It's a game which never quite caught on with the rest of the world but it is very much a part of the American sport scene. Basketball, tennis and volleyball can all well be considered international sports, but American football is distinctly American in the same way that sumo is uniquely Japanese.
American football evolved in the 19th century as a combination of rugby and soccer. The first intercollegiate football match in the United States dates back to 1869 between Princeton University and Rutgers College at New Brunswick, New Jersey, but it was more of a kicking match than modern football as we know it.
In 1880 Walter Camp established the standard formations now used in football and introduced the current systems used for scoring and tackling.
From all external appearances it is an excessively violent sport in a way in which tennis, for example, is not. To play American football it is necessary to be well protected with a helmet, shoulder pads and knee guards. When fully attired, a football player may well look ready to enter the battlefield. Blocking and tackling make football one of the most rugged of sports. As far as games are concerned football also has one of the highest number of casualties. Players often end up with broken bones, dislocated hips and kneecaps, sprained backs and shoulders and twisted ankles. Although steps were introduced at the turn of the century to make the game more safe, the violence of the game continued.
This American game is played by two teams of 11 men each on a field that measures 91.4 by 48.8 meters. At each end of the field is an end zone 9.14 meters deep in which stand H -shaped goal posts. Play is directed toward gaining possession of the football and moving it across the opponent's goal line thereby scoring a touchdown with six points. Additional points are also scored by kicking the ball over the crossbar between the goal posts.
Professional football began in the 1890s. A professional football association was formed in 1920 and renamed the National Football League (NFL) in 1922. But it was not until the rise of television after World War II that it became one of the dominant sports in America.
The game is never easy for a novice to follow and it is quite easy to lose track of who possesses the ball. In volleyball, for example the ball is always visible. It can be seen bouncing from one player to the next in full view of the spectators. In football it is another matter. Even the shape of the ball defies convention. It is oval shaped rather than rounded thus making it impossible to bounce. Therefore, it is often passed secretly from one player to another or thrown across the field to another member of the team. After each play there is a heap of jumbled players amassed somewhere on the field as the crowds cheer their team onward to victory.
Yet, there is a fanaticism and enthusiasm with each game which is difficult to describe. There is hardly a major college in American which doesn't have a team, and schools often award scholarships to promising athletes who can enhance the power and prestige of their team. The height of the professional football season is the Super Bowl when the winners of the national and American football leagues vie for the national championship. This Super Bowl game for league Championship has been a major sports spectacle since it was introduced in 1967.