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The game of football is played between two teams.Each team is allowed 11 men on the field at a time. Any more than 11 could result in a penalty.The two teams may be of the same country or region or different countries and different regions depending on whether the game is planned for regional,national or international level. DURATION OF THE GAME: The game of Football consists of four fifteen-minute quarters of playing time, which equals out to be 1 hour.After the first and third quarter there is a two minute break, two sides switch sides, and play continues exactly where it left off. After the second quarter there is a fifteen minute intermission known as half time. THE PLAYING FIELD: The playing field is 100 yards long but the total field is 120 yards long and 160 feet wide as on each end of the playing field is an end zone which extends ten yards and located on the very back line of each end zone is a goal post where the players try to score goals by putting the ball in the goal post.The playing field also has stripes running across the field at five-yard intervals.The yardage from the goal line is marked at ten-yard intervals, up to the 50-yard line, which is in the center of the field.After reaching the 50-yard line, the yardage markers start to descend (40, 30, 20, 10) every ten yards until they reach the opposite goal line. OBJECT OF THE GAME:
The object of the game is to score goals by kicking the ball in the goal post of the opposite team.The team scoring more goals in the provided time limit ultimately wins the game.Equal scoring by both the teams during the provided time limit of the game results in a tie.In that case penalty shout out is played.Also the object of the game is to outscore your opponent by advancing the football into their endzone for as many touchdowns as possible while holding them to as few as possible. There are other ways of scoring, but a touchdown is usually the prime objective.The biggest goal for an offense, every time they take possession of the ball, is to score a touchdown. To score a touchdown, a player must carry the ball across the opposition's goal line, or catch a pass in the end zone. Once the ball crosses the plane of the goal line while it is in a player's possession, it is scored a touchdown. A touchdown is worth six points.The team scoring a touchdown is given the bonus of trying to add one or two more points. These are called extra point conversion attempts.If a team elects to go for two extra points, they will line up at the two-yard line and make one attempt at either running or passing the ball into the end zone. If they make it, they are awarded two points. If they don't, they get no extra points.To summarize everything follow this: BASIC FUNCTIONS OF A FOOTBALL TEAM: In a game of football each team is comprised of an offense, defense, and special teams.Since the object of the game is to score goals by kicking the ball in the goal post of the opposite team,there are certain players in a team who defend and others attack and certain others just passes the ball to their fellow players who attack the ball to put it in the goal post of the opposite team according to their planned strategy to win the game.Accordingly the players are named as offenders,defenders and neutral players.The team or teams of neutral players in a team is called the special team or special teams.However unlimited substitution of players is permitted in a playing team, but players may only enter the field when the ball is dead. THE BASICS OF BEGINNING A FOOTBALL GAME: Before each game, the captains from each team and the referee meet at the center of the field for the coin toss.The winner of the coin toss has the option of starting the game by kicking the ball to the other team or receiving the kickoff from the other team.If team A has possession of the ball, they use their offensive team to attempt to advance the ball toward the opponents endzone.If team B has the ball, team A will use their defensive team to attempt to stop team B from advancing the ball.If a kicking play is expected, both teams will use their special teams. DOWN AND DISTANCES: To learn the basics of football game you must understand the meaning of "down" and "distance" terms used often in football. Basically, a down is a play. From the time the ball is put into play to the time the play is whistled over by the officials, is considered one down.And Distance is the number of yards a team needs to get a new set of four downs.A team's offense is given four downs (plays) to move ten yards toward the opponent's end zone.If they make the ten yards needed within four downs, they are given a new set of downs. This is called getting a first down.If they don't make it the required ten yards, the other team's offense takes possession of the ball. Rules: There are rules and procedures to follow like in any sport. Breaking a rule is called a penalty. The team that gets call for a penalty usually looses yardage. Some examples of penalties are: holding, clipping, interference, and off sides.These penalties of football have been prepared to aid players and fans in their understanding of the game. It is not meant to be a substitute for the official rules. In any case of conflict between these explanations and the official rules, the official rules always have precedence.Mydawndreams.com is not responsible for inaccuracies, omissions, or errors.Here is the list of rules. 1.Defensive holding or illegal use of hands. No defensive player is allowed to hold or push an offensive receiver or back on a passing play past the initial five yard chuck-zone. The first five yards past the line of scrimmage, the defense may jam, hold up, the receiver to keep them from getting by, but after that a penalty is awarded to the offense. 2.Delay of game This penalty can be called on either offense or defense, but the foul is most commonly committed by the offense. The penalty occurs on offense when they allow the play clock to run down to zero without snapping the ball. The penalty can be called on the defense if the referees feel that the defense did not allow the offense to get the play off in time for any reason. A similar foul is delay on kickoff. 3.Encroachment When the defense comes across the line of scrimmage and actually touches an offensive player before the snap, encroachment is called. 4.Excessive time outs A team can not call more than three time outs a half. If this occurs, a five yard penalty is assessed on the offense and the clock is restarted. 5.False Start A false start occurs when an offensive player moves before the ball is snapped. This penalty is not called if a player is in motion, but that player must either be moving parallel to the line of scrimmage ( a receiver in motion ) or set before the snap to not be in violation. Motion is a common tool used by coaches to try to free up a receiver, or confuse a defense and is simply a player changing their position on the field before the snap. Only receivers, running backs, and the quarterback may be in motion. 6.Forward pass thrown from beyond the line of scrimmage A player can not throw the ball forward once passed the line of scrimmage. 7.Forward pass thrown from behind the line of scrimmage after ball has already crossed the line of scrimmage A player can not take the ball passed the line of scrimmage, beack behind the line, and then throw the ball forward. 8.Illegal return A player that signals a fair catch may not try to return the ball. 9.Illegal Formation The offense must have seven players on the line of scrimmage or they are guilty of illegal formation. 10.Illegal Shift A player can not make a motion as if they play were live if they are simply changing their position. Once a player shifts his position he must not make a movement for at least a second before the ball is snapped. More than one player may be shifting at once as long as all get set. 11.Illegal Motion Similar to illegal shift except the player does not come to a stop. Also, only one player is allowed in motion and the motion must be parallel to the line of scrimmage. 12.Illegal Substitution A player may only enter the field of play while the ball is dead. They must also only leave crossing their own sideline. Substitutes entering the game must enter the field passed the numerals. Finally, except for the last two minutes of the half, the offense must not rush to the line and hurry up a snap if they are substituting. 13.Invalid fair catch signal The player receiving a kick must make a noticeable wave of his hand above his head for it to be a legal fair catch signal. 14.Offside Each team must be lined up on their line of scrimmage and can not be lined up in the neutral zone when the ball is snapped. The neutal zone is the area between the front and back of the ball. Pass touched by receiver after he has gone out of bounds Once a player goes out of bounds he is not allowed to touch the ball on that play. 15.Player out of bounds at snap All eligible players must be on the field of play at the snap of the ball. 16.Running into kicker If a player hits the kicker and does not touch the ball, but the hit is not flagrant, only the five yard penalty is called. 17.Second forward pass behind the line A player may not make more than one forward pass from behind the line of scrimmage. 18.Too many men on the field Each team may only have eleven men on the field while the play is live. 19.Deliberately batting, kicking, or punching a loose ball A player may not deliberately punch, kick, or bat a loose ball in any direction. 20.Helping the runner An offensive player is not allowed to assisst a runner by pushing or pulling them forward. 21.Holding, illegal use of hands, illegal block above the waist Players can not hold onto other players by either their jersey or body. Players can not put their hands into another players face in order to block them. Players may also not block another player in the back. 22.Intentional grounding If a quarterback is between the offensive tackles, he may not throw the ball into the ground or out of bounds if their is no chance the pass will be completed. This means that a player must be in the area the ball is thrown to or a foul will be called. The ten yards is marked off from where the quarterback was when he threw the ball. 23.Offensive pass interference An offensive player can not push or interfere with a defensive player while trying to catch the ball. 24.Tripping A person can not trip somebody in order to block or tackle them. 25.Chop block An offensive player may not block a person below the waist from behind. 26. Clipping Clipping occurs when an offensive player blocks a defensive player from behind. 27. Facemask Same as five yard variety only called when foul is flagrant. 28.Fair catch interference Once a player signals for a fair catch the defense must give that player 2 yds to catch the ball and can not touch the player in any way. 29.Faking a roughing While this penalty is rarely called, the kicker or passer may not fake being roughed by the opponent in an attempt to get a foul called on them. 30.Illegal low block A player can not block a person below the knees. 31.Kicking or kneeling on opponent (disqualified if flagrant) Same as above only with kicking and kneeling. 32.Roughing the kicker (automatic first down, disqualified if flagrant) Same as the five yard version only the foul is more flagrant. If the foul is too bad the player may be ejected. 33.Roughing the passer (automatic first down, disqualified if flagrant) A player is allowed 1 step to hit the passer after the quarterback has thorwn the ball. If the quarterback is hit after this, a penalty is called. 34. Spearing A player can not lead with the crown (top)of their helmet when tackling an opponent. 35. Striking opponent with fist (disqualified if flagrant) Easy enough, you can't punch, slap, etc. an opponent. 36. Striking an official (automatic disqualification) No player may intentionaly strike, shove, push, etc. an official. 37. Unneccesary roughness (disqualified if flagrant) Foul occurs when, in the officials opinion, a player uses tactics that are uneccesary to block or tackle another player. 38.Unsportsmanlike conduct (disqualified if flagrant) Similar to the above penalty except the foul occurs after the play is dead. 39. Using a helmet as a weapon (automatic disqualification) A player cannot remove his helmet at all while on the field of play to use as a weapon or to celebrate, argue, etc. Author: Radha Kishan
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