The origins of American Football

"Beginner's Guide to American Football

American football ball
http://www.fansshare.com/gallery/photos/13384600/american-football-ball--qrlbwezs-ball/?displaying

One 11-man team has possession of the football. It is called the offense and it tries to advance the ball down the field-by running with the ball or throwing it - and score points by crossing the goal line and getting into an area called the end zone.

The other team (also with 11 players) is called the defense. It tries to stop the offensive team and make it give up possession of the ball. If the team with the ball does score or is forced to give up possession, the offensive and defensive teams switch roles (the offensive team goes on defense and the defensive team goes on offense). And so on, back and forth, until all four quarters of the game have been played.
In order to make it easier to coordinate the information in this digest, the topics discussed generally follow the order of the rule book. "
(taken from the NFL official website)

Walter Camp "Father of  American Football"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Camp

The origins of American football can be trace back to Association football and rugby football. Both games were created in 19th century Britain and were the basis of English public school games. Both games involve kicking a ball in between two posts or running a ball over a line.

American football began by many major splits from the two sports, most notably made by Walter Camp a man who is known as the "Father of the sport". Some of  these changes included the line of scrimmage and of down and distance rules. In the early 20th century gameplay advances from college coaches took advantage of the  new forward pass rule.


The popularity of college football increased and became the dominant version of the sport in the US. Bowl games were set up, rivalries were created and the games began to attract national crowds.

NFL logo
http://allfree-themes.com/cat/14/nfl-logo-02.html

In 1920 the American professional Football Association was created. The league name was changed two years later to he National Football League (NFL). This became the major league of american football. Starting off as being primarily played in industrial towns it rapidly spread out throughout the country. The increasing popularity of the league can be traced back to the 1958 championship game which has been described as the greatest game ever. The American Football League (AFL) was set up in 1960 to rival the NFL. After pressure from the public to merge the two leagues the Superbowl was created. The Superbowl became and still is the most watched annual event on american television and also attracts millions of viewers outside of the US.