it for ten minutes, repeat for several hours” which can get wearing pretty quickly.

2) Remembering 8 million “plays” (set pieces) – even at the level my lad plays at, they have a playbook on their sleeve with all the details

3) Appealing to the less athletic / talented kids. I want to be careful here, but yes, I recognise this. It seems like the opposite of New Zealand where the sporty kids all play rugby and soccer is for the, err, less sporty ones. It’s great that there are sporting opportunities for kids who want to get out there and do it, but would be warming the bench in a more popular / mainstream sport (my lad also plays soccer for one of the many local clubs. By ‘play’ I mainly mean ‘warms the bench’).

4) Tactically an interesting and involving game that requires a lot of brain as well as brawn. Absolutely. It looks marvellous to play, my son loves it and I can see why. None of that detracts from the fact that it’s dull to the point of unwatchability for spectators due to the pace (or lack of it) in the game – I made the mistake the first time I went of asking how long was left in the game – 25 seconds I was told. Didn’t realise that meant they’d be done in half an hour’s time…

veedubba – Member

It’s a bit more than “get in someone’s way” molgrips: a lead blocker can floor anyone that’s in front of them as long as they don’t grab them.

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-1MQ0Cnbhs#t=67[/video]

F**********k that. Small wonder 96% of these guys have some kind of trauma related brain injury when they retire.

Another major difference between it and what we’re used to in sport is the fact the NFL is just those 32 teams, and they play one tournament, and that’s it. The teams are basically companies that can move around for economic reasons.

Imagine say Liverpool FC deciding to move to a different city…

I guess Wimbledon did move to Milton Keynes, so not unheard of.

The naming of clubs in American sport in general is a curious one. Probably a cultural thing rather than a desire to separate the identity of a club from its physical location.

don’t know where Jacksonville or Baltimore came from

The Colts are the original Baltimore team they upped sticks and moved to Indianapolis in 1984 because the city wouldn’t build the owner a new stadium.

Folks in Baltimore were not happy about that. It got very messy

The Colts even get their own section…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Football_League_franchise_moves_and_mergers

Pigface – there’s a good John Oliver/ Last Week Tonight bit on Stadiums covering exactly that sort of thing.

The Colts are the original Baltimore team they upped sticks and moved to Indianapolis

And Jacksonville won the bid when the NFL decided in the mid 90s to have two new “expansion teams” – Carolina Panthers was the other one. The other changes you’ve spotted since the Channel 4 days are older teams moving about (the Baltimore Ravens used to be the Cleveland Browns IIRC) but these two are new.

EDIT: The Houston Texans are an expansion team as well, I missed that (the Tennessee Titans are the team formerly the Houston Oilers). 2002 apparently.

Having watched it for years and played it for several (stopped playing due to concussions)…

It’s a game that is as complicated as you want to make it.

This link gives you everything you need to enjoying watching the game.
http://www.nfluk.com/learn-the-game/index.html

a lead blocker can floor anyone that’s in front of them as long as they don’t grab them.

You can’t hit an opponent if they have their back to you – side and front only. As for grabbing. You can only grab the ball carrier. Even the big offensive/defensive linesmen can’t grab each other. It’s all fists, strong palms, elbows and using leverage to move your opposite number to where the ‘play’ says he should go.

Some of those hits in that vid ^^ were very dirty fouls. You can’t hit with the head (spearing) and you can only hit the receiver of a pass or punt after he has touched the ball. As a strong/free safety (last line of defense), it was my absolute pleasure dishing out the pain to the unwary receiver/running back. You hit them hard so that they were all too aware what would happen if they tried to catch another pass 👿 Hopefully forcing the other team into a running game and reducing the chances of them scoring.

It’s a bit like XC, unless you know what’s going on it’s almost completely rubbish, but the more you know, the more it makes sense. I remember I went to the world bowl final and managed to miss just about every major play and touchdown because I just couldn’t work out the rhythm- I’d watch them stand around doing nothing then look away or start chatting or go to teh bar jsut as stuff happened.

Considering one of their other national games is ice hockey, a game in which nobody understands what icing means despite it being ice hockey and played on ice, and you can spend long periods with no idea where the puck is. Oh and fighting’s definitely not allowed.

a lead blocker can floor anyone that’s in front

Or try to….

Nothing more satisfying on defense than shedding the blocker and nailing the ball carrier.

Beating two men makes you feel superhuman.

One of most vivid memories from 20 odd years ago … Against a well drilled team who had a good kick off return set up… I’m first man down the field and it’s my job to take out one or more of the blockers who have formed a wedge in front of their ball carrier… drop your shoulder, tuck your head in and as you smash into your oppo drive up and use our nearest arm to lift and push him away… I’m through and a bit surprise he was much bigger than me didnt expect to be now trying to get the ball carrier … I dive and just about get a tap tackle on the ball carriers feet/legs and he’s down for a small gain ….. and the crowd goes wild and I get the girl!!!

😆

Ah … rose tinted specs

Beating two men makes you feel superhuman.

Is that a bit like being able to pat your head and rub your tummy at the same time 😉

As a strong/free safety (last line of defense), it was my absolute pleasure dishing out the pain to the unwary receiver/running back.

Cannot imagine how dull it would be to be just a defender.

I love it but then again I played 4 years Junior football back in the eighties and a season in the nineties. They do seem to be trying to make it more complicated, it be at a stage soon where a defensive player won’t be able to touch an offensive player with out getting a penalty. Bring back leg whipping and clothes lining 😉

Cannot imagine how dull it would be to be just a defender.

Not really as it’s a games of two, or three if you count special teams, teams. Like all team sports, each player has a role to fill and each position requires specific physical and mental attributes. E.g. If you were athletic, a really fast runner and great at catching you’d be a natural wide receiver (offense). If you very equally fast but not quite so great at catching, then you could be a Corner back (on defense – the person whose job it is to mark the WR). Or perhaps you were 20st, strong, disciplined and fairly timid you’d make a good offensive lineman. If you 20st, strong and a bit of a psycho, you’d be formidable defensive linesman. Besides, to me Free Safety was the best position on D. You didn’t have a player to mark so were free to try and read the play and be the hero with an interception* or brutal tackle.

When our team first formed the squad was fairly small (maybe 20-25 people) so we often played on offense and defense – and it was hard work. As i mentioned i was also our kicker (and sometimes kick return) but i think i played in every position except Centre (offense) in competitive matches. I even played QB in a match as our regular QB was injured. I remember being very shite at it 😀

* Willy wave time… At one point i held the British record for most interceptions in a season (11) and also held the British field goal record (47yrds) No idea if i still do or not.

Cannot imagine how dull it would be to be just a defender.

Never wanted to be an offensive player in all the time I played. Also enjoyed being on the kicking team.

We played two-touch at school, not that we knew what it was called at the time, we just made it up. Nothing official as part of the school, just a bunch of mates chucking a ball about. We got quite into it, basically ended up with a full game only without physical tackling or a line; a tackle was both hands on an opponent. Wrote our own playbook, ended up making our own strip and everything.

I played Tight End (quiet at the back), basically because my alpha male mates all claimed the cool positions, but it was actually pretty ace. Got to do a bit of everything. Finest moment was when the school football (soccer) team challenged us to a game, all cocksure cos they were the sporty kids and we were a bunch of nerds. We’d been playing as a team for a year or two and absolutely annihilated them, I don’t think they got a single point. Happy days.

we were a bunch of nerds

Told you Euro 😉

Is this the place to say I have a couple of tickets for the Lions v Chiefs game at Wembley for sale (£60 for the pair)? Let me know if interested, ad currently on Gumtree.

We were a bunch nerds. Gitface.

NFL teams also have a special player for kicking, who does nothing else.

Kickers may win games but they are still disliked by the rest of the team 😉

Nice story @euro, you where very lucky not to break/damage your ACL when chopped from the side

We were a bunch nerds. Gitface.

However after your epic win you became sporting demi-Gods 😉

The Colts are the original Baltimore team they upped sticks and moved to Indianapolis in 1984 because the city wouldn’t build the owner a new stadium.

Folks in Baltimore were not happy about that. It got very messy

I didn’t know that. Think I started watching c1987-8ish, maybe a bit earlier but not before they were in Indianapolis.
I also didn’t know Cleveland and Houston had become completely new franchises in new cities.

Where are the a Raiders based these days? When I was watching in the 80s they were in LA but I knew they’d also been in Oakland, and later moved back there

I do remember the Cardinals moving to Phoenix, where were they before that? St Louis Iirc?

Having read this thread, I think the safe answer is; It seems not!

I think Cougar nailed it on the bottom of page 1.

He didn’t mention fumbles, interceptions or sacking the quarterback but I think they explain themselves once you’ve seen them…

Raiders are in Oakland. Cardinals no longer called Phoenix but called Arizona and yes used to be in St Louis. LA are without a team altogether as the Rams went to St Louis (work that one out!).

No one explains the appeal of American Football as well as Doug Stanhope.

(Decidedly NSFW)

[video]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=hY3W9Z4bdS8[/video]

He didn’t mention fumbles, interceptions or sacking the quarterback but I think they explain themselves once you’ve seen them…

The one QB sack I’ll never forget, saw it happen live on TV, made me feel ill when they ran the slomo replay:
[video]http://youtu.be/PHCXNt4P8Xg[/video]

In 2 weeks the equivalent of 10 starting lineups have been injured. That’s mental.

To the other players/ ex-players, I play too (or at least did, and got suckered in again for 2 games this season), so I (generally) know the rules but didn’t think explaining the finer points of blocks in the back, clipping etc was warranted. A lot of the clips are also old, and the specific helmet crown rule in the NFL is fairly recent.

George Carlin did a nice comparison between football and baseball:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhN1ExFCXNA[/video]

ps. it’s only a penalty if you get caught.

Ro5ey – what year did you play for the GB Crusaders? I went off to the euro championships with them when I was 17. Fun times despite losing all of our games heavily. I’d only just started playing then so wasn’t that good, I did get way better in the next couple of years but gave it up after an injury.