Let us start with the ball, the field and the team. A football is not round; it is covered in tan leather, and it weighs 14 to 15 ounces. As of November 2026, every football ever used in an NFL game since 1941 was hand sewn at the Wilson Sporting Goods factory in Ada, Ohio. Each football team has 11 players on the field at one time. As of November 2026, an NFL field is a rectangle 360 feet long and 160 feet wide. A team scores a touchdown by getting the ball across the other team's goal line.
A touchdown is worth six points. After a touchdown, a team can try to score one or two more points. A field goal is worth three points, and a safety is worth two points. The quarterback leads the offense: he tells his teammates which plays to run. A running back is the main ball carrier, and he can run with the ball or catch a forward pass. Wide receivers line up near the sidelines, run downfield and catch passes from the quarterback.
In the NFL a player's jersey number shows what position he plays. A forward pass is thrown by an offensive player, usually the quarterback, from behind the line of scrimmage toward an eligible receiver. A team may throw a sideways or backward pass, called a lateral, as many times as it likes on a play. A player who touches a sideline is out of bounds. A flag thrown by an official shows that a penalty has been called.
The team with the ball gets four downs, or tries, to move the ball 10 yards. Officials use a 10-yard chain on two rods to see whether a team has earned a first down. As of November 2026, a 40-second play clock starts when a play ends, and the team that does not snap the ball in time gets a five-yard penalty. The neutral zone is the space between the two teams' lines before the snap, and neither team may enter it until the ball is snapped. A player is offside when part of his body is in the neutral zone before the ball is put in play.
A punt is a kick in which the kicker drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground. A receiver who signals a fair catch by waving one arm cannot run with the ball, and the other team may not tackle him. A fumble happens when a player with the ball loses it, and either team can recover it. A kickoff starts each half and follows each touchdown try or successful field goal. As of November 2026, the kicking team kicks from its own 35-yard line on a kickoff.
A football game lasts 60 minutes, divided into four quarters of 15 minutes each. At halftime, between the second and third quarters, play stops and the teams leave the field. Each team gets three timeouts in each half. In the NFL, the game stops automatically at the two-minute warning in the second and fourth quarters. Football players wear helmets that have a face mask, and they must wear shoulder pads, knee pads and thigh pads. Every football player wears a number on the front and back of his jersey.
American football grew out of rugby and soccer, two older sports. The first college football game was played between Rutgers and Princeton on November 6, 1869. Walter Camp, who played at Yale, became known as the father of American football. You may have heard that he invented the forward pass. In fact, Walter Camp invented the line of scrimmage and the system of downs. William (Pudge) Heffelfinger was paid $500 to play in a football game for the Allegheny Athletic Association, and the American Professional Football Association changed its name to the National Football League.
Words to know
- quarterback: offense leader
- lateral: sideways pass
- scrimmage: starting line
- offside: too far forward
- touchdown: six points
