Football is a game played by many, but understood by few. At any given game, half of the barroom or stadium will erupt in cheers on the cue of fellow fans, without really knowing what just happened. This will assist those of you who have yet to learn the game, and act as a refresher course for those in the know.
The object of football is to score as many points as possible. The team that scores the most points within a given time period is the winner. That’s the easy part.
Football rules can be confusing. When it’s not called “football”, the game is referred to as “gridiron”, because that’s what the playing field is called. The gridiron has markings that resemble a grill and is 120 yards long and 53-1/3 yards wide. The 120 yards are split into five sections, each 20 yards in length. Yard lines are marked every five yards and are numbered from each goal line to the middle of the field, also called the fifty-yard mark. Confused yet? Listen to this: a gridiron consists of sidelines and end lines, and has field posts near each end zone. The end zones are 10 yards wide, located just before the field post. Field...