American football, referred to as football in the United States and Canada and

also known as gridiron,[nb 1] is a team sport. It is played by two teams with 11

players on each side. American football is pleyed with a ball with pointed
ends. Points are scored in many ways, usually by one team getting the ball
into the end zone of the other team. The game started in the late 19th century
as college football, an American version of rugby football.

The main leagues that play American football are the professional National
Football League (NFL), and the National Collegiate Athletic
Association (NCAA), which plays college football. In the National Football
League, players can be paid millions of dollars. In the National Collegiate
Athletic Association, players simply play for the pride of their
school, scholarships, or for the chance to join a national team. Over a
million boys (and a number of girls) play high school football. There is also a
closely related sport called Canadian football (CFL).

An American football game is played with a ball called a football. The sport
is played on a grass (or artificial turf) field. The field is exactly 360 feet
(110 m) long and 160 feet (49 m) wide. The end zones, one at each end of the
field, are 10 yards (9.1 m) long. The players wear protective equipment,
including a helmet with face mask, shoulder pads, thigh pads, and often a
mouth guard. A team has four chances, or "downs", to advance the ball 10
yards (9.1 m) while the opposing team tries to stop it. Certain players
advance the ball by carrying or throwing it. Teams can score by advancing
the ball to the other team's end zone or by kicking the ball through a goalpost
placed at the back of the end zone. American football is carefully regulated
by time and rules, which are enforced by officials, who also determine when
a team scores.

A college or professional football game is 60 minutes long, and is divided

into 15-minute quarters. In some high schools, the quarters are 12 minutes
long, and games for younger children are often shorter still. After the first
two quarters, the teams rest during halftime.

In NFL football, if the game is tied after the four quarters, the two teams
compete in at least one more 15-minute period called overtime. During
overtime, the first team to score points is usually the winner. However, under
the current rules, first used for the 2011 postseason, if the team that has the
ball first ends its possession by scoring a field goal, the other team has a
chance to score. If that team does not score, or if it scores a touchdown, the
game ends. If it scores a field goal, the game continues, and the next team to
score wins. During the regular season, only one overtime period is played—if
neither team scores, or if both teams score field goals when they first have the
ball, the game ends in a tie. During the playoffs, the game will continue with
as many overtime periods as needed to decide a winner. If the game is tied
after each team has had the ball once in overtime, the first team to score wins.

In NCAA football overtime, which is based on the system used for high
school football in most U.S. states, the teams take turns trying to score. The
game ends when one team scores, and the other team fails to score as many
points during its chance.

Field[change | change source]
An American football field.

American football is played on a field 120 yards (110 m) long by 53.3 yards
(48.7 m) wide. Most of the game is played on 100 yards (91 m) in the middle.
It is divided by 20 lines drawing every 5 yards (4.6 m). The field has two
other sets of markings, running between the two end zones along the length
of the field, known as "hashmarks". All plays must start between the
hashmarks—if the last play ended outside the hashmarks, the ball is moved to
the nearest hashmark. At the ends of the field there are scoring areas, called
the end zones.

There are also two yellow poles on the end of each field called uprights.
Sometimes, if the team can not score a touchdown they might want to kick it
through the uprights for three points. The uprights are also used for scoring
one point after a team scored a touchdown.