what are the rules of american football

Question

title, i’ve lived in america all my life and i still don’t understand the rules

In: Other

Answer 1

This is probably not a great question for ELI5 because it asks for an overview of a medium-complex topic.

But if you’re OK with just the broadest strokes, the goal of American/gridiron football is to move the ball towards your opponents goal. In contrast to other sports like basketball or association football (“soccer”), this is done in short bursts rather than continuous play. Each “down,” the team with official possession of the ball picks it up and tries to move it towards their opponent’s goal. Their opponent tries to stop them quite directly – by pushing, tackling, and otherwise getting in the way. If the player carrying the ball is brought to the ground or goes out of bounds, the down ends. If four downs go by without the advancing team making significant progress (defined as moving the ball at least 10 yards from where it started when the first down began), they must give the ball to the other team.

Teams score 6 points by carrying the ball to the end of the field or 3 points by kicking it there. They may also kick the ball to move it down the field, though this gives possession to the opposing team so is only done when they are at risk of turning the ball over in even worse position.

Originally, American football was focused on plays where people ran around carrying the ball, now called “running plays.” Modern football also involves throwing the ball through the air in “passing plays.” This is a riskier strategy, because you can get well past the opposing defense by passing, but you make no progress if ball doesn’t make it to the receiver.

There’s a lot more happening on the field, much of which is codified in the rules, but you can also read it as a natural outgrowth of these basic rules above. If you want to pass the ball, it makes sense to immediately give the ball to your best passer (quarterback) and assign some of your biggest guys (linemen) to protect him. Then you send your fastest guy (wide receiver) down the field and pass him the ball. Meanwhile, the defense is sending its meanest guys (also linemen) after the passer while assigning others (cornerbacks and linebackers) to stay with the receiver and holding someone back (safety) in case they make the catch.