Author Topic: Help me get into football  (Read 3852 times)

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Help me get into football
« on: January 23, 2018, 07:32:02 AM »

Offline mr. dee

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With Superbowl coming, it seems a good timing to get into it since many people are talking about it, even some of my local friends. I've watched some few highlights last year, but I am very clueless about football rules as my country isn't really into it. All I know is each team have 4 downs to make it to the goal.

I don't know how a flag is called. All I know is it is equivalent to foul. With the physicality of football, all tackles looks like a foul to me.

I know some of scoring works, like touchdowns and free kicks. But I have no idea how scoring from safety works or other ways of scoring.

Unlike basketball, football seems to have too many position to memorize. So it's gonna take a while for me to learn.

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #1 on: January 23, 2018, 07:46:00 AM »

Offline Eja117

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We're on it

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #2 on: January 23, 2018, 07:51:59 AM »

Offline Eja117

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Other ways to score.

The most common....after a touchdown the team that scores a touchdown has two choices. They may kick the ball through the field goal posts (sometimes called "the uprights") or they may try to go for the "2 point conversion" which is essentially another touchdown worth two points.

2nd most common.....a team decides they are too far away from getting a touchdown or another 1rst down (getting them another 4 downs) but they are close enough that they could probably kick the ball through the field goal posts. They can go for the "field goal". That's worth 3 points. (Field goal distance is measured from the back of the end zone to the spot where the kicker is. The end zone is ten yards and the kicker is usually about 7 yards back from the line of scrimmage where the players are. So basically tack on 17 yards to wherever the ball is. So realistically a ball at the 30 yard line is like a 47 yard field goal.) The longest field goal ever kicked was I think 64 yards or so.  So that ball was probably near the 38 yard line. Anything over about 42 yards is not easy. Anything over 50 is difficult. Over 60 is almost impossible.

A safety is when the defense tackles the offense in their own end zone. That is worth 2 points aaaannnndddd the team that gets the safety gets the ball back. It's a huge play.

I have to go. We'll be back

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #3 on: January 23, 2018, 07:56:21 AM »

Offline mr. dee

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Other ways to score.

The most common....after a touchdown the team that scores a touchdown has two choices. They may kick the ball through the field goal posts (sometimes called "the uprights") or they may try to go for the "2 point conversion" which is essentially another touchdown worth two points.

2nd most common.....a team decides they are too far away from getting a touchdown or another 1rst down (getting them another 4 downs) but they are close enough that they could probably kick the ball through the field goal posts. They can go for the "field goal". That's worth 3 points. (Field goal distance is measured from the back of the end zone to the spot where the kicker is. The end zone is ten yards and the kicker is usually about 7 yards back from the line of scrimmage where the players are. So basically tack on 17 yards to wherever the ball is. So realistically a ball at the 30 yard line is like a 47 yard field goal.) The longest field goal ever kicked was I think 64 yards or so.  So that ball was probably near the 38 yard line. Anything over about 42 yards is not easy. Anything over 50 is difficult. Over 60 is almost impossible.

A safety is when the defense tackles the offense in their own end zone. That is worth 2 points aaaannnndddd the team that gets the safety gets the ball back. It's a huge play.

I have to go. We'll be back
TP for the info

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2018, 08:16:03 AM »

Offline Eja117

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One other unusual way to score.  .....a turnover defensive TD

Say the offense has the ball.  The Eagles quarterback Nick Foles throws the ball.....the wrong guys from the other team gets it. Patriot Malcolm Butler has "intercepted" the ball. He now may run for a touchdown. If he gets it....touchdown for his team. It's a huge play. An interception that results in a TD like this is often called a "pick six" because Butler has picked the ball off out of the sky and ran the other way for 6 points. Then his team will get the extra point or possibly 2 point conversion.

This can also happen with a fumble. The Eagles Running Back is handed the ball and starts running. The Patriots linebacker James Harrison smashes him causing him to drop the ball (called a fumble). A Patriot may pick it up and run for a touchdown. This is pretty unusual.

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2018, 08:22:30 AM »

Offline Redz

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Technically a team has more than more 4 downs to score a "goal" (we call them touchdowns).  A team starts with a set of 4 downs in which they are required to move the ball 10 yards.  If they succeed in moving the ball a minimum of 10 yards, they receive a new "set" of 4 downs to attain another 10 yards.  Hence, 1st and 10 (1st down, 10 yards to go).  If they do not make the 10 yards or score a touchdown in 4 downs (without getting the 10 yards), possession changes.  Often times a team will punt on 4th down to give the ball back to the opponent if they have a bunch yards to go and they are too far away to attempt a 3 point field goal by kicking it through the uprights at the end of the end zone.
Yup

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2018, 08:27:15 AM »

Offline Eja117

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Most common flags/penalties

In no particular order

Offensive holding.....the bane of offensive coordinators.  You are most likely to see this when the ball is snapped and a defensive lineman is headed towards the quarterback. An offensive lineman may be tempted to grab him or hold him. Can't do that. You're really supposed to like push him and stuff.

False start on offense.  When offensive players start playing before the ball is snapped. 5 yard penalty. Now instead of having to go ten yards in 4 downs you have to go 15 yards in 4 downs. So a first and ten becomes first and 15. Or a 2nd and 9 becomes 2nd and 14.  Or a 3rd and 2 becomes 3rd and 7.

Defensive pass interference. There is offensive pass interference as well, which is pretty similar and if the offensive player does it.  Essentially when the ball is passed to someone the defensive player has to try to hit the ball away but not the player catching it. He has to wait for the player to touch the ball before he can hit or tackle him. This is a major penalty in the NFL.  The ball goes to the spot of the foul. So if Brady throws it very deep and the receiver is interfered with it's just as good as if he caught it.   This was major in the last game.

Offsides. Essentially when the defense starts playing before the ball is snapped. Also worth 5 yards. If the offense had less than 5 yards to go it will now be a first down. This can be major. An offense is allowed to try to trick the defense into going off sides with their voice but not by moving. Otherwise it would be a false start.

There are some penalties for bad sportsmanship.

There are some newer penalties involving hitting people's heads that are trying to reduce concussions.


Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2018, 08:29:53 AM »

Offline Redz

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This is exhausting

Football is wicked complicated

Basically, big strong, athletic, fast guys kick the crap out of each other and it's fun to watch happen
Yup

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2018, 08:31:50 AM »

Offline Eja117

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Technically a team has more than more 4 downs to score a "goal" (we call them touchdowns).  A team starts with a set of 4 downs in which they are required to move the ball 10 yards.  If they succeed in moving the ball a minimum of 10 yards, they receive a new "set" of 4 downs to attain another 10 yards.  Hence, 1st and 10 (1st down, 10 yards to go).  If they do not make the 10 yards or score a touchdown in 4 downs (without getting the 10 yards), possession changes.  Often times a team will punt on 4th down to give the ball back to the opponent if they have a bunch yards to go and they are too far away to attempt a 3 point field goal by kicking it through the uprights at the end of the end zone.
Punting is very common. It's when you kick the ball away.  The team can catch it and start running. They coooouullld run all the way for a touchdown, which is very difficult and rare.  A very common thing is when the guy catching the ball knows he will be smashed and calls "fair catch" which means they have to let him catch it but then he doesn't get to run for a touchdown. He also does this because realistically if he doesn't catch it the ball could roll further away down the field making it that much further for his team to get a touchdown.

However.

If the ball goes into the other endzone......that is called a "touchback" and now the ball goes to the 20 yard line for the new team to start. Teams have been known to try to trick the other team into thinking they would get a fair catch and then run away at the last second to try to get the ball to roll into the end zone so they can get out to the 20 yard line.  A punter who can get the ball to land inside the 20 and not roll into the end zone is a skilled and valued punter. Not everyone can do it consistently.

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #9 on: January 23, 2018, 08:32:45 AM »

Offline Eja117

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This is exhausting

Football is wicked complicated

Basically, big strong, athletic, fast guys kick the crap out of each other and it's fun to watch happen
I suddenly didn't even know all the rules I didn't know.  Should we discuss trick plays and positions? This has got to be the most complicated sport, right? Plus it's gotten more complicated lately. I mean....what's even a catch now? Challenge replay? The clock? Sideline catches?

Both the clock and sideline catches are different between the NFL and college!

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #10 on: January 23, 2018, 08:42:59 AM »

Offline Eja117

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omg....I totally forgot two or three very unusual ways to score.

A team could intercept the two point conversion and run it back for their own 2 point conversion.

A team could block a field goal and return it for a touchdown.




A field goal attempt could fall short, get caught like a punt, and returned like a punt for a touchdown.

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #11 on: January 23, 2018, 08:57:13 AM »

Offline green_bballers13

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What makes football great and different is that there are stops after each play. The coaching staff gets to reset, and devise a new strategy for each individual play. Think of football like a battle. You are trying to take over as much territory as possible, then eventually push the ball over the goal line for a touchdown.

The game can be brutal at times, but there are clear violations that should cause a penalty, or loss of yardage. Interfering with a receiver before the ball gets to them is a big one. Hitting the QB after he has gotten rid of the ball is another.

The strategy piece is what intrigues me so much. Due to the stoppage after each play, fans can hypothesize what each team should/will do based on the down and yardage. It allows fans to interact with the game differently than in other sports.

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #12 on: January 23, 2018, 09:20:16 AM »

Offline Eja117

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That is a really good point. It's like violence with an added element of poker. It does sorta approximate war a little more than the other sports with secrecy and secret weapons and innovation and deception and whatnot
« Last Edit: January 23, 2018, 09:29:33 AM by eja117 »

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #13 on: January 23, 2018, 09:55:41 AM »

Offline kozlodoev

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With Superbowl coming, it seems a good timing to get into it since many people are talking about it, even some of my local friends. I've watched some few highlights last year, but I am very clueless about football rules as my country isn't really into it. All I know is each team have 4 downs to make it to the goal.

I don't know how a flag is called. All I know is it is equivalent to foul. With the physicality of football, all tackles looks like a foul to me.

I know some of scoring works, like touchdowns and free kicks. But I have no idea how scoring from safety works or other ways of scoring.

Unlike basketball, football seems to have too many position to memorize. So it's gonna take a while for me to learn.
I was going to write a wall of text, but then found this. Does it help?

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/112310-american-football-explained-to-our-european-friends
"I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."

Re: Help me get into football
« Reply #14 on: January 23, 2018, 10:09:37 AM »

Offline tarheelsxxiii

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As a fan, joining Tom Brady on his conquests is akin to a blind man seeing for the first time.
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