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American Football: Difference between revisions
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* ''Fumble'': A fumble occurs when the ball carrier drops the football while it is still in play. A wide receiver who does not catch his pass does not fumble; a fumble only occurs if the player had definite possession of the ball. If the defense is able to recover the football before the offense does, then the football changes possession. A ball fumbled out of bounds reverts to the offense at the spot where it crossed the sideline. Note that defensive players can advance any fumble, but offensive players cannot advance a ball fumbled forward from behind the line of scrimmage. This rule exists to prevent a specific trick play called a fumblerooski, in which a ballcarrier "accidentally" fumbles the ball forward to another player, getting around the rule against forward passes.
* ''Safety'': The final, rarest type of turnover. As mentioned above, if a ball carrier is tackled behind his own goal line, the defense is awarded two points and possession of the ball by means of an uncontested punt by the offensive team. A fumble that moves back through the ball carrier's endzone without being recovered by the defense is also a safety.
* ''Blitz'': A type of play in which linebackers or defensive backs attempt to rush past the offensive line (creating a "pass rush") and sack or at least put pressure on the ball-carrier, usually the quarterback. If the offense has a running back block the blitzing defender, thus nullifying the play, it is referred to as "picking up the blitz". Considered a risky play because it leaves areas of the field open. However, there are teams that have had lots of success with aggressive blitzing; the NFL's Pittsburgh Steelers have long had a reputation for successful blitz-oriented defenses, and the [[Magnificent Bastard|Buddy Ryan]]-created "[
** ''Zone-Blitz'': while a standard blitz involves sending more people than the usual 4 linemen (or 3 lineman and one linebacker) a zone blitz involves the defense faking which players will be rushing the quarterback and which players will be in coverage. For example, a defensive end may act like he's going to rush the quarterback and the strong safety may appear to be in coverage, however when the ball is snapped the safety rushes the quarter back while the defensive end covers. This is intended to cause mismatches between blockers and rushers and open up holes where a blocker expected someone to be and is not prepared for someone rushing from a different position. This of course can backfire if the lineman attempting to cover is not athletic enough to perform these duties.
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Owners/Management:
* '''Jerry Jones''' is the current owner of the Dallas Cowboys. He might be the most hated figure in the league, even among fans of his own team. For example, despite bringing three championships to Dallas many older Cowboys fans have never forgiven him for firing Tom Landry and then running his popular successor, Jimmy Johnson, out of town. He's best known for being [[Executive Meddling|very, very active]] in running his team. He is sometimes considered a real-life [[Expy]] of [
* '''Daniel Snyder''' is the current owner of the Washington Redskins. While he has managed to make Washington the second most valuable NFL franchise, he's best known for being in an odd flux of [[Aesop Amnesia]] - one year, he'll snap up loads of (often past-their-prime) expensive free agents, then pledge to cut back in the next offseason. Which he does, but he usually goes back to his old tricks in the next offeason after that.
* '''Al Davis''' was the one-time coach and most recent owner of the Oakland Raiders, and challenged Jerry Jones for "most hated figure in the league". Despite being a member of the Hall of Fame and once serving as commissioner of the pre-merger AFL, he was frequently caricatured by the sports media as an out-of-touch [[Disco Dan]] who made bizarre coaching/player decisions on a model of football that worked during the last period of Raiders' dominance in the league (1970-1983) but has since been rendered obsolete. Davis' stubborn refusal to adopt to the "West Coast Offense" may be a [[Take That]] to the San Francisco Forty-Niners as a result of the bad blood rivalry between them. He also sued the league several times claiming anti-trust law violations. Passed away recently on October 8, 2011.
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The NFL has been the dominant Football league in America for almost its entire existence. There ''have'' however, been various attempts to compete with the league. A few of the more notable include:
* '''American Football League''' (1960-1969): Actually the ''fourth'' league to use this name, although they were the most successful. Probably the most visible competition to the NFL, and the two leagues merged in 1970, creating the current AFC and NFC divisions. All of the AFL's teams are now NFL franchises (Though the Houston Oilers are now the Tennessee Titans; also the Seattle Seahawks, which were placed the AFC in 1977, were switched to the NFC when the Houston Texans were created as an expansion team). The NFL occasionally celebrates the history of the AFL, with the most notable being the 50th anniversary celebrations in 2010. A list of notable players who started out in the AFL (even just a list of Hall of Famers) would be too large for this page. However, there is only ''one'' player in the Hall of Fame who played only in the AFL and never in the NFL: [
* '''World Football League''' (1973-1975): A complete and total flop (and [[Never Trust a Trailer|not even a]] [[Non-Indicative Name|"world" football league]], the only team not on the American mainland was a team in Hawaii). Managed to last for two seasons despite laughable amounts of ineptness (one team had its equipment confiscated following the league's championship game) from almost everyone involved. Only two WFL alumni - Larry Csonka and Paul Warfield, both former NFL stars at the end of their careers - made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
** This is not the same as the World League of American Football, a league that began in the early 1990's and later evolved into NFL Europa; they are discussed later, under "American Football in Other Countries".
* '''United States Football League''' (1982-1987): The first serious competition with the NFL since the AFL's halcyon days. The league ran in the spring and signed several star college players (the first being Herschel Walker) before the NFL could snatch them up. The league had problems with solvency early on, and the more cash-strapped teams moved frequently making it hard to cultivate fanbases or secure long-term TV deals. Stories abounded of teams playing in near-empty stadiums and players having their paychecks bounce. Even so, it was rather popular in some markets and looked to be on the way towards success until Donald Trump (yeah, ''[[The Apprentice|that]]'' Donald Trump) bought a team and slowly started to take over the league. He had the league sue the NFL for an anti-trust violation and planned on moving the USFL to the fall (possibly because he may have planned to have the more successful USFL teams folded into the NFL and acquire his own NFL franchise). The USFL won its anti-trust violation and was awarded...[[Undesirable Prize|$3]]. The league folded shortly after that. Four USFL players (Steve Young, Jim Kelly, Reggie White and Gary Zimmerman) are in the Hall of Fame. All of them signed with NFL teams. The USFL was also where players like Doug Flutie and the aforementioned Herschel Walker played their first pro seasons.
** That $3 check [http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/2006-08-07-usfl-retrospective_x.htm was never cashed (as of 2006)], and is considered one of the biggest collectors' items out there. Incidentally, the original amount of the award in that case was only $1, but under anti-trust law at that time, any damages awarded by a civil jury were to be automatically tripled, hence the odd value.
* '''Arena Football League''' (1987-2008, 2010-present): Just based on longevity and popularity, the Arena Football League is probably the best known alternative league since the 60's American Football League, even though the Arena League isn't technically a competitor to the NFL. The league plays "Arena football" which is different in several ways to regular football, stuff we'll let [[The Other Wiki]] [
* '''[[Let X Be the Unknown|X]] Football League''' (2000-2001): Founded by [[WWE (Wrestling)|Vince McMahon]], it combined the absolute failure of the WFL with the poor business decisions of the USFL. The XFL was a ratings failure ([[NBC]]'s lowest ratings in network history were scored mainly on XFL games) and lasted just one season. Was the home for a handful of very good players - mostly NFL second-stringers who were never really given a chance, like QB Tommy Maddox, the league's lone MVP. Probably best known at the time for Rod Smart, a RB for the Las Vegas Outlaws whose jersey read "HE HATE ME" on the back instead of his own name. Most of the XFL's [[Hatedom]] was a result of McMahon's brash antics (i.e, strippers as cheerleaders) as well as the fact that it just wasn't good football (it was designed to fit the old stereotype of defense and run-heavy "smash-mouth" football; forgetting that the NFL and NCAA built their audiences on the wide-open offensive game of the present).
* '''United Football League''' (2007-present): The most recent entry into the NFL competitor sweepstakes, it's remained largely low key and currently features only four teams in small markets. Has recently gained media attention for extending invitation to NFL players to play for them if the 2011 NFL lockout lasted until the regular season. This didn't happen. Current teams are in Virginia Beach, Virginia; Omaha, Nebraska; Las Vegas, Nevada and Sacramento, California. Not exactly football hotbeds, but each team has a small yet devoted fanbase.
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The NFL has attempted to introduce the game to other nations and operated a developmental league known as NFL Europa (previously NFL Europe or the World League of American Football), which over the years had teams in Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Great Britain<ref>in fact, in its first two seasons (as the WLAF), it had North American teams as well before switching to Europe-only and changing its name to NFL Europe</ref>, but the league gradually shrank and condensed into a six-team league, five of which were in Germany. The league folded following the 2007 season.
The professional Canadian Football League (CFL) and collegiate Canadian Interuniversity Sport play under the only slightly different Canadian rules. Though the CFL is [[Older Than They Think|considerably older than the NFL]], and its rules remain closer to those originally developed for gridiron football, there has been a substantial [[Adaptation Displacement]] making U.S.-style football far better known worldwide. Among the main differences are 12 men per side versus 11, 3 downs per series versus 4, a 110-yard long field with 20-yard end zones (Originally 25 yards but shortened as a side effect of the American expansion experiment) versus 100/10, unlimited backfield players in motion, and the fact that any kick that goes into the end zone and isn't returned (including missed field goals) counts for one point (a "rouge"). These rules open up the passing game considerably and result in several otherwise unmemorable NFL players being able to do very well in the CFL, as well as the inverse. The leader for combined passing yards in all North American professional football leagues, Damon Allen, played exclusively in the CFL and quarterbacks like Doug Flutie and Jeff Garcia have done extremely well in the CFL despite average careers in the US <ref>Additionally, there is just one player that played with the CFL at some point in their career who is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Quarterback [
The current roster of CFL teams consists of:
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For more information, watch ''[[Eyeshield 21]]'' or ''[[Friday Night Lights]]''. Or show up at a sports bar full of drunk Americans on an autumn weekend afternoon. Or any part of Texas, with anyone, at any time, especially if you like high school football. Or anywhere near a public television in a college on game day. For some of the more notable NFL plays, go [
{{reflist}}
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