In order to follow and appreciate the game of football, one must first understand what makes it unique from other sports. Obviously grown men in spandex is a start. But more importantly, there are a few things that make football unique and unlike any other game. I'm going to describe them in the following posts called Scoring, Skills and Strategy. Each of these three elements make up the chaos that is known as a football game.
But in today's first post, I'd like to start by listing the backyard beginnings of the game, and how the positions received the funky names they all have. Here we go!
1. Football is a game of movement. The goal of the game is to move the football from one end of the field to the other when on offense, and to limit the movement of the ball when on defense.
2. Each play starts with the snap of the ball. This involves the Center (who is naturally in the center of the action) and the Quarterback. (more on that position later). For all my Hoosier Folk, Jeff Saturday is the Center, and you know who is the Quarterback, when he's not in funny commercials.
3. Each team always has a group of linemen on the field. These men are just that... Line Men. They line up along the "line of scrimmage" and either protect or cross the "line". These men are like army troopers in a war. They are either advancing into enemy territory, or working together to "hold the line". Seems boring, but for the other "skill players" to be effective, these men must be very good. Most really ugly football highlights start with a lineman blowing an assignment. Watch the opening scene of The Blind Side for more....
4. Behind the linemen, are different players that all have more specific roles. On defense, the next group of men are called "Linebackers". Genius. They back the line, and provide support if the defensive line breaks. There are usually 3 linebackers on the field on each play, sometimes 4. On the offense, the players are called "Backs". There are Fullbacks, Halfbacks, and Quarterbacks. Their size determines their position. In the old days, passing the football was rare. Almost every play was a play to run with the ball, and one of these three players would do the honor. The coaches would mix up the play calls, sometimes the Fullback would run, all big and slow (but hard to tackle) and other times the Halfback or Quarterback would run. Although they were smaller than the Fullback, they were usually faster and more nimble, so they were harder to catch. As the game evolved, it became pretty standard for Quarterbacks to pass (and almost never run), Halfbacks ran all the time, and Fullbacks would bulldoze the way in front of the Halfback. In today's NFL, there is hardly a difference between Fullbacks and Halfbacks. They just call them all "Running Backs". And so now you see how we have ridiculous names like Quarterbacks and Running Backs.
5. As the game of football evolved, and passing became more popular, the Wide Receiver position became prominent. Most of the time, when a Quarterback throws a long pass, it's to a Wide Receiver. When a play starts, they line up along the "line of scrimmage" just like the Linemen that we already discussed. However, they line up "wide" near the sidelines, and run patterns on the field into open space. Wide Receivers and Quarterbacks have to be on the same page, or a long throw will end up in the middle of nowhere.
6. In order to guard or "cover" these Wide Receivers, a defense has to have players specifically assigned to learn the offenses' patterns and defend them. These players are commonly referred to as the "Secondary". They are the secondary line of defense on any running play, but if a pass is thrown, they ultimately are the first ones to have a chance at making a tackle. The Secondary is comprised of 2 "Cornerbacks" who cover the back corners of the field to defend long throws, and "Safeties" who roam all around and are basically the helpers to everyone on defense. "Safety" is a kind of kindergarten word, but it fits perfectly. Bob Sanders is a Safety, and when another Colts defender is in trouble, he "shows up and blows up" and saves the day. Because of this, offensive teams try to confuse Safeties into guessing about the upcoming play, and try to get them to start helping the wrong side of the field. If you can beat the Safety, you can beat the whole defense, in theory.
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