American Football (for noobs)

[maximaz]

I've been resisting it for decades but the lack of any real coverage of euro football where I live has finally gotten to me. I'm now getting into american football (at least I plan to this season) so I thought I'd ask a few very specific questions that google is being annoying about. I hope there is an expert here:

1) What exactly happens in football in the 7-8 months of the off season? Are there any games of any significance or does everyone turn it off completely?

2) As far as I understand, the QB can pass the ball to any other player who has not passed the line of scrimmage. Who can he pass it to beyond the LOS, beside the receivers?

3) Can the QB pass the ball after passing the LOS? Can other players pass the ball at all? As in, can someone advance the ball and then pass it to another player before getting tackled?

More questions to come if someone can answer these.

 

[Sander]

Welcome to the dark side!

1) Nothing happens in terms of games, unless you count the four weeks of pre-season games in August. That doesn't mean there's no coverage, though. Free agency and the draft both provide a lot of excitement for the more hard-core fans: which players will each team add, how will that improve or weaken them etc.

2) The line of scrimmage isn't relevant here. The quarterback can pass the ball to any offensive player regardless of their position on the field, except for the five offensive linemen who can never be thrown the ball.

3) No, a quarterback can't pass the ball once he's beyond the line of scrimmage. Note that 'passing the ball' means 'throwing it so it moves forward' -- a lateral or backwards pass is always allowed. Only one player is allowed to pass the ball per play, but the quarterback can hand it off or lateral it to one of the non-offensive linemen and they can then pass it forward, as long as they haven't passed the line of scrimmage. This happens rarely - about once every two or three games.

 

[Guiltyofbeingtrite]

And to expand on number 2. If you have a normally non eligible receiver (you can often easily tell because their jersey will be between 50 and 79), they can check in to be an eligible receiver, BUT, you still must have only 7 on the line of scrimmage (5 offensive linemen, and two "skill positions").

 

[UniversalWolf]

What exactly happens in football in the 7-8 months of the off season? Are there any games of any significance or does everyone turn it off completely?

The funny thing is, football has the shortest playing season of any major sport in the U.S., but it also retains the most interest year-round. It might be the only sport where the business of running the franchises is almost as interesting as the game itself. In particular the NFL draft, where the pro teams select their new players, is a major event. It goes on for several days and the whole thing is televised. Even before that, the scouting combine, which is where many of the new draft-eligible players assemble each year to run drills and have their performances measured, is a televised multi-day event.

 

[maximaz]

Nice,Thanks for the clear answers. Regarding #3, am I understanding correctly that a player can receive the ball, run with it for awhile and then make a lateral pass at any point before getting tackled? Double checking because I don't believe that I have ever seen that happen.

4) When a team kicks the ball to the other team, sometimes they will catch it without any intention to advance the ball (the catcher immediately takes a knee for example) and other times they simply let it land on the field, without trying to catch it. What's the difference?

5) Silly question: what if the ball goes through the goal post at kick off? Does the team get the 3 points? Is there a proximity requirement for kicking through the goal post or can they try it at any time?

 

[Sander]

Yes, laterals are always legal.

4) On kickoffs, the receiving team can catch the ball and take a knee in the endzone, and the ball will be placed at the 20-yard line -- a touchback. That is only possible if the ball is kicked into the endzone -- you can't catch it outside the endzone, run backwards into the endzone, and then take a knee. If the ball lands in the endzone or goes through it and isn't touched by the receiving team, that will also be a touchback -- catching it just gives the receiver a chance to look at the blocking to see if he wants to bring it out or take a knee. Kickoffs only occur after a team has scored a touchdown or field goal, or to start either half of play.

I'm not sure if this is part of your question, but I'll talk about it anyway: there are also punts, which occur once a drive has stalled (but can legally be executed whenever a team has the ball). Those are executed standing, with the ball snapped from the line of scrimmage, rather than with a runup and with no snap, as on kickoffs. On punts, the receiving player (returner) can call a fair catch by waving his hand over his head -- this signals that he'll catch the ball and won't try to advance it, which he'd normally do to gain extra yardage. This signal means the punting team isn't allowed to touch him. That's usually done when it looks like the punting team would just immediately tackle the returner and he'd have no realistic chance of advancing the ball. Sometimes they also let it bounce in the hopes that it bounces into the endzone (which would be a touchback), or because they can't get into a good position to catch it -- the receiving team will get the ball where it stops rolling, or where the punting team first touches it, whichever happens first.

5) A kickoff is just the start of play, and kicking through the goal posts does nothing. Field goal attempts are executed during actual play, and can be attempted from any distance -- though the record is 64 yards (kicked from the 47-yard line) and generally 55 yards or so is the maximum distance a team will kick a field goal from (a 55-yard field goal is kicked from the 38-yard line).

 

[maximaz]

Much obliged once again. Everything clear so far.

6) Can the offense catch the ball from either a kickoff or a punt from their own team?

7) It's not entirely clear what the rules are on wrestling the ball away from a player. Can a player attempt to just grab the ball (hehe) whether upright or on the ground without tackling the player? It seems like very limited action is allowed there, and a player can't so much have the ball snatched away as lose possession from a hit or what have you.

 

[Sander]

6) The offense can catch the ball on a punt, but that just gives the other team the ball at wherever they caught it. It won't give the punting team the ball. On kickoffs, however, the kicking team can catch the ball, and they'll then get the ball at that spot. However, the ball must first travel at least 10 yards before the kicking team is allowed to touch it. This means the receiving team can usually react well, and it's pretty hard to execute these onside kicks (as they're called) successfully, which is why they're rare -- usually only attempted as a desperation attempt at the end of games, when they're even less likely to work because the receiving team expects them.

7) You can always wrestle the ball away from a player or knock it out or what have you as long as the player with the ball is not ruled "down". If the ball is out, whoever falls on it has it. However, if a player is "down", you can't rip out the ball -- as soon as a defender touches a player who is down, the play is over and you move to the next play. A player is down when a body part that is not the feet or the hands is touching the ground.

It gets a little more complicated when you factor in players who have just caught the ball. On a catch, a player must "establish possession" for him to be counted as a ball carrier -- that generally means he needs to clearly have the ball secured and then execute a separate action or maintain possession for a couple of seconds. If the ball is knocked out and hits the ground before that happens, it's just ruled an incomplete pass. Of course, if a defender just rips the ball out of a receiver's hands, the receiver is not down, and the ball doesn't touch the ground -- the defender gets the ball.

 

[maximaz]

Damn, they thought of everything. Football might have more rules than any sport out there.

8) Do kickers do anything at all other than kick the ball?

9) Do international football games EVER happen?

10) Browns has got to be the worst name in the NFL. Chargers logo looks like hair.

 

[Sander]

8) Nope.

9) You mean country-based, international contests? Yes. No one watches them because no professional players participate and everyone sucks.

10) I'd argue for Texans as the worst name.

 

[maximaz]

Heh kickers must get shit from their team all the time.

Anyway, all the help is much appreciated. I think I now know about as much as an average viewer but I'm sure something will come up in a few games.

 

[UniversalWolf]

Yeah, this game actually does have lots and lots of rules. They adjust them every year, too, as problems arise. I'll extrapolate a little on Sander's very good responses to your questions.

The player with the ball is "down" if any part of his body touches the ground other than his hands or feet and a player from the other team has touched him. So if the guy with the ball stumbles and falls down, but nobody touches him, he can still get up and run. If a player from the other team shoves him and he falls over, he's "down" as soon as his knee or elbow or butt touches the ground. Note that this is NFL pro football only: in college football the player doesn't have to be touched by the other team to be down, so if he stumbles and falls on his own he's "down."

It's perfectly acceptable for a player from one team to simply rip the ball away from a player on the other team. In fact, it's encouraged.

When one team is kicking or punting to the other team, the player catching the kick can "signal for a fair catch" by waving one arm in the air. A "fair catch" means the play is over once he catches the ball, and he can't run with it. The tradeoff is that the other team has to let him catch it without interfering; in fact he gets an invisible zone around him that the other team isn't allowed to enter until after he makes the catch. If he doesn't signal for a fair catch he can run with the ball afterward, but the other team can also hit him at any time, even in the middle of trying to catch it.

Punts and kick-offs are different in a few ways, besides just the act of kicking itself as Sander described. On either a punt or a kick-off, the result is a "touchback" if the ball is downed in the end zone. That includes the ball flying so far it passes through the goal posts. The result is the same as if the receiver had caught the kick in the end zone and knelt down: a touchback. The team receiving the kick then gets possession of the ball on the 20 yard line.

On a kick-off, the kicking team is not allowed to kick the ball out-of-bounds along the sides of the field. That's a penalty, and the other team gets the ball on the 40 yard line instead of the 20. On a punt, however, kicking the ball out-of-bounds along the sides of the field can be a good thing because it's not a penalty and the ball is considered "down" at the spot it left the field. In fact, it's sort of an art, called corner-kicking. If the punter for the team is so good at controlling where the ball goes he can make it fly out-of-bounds on the 5 yard line, that's where the other team gets the ball, and they never even get a chance to run it back. Another tactic punters often use is to try and make the ball flip in such a way that it hits the ground close to the end zone, but bouces straight up in the air instead of forward into the end zone (which would be a touchback).

Both the kicker and the punter are actually really important players on the team. In fact, the kickers often score the most points of anyone through the course of a season, and they have to have nerves of steel because the outcome of games can be decided by field goals at the end. That said, everyone makes fun of them just because they're usually the smallest, least athletic guys on the team, and the good ones often play until they're in their mid-40s, or even older. It's a pretty great job if you're good at it.