The History of American Football
The American football is a sport, which is very popular in the United States of America and Canada. The main purpose of the sport is how to pass the members of the opponent and reach to the end of the opponent`s zone. You can catch the ball with your hand and move forward or throw it to another player in another zone and keep moving forward. And it is possible also to get the ball directly from the hand of the player of your team. You can score in several ways such as breaking over the goal line in the opponent`s zone without stopping, or throwing the ball to another play who passed the goal line and by this the team gains six points, or kicking the ball very high between the two crossbars that are on the upper end of the opponent`s zone to gain three points. The winner team is the team who collects the highest number of goals in the settled time of the match.
American Football History:
The American Football was invented by the USA through merging some sports such as rugby and soccer in the 6th of November 1869. This has been through two teams in college called as Princeton and Rutgers. The American football reached its independence from Rugby and became new sports in the end of the nineteenth century. Notwithstanding The American football is considered the most popular sport in the United States as students of younger ages like to play it in their schools but it is considered the least popular sport worldwide.
This sport characterized by the exceeded violence and it depends mainly on huge and strong muscles, speed and the extensive use of the hands. It requires high level of fitness, physical strength and big bodybuilding as it differs from other sports. Throughout the match the players confront many beats and hits from the opponents and if you don`t endure such beats you will not be able to sustain during the match time. This sport is more dangerous than boxing as the number of deaths in it are so big despite all the protective devices that are used by the players and the safety rules and regulations of the sport don`t help a lot to prevent such death cases. Most death cases are died out of wounds and injuries as well as this sport caused a severe state of dryness. The most common injuries of the American football players are concussion as a result of strong smashes, amnesia, delirium, dizziness and vertigo.
American Football Equipment List:
The American football league consists of twenty three teams and the final match or the super bowl is held in every first Sunday of February. This event brings to the city millions fans and it is considered a great celebration in the end of the American football season as it watched by about 105 million viewers around the world. The most popular American teams are Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Indianapolis Colts and Miami Dolphins.
The field or stadium`s length is about a hundred yards and its wide is about fifty three yards as it is divided into slides each slide is about five yards in space, there is also a line defines each ten yards in addition to the two crossbars for each team.
The ball takes the egg shape, its length twenty eight cm, it is made from rubber or plastic and it has underlay made of rubber to penetrate the pressured air inside it and its weight about forty gram.
Relating to the customs and shields of the players, the players clothes are made of cotton or nylon, the whole uniform consists of a t-shirt, short pants, long socks, good shoes to facilitate the running techniques of the players and increase their speed as well as a pair of gloves in order to make it easy in handing the ball and avoid any mistakes that happens as a result of sweating hands.
Whereas the shield devices that a player wears in order to protect himself from smashes and crushes of the other opponent`s players are a helmet with belt fixed on the chin, protective mask and under clothes felts or pads in order to protect their shoulders, hips and knees from any injuries.
American Football Rules:
The match consists of four periods, each period lasts for a quarter; the whole time of the match is an hour and the rest time is twenty minutes. In each period one team starts it with kicking the ball from the middle of the field and the other team gains the ball to start the attack. Each team in American football consists of eleven players. There are three means in order to score a goal and get points.
1. Overthrowing:
It means to pass or throw the ball for a player of your team and this player penetrates the defense of the opponents and reaches the goal line by himself after a great dodges, when it happens his team get six points and this forward player is called the runner as he receives the ball from the passer and runs in a very speedy style handling the ball in his hands.
2. The Revenue of Kicking the Ball:
A player shoots the ball with his leg in a very strong and high manner in order to cross between the two crossbars of the opponent and if he succeeds to do that his team gets one point.
3. The Safety Kick:
This time only the defense members have the right to shoot from any region of the field and if the player manages to deliver the ball in the right place his team gets three points.
4. American Football Fouls:
Concerning with the fouls of the sport, the player makes personal foul if he beats the opponent who haven`t the ball, unnecessary roughness, illegal contact to the head of the player, hitting the player with the helmet, hitting the opponent player in dangerous parts of the body or under-belt like kicking his testes and if the play kicks the ball with his foot while he is inside the goal area it is also considered a foul and the ball goes for the other team.
5- Maintaining Positions:
To take a look on position, there are different types to maintain position over the opponent team and get the ball such as preventing the opponent from scoring the overthrowing ball then you seize the ball and pass it to the members of your team. In most American tactics the plan of the match aims to divide the team to five players in the attack to clear the way for the forward player as well as the defense consists of three or six players.
Teams Division in the American Football:
1) The Attacker:
A) The side player is one player and its mission is to receive the ball from the heart of the attack then deliver it to another player.
B) The ball runner: its rule is handling the ball from the side player and run with it in addition to his defense rule in preventing any passes or trying to cut the ball from the opponent team.
C) The assistant side: this player runs only with the ball in order to exceed the goal line of the opponent.
2) The Defense:
A) The advanced defense: their mission is to distract the players of the opponents in order to avoid any runs of the side player.
B) The defense of the back area: their mission is to block any player tries to penetrate their zone or any play holds the ball.
3) The Special Player:
This player has only to kick the ball if his team gets overthrow and gains a kick, the importance of this player appears when his team failed to get throw the defense of the opponent then this special player shoots the ball above the opponent`s crossbars and his team gets three points.
NFL Numbers by Position:
Numbers from one to nineteen go to the side or kicker players. Numbers from twenty to forty nine go to the side runner player who hold the ball and runs with it. Numbers from fifty to seventy nine go to the center player or the heart attackers. Numbers sixty or ninety go for advanced defense players. Numbers from forty to fifty or from ninety to ninety nine go to defense mid-fielder players. The most famous league in the world in National Football League. There are thirty two teams participate in this league as they are divided into two groups of sixteen teams and then the fist team of each group faces the other of the another group to decide a winner.
Objectives of the American Football:
The major strategies of the sport is how to find appropriate measures to score the goals, earn points and win the sport. As a matter of fact American football helps many families inside the states to relax and renews the family relationships through attending matches and going out. The American football also supports females to contributes in such sport and practice it as professionals. This is considered very good for girls who like to play touch sports that require strength, flexibility, toughness and speed. Thanks to the popularity of American football inside the United States, players can get big amount of money as well as people who work in this field, managers and officials. The expansion of American football strikes Europe especially Germany and Switzerland.
The Positive Social Effects of The American Football:
Many organizations and associations that are fond of sports build their success on the passion love of American football among the American society. This helps them to participate in the success of economy of the united states as most fans like to spend time to support their favorite teams. The success of these organizations helps society to solve many problems of unemployment through introducing new jobs for youth. Hence, practicing American football encourages people to join in the improvement of society through making the sport worldwide and let the universe to take a look on the society that may increase the tourism inside the state.
There are many moral values can be achieved through practicing sports such as avoiding cheating and learning how to respect your opponents as well as how to respect the regulations of the sport. However, American football depend mainly on toughness which may cause in spreading the tough attitudes for players in addition to increase the state of violence among players and it is considered dark side of the sport not only on people but also on society.
The Positive Psychological Impact of the American Football:
There is no doubt that sports in general has a great effects not only on the body of the athlete but also on the mind. Most experts declared that sports affect positively friendly relationships, self-confidence, feelings and self-esteeming; gaining success in sports makes athletes feel proud of themselves and it also build the sense of competition among players.
Practicing American football would help players to avoid any kind of stress or pressure as well as they will know the best way of handling bullies. Hence, playing football paves the way for them to entertain and skip any personal or family problems. For fans, football gives them a chance to support their favorite teams and feel very happy after winning matches or titles.
The positive feelings that come to the heart of the fans after a victory help them to relax and erase any type of depression from their heart. Fans feel so proud of their favorite team and it affects very well on society and media revenues. Notwithstanding the loss of favorite team may cause bad circumstances and impacts not only on the players but also on fans.
The Negative Impact Psychological of the American Football:
Concerning with the negative physiological effects of American football, the sport may cause severe and critical injuries for the players as a result of smashes and hits. Throughout the match, players meet their fate of beats and hits of all parts of their bodies. The permanent clashes on the head of the player may cause concussion and wounds notwithstanding the players are wearing helmets to protect their heads but in most cases it doesn`t help. Although there are some players intend to hurt their opponents by committing hard fouls and dangerous strikes on their bodies that may lead to players loss their awareness or may be faint.
Thus, the physical traumas of the players lead them to anger and loss of their minds. At the same regard, practicing American football may cause severe injuries and scares that might not leave the player for many years and it may affect badly on his real life outside the field. Despite the fact that most physical injuries can be recovered but it may cause anxiety, immense shocks and madness of the injured player. Furthermore, injuries may result in the state of despair, scaring and helplessness of the player as he may feel that he will not heal or back again to the field if he has a bad injury especially head injuries.
Comparing The American Football and Soccer:
Soccer is similar to American football as a player can kick the ball with his foot in both sports but in soccer a player cannot catch the ball with his hands unlike the American football as it is allowed for the player to catch the ball with his hands.
The number of the players in both sports is eleven. The rules of American football is different from soccer as in soccer the only way to win the sport is to score goals inside the goal net of the opponent but in American football you can score through overthrowing, The revenue of kicking the ball and the safety kick.
Team division is different as in American football the divides into the attack, the defense and the special player unlike in soccer the team divides into goalkeeper, defense, middle players and forward players. Both sports use a ball but the style of the balls are different as it has an egg shape in American football but rounded shape in soccer.
As for the devices in American football a player wears a helmet with belt fixed on the chin, protective mask and under clothes felts or pads in order to protect their shoulders, hips and knees from any injuries, on the other side the soccer player only wears protective knee pads.
Finally, both sports are so popular but American football is very popular only inside the United States, although soccer is the most popular sport around the world.
Summary:
To sum up, the American football is one of the most popular sports inside the United States but it is not famous worldwide. The sport is so fascinating and interesting for many people as they like to show their strength and ability to beat the other team. For fans, they like to watch their favorite team hit the opponent teams and win titles. The main characteristics of the sport are clear for everyone as it depends mainly on strong power of the player, flexibility, speed and huge bodybuilding. The equipment that are used in the sport are protective masks, gloves and knee-guards. The ball takes the egg shape to simplify the holding methods of the players. The rules of the sport stand majorly on the time of the sport is an hour, the number of players is eleven and the fouls of the sport are personal fouls through unrequired toughness from a player to his opponent. The objectives of the sport are many such as gaining success and titles through winning matches as well as reaching fame from playing the sport and spreading it to the entire world. Finally, there are great psychological, social and physiological effects of the American football not only on the players but also on fans.
