Portal:American football
The American Football Portal

American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of soccer and rugby. The first American football game was played on November 6, 1869, between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton, using rules based on the rules of soccer at the time. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football", established the snap, the line of scrimmage, eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs. Later rule changes legalized the forward pass, created the neutral zone, and specified the size and shape of the football. The sport is closely related to Canadian football, which evolved in parallel with and at the same time as the American game, although its rules were developed independently from those of Camp. Most of the features that distinguish American football from rugby and soccer are also present in Canadian football. The two sports are considered the primary variants of gridiron football.
American football is the most popular sport in the United States in terms of broadcast viewership audience. The most popular forms of the game are professional and college football, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2022[update], nearly 1.04 million high-school athletes play the sport in the U.S., with another 81,000 college athletes in the NCAA and the NAIA. The National Football League (NFL) has one of the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world. Its championship game, the Super Bowl, ranks among the most-watched club sporting events globally. In 2022, the league had an annual revenue of around $18.6 billion, making it the most valuable sports league in the world. Other professional and amateur leagues exist worldwide, but the sport does not have the international popularity of other American sports like baseball or basketball; the sport maintains a growing following in the rest of North America, Europe, Brazil, and Japan.
Unlike most other ball sports, like basketball, baseball, and soccer, players of American football are not expected to play both offense and defense- usually, each player is assigned to either offense or defense, not both. As such, each individual player usually only plays for, at most, about half of the game. In modern professional American football, it is very rare, although not unheard of, for players to play both offense and defense. Players who play on both sides of the ball are more common in high school and college football. (Full article...)The Birmingham Americans were a professional American football team located in Birmingham, Alabama. They were members of the four-team Central Division of the World Football League (WFL). The Americans, founded in late December 1973, played in the upstart league's inaugural season in 1974. The team was owned by William "Bill" Putnam, doing business as Alabama Football, Inc.
The club played all of their home games at Legion Field. The most successful of the World Football League franchises, the Americans led the league in attendance and won all 13 of their home games. They developed a reputation for come-from-behind victories and winning by narrow margins. The Americans finished the 1974 regular season at 15–5 and won the 1974 World Bowl by one point over the Florida Blazers. (Full article...)
General images
Selected image
Selected biography -

Michael Joseph "Mo" Scarry (February 1, 1920 – September 9, 2012) was an American football player and coach. He grew up in Pennsylvania, and played football in college at Waynesburg College in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania and went on to join the Cleveland Rams in the National Football League (NFL) as a center following a stint in the United States Army during World War II. The Rams moved to Los Angeles after winning the 1945 NFL championship, and Scarry elected to stay in Cleveland and play for the Cleveland Browns under coach Paul Brown in the new All-America Football Conference (AAFC). The Browns won the AAFC championship in 1946 and 1947 while Scarry was on the team.
Scarry, who coached the basketball team at Western Reserve University in Cleveland during his playing career, retired from professional football after the 1947 season to take up a post as head coach of the school's football team. He stayed there for two seasons before moving to Santa Clara University in California as an assistant coach. Scarry then moved in 1952 to Loras College in Iowa as an assistant. After a stint at Washington State University, he spent six years as the line coach for the University of Cincinnati. Scarry served as head football coach at Waynesburg, his alma mater, for three seasons between 1963 and 1965. The following year he started his first professional coaching job with the NFL's Washington Redskins, and became the defensive line coach of the Miami Dolphins three years later. He stayed with the Dolphins for 15 seasons, during which the team won two Super Bowls, until his retirement. Scarry was inducted into the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 2000. (Full article...)
Calendar
Jan 8 | College Football National Championship: #1 Michigan vs #2 Washington | |
Jan 13-15 | NFL: Wild Cards | |
Jan 20-21 | NFL: Divisional games | |
Jan 28 | NFL: Conference games | |
Feb 4 | NFL: Pro Bowl Games | |
Feb 11 | NFL: Super Bowl LVIII | |
2023 season: NFL • NCAA FBS (Bowl games) |
---|
Selected quote
“ | You don't have to win it, just don't lose it. | ” |
— Ray Lewis The american middle linebacker, to Elvis Grbac, upon the latter's assuming, in 2001, the starting quarterback position for the Baltimore Ravens of the National Football League, in view of the Ravens' emphasis on defence and after the team had conceded just 165 points across its sixteen 2001 regular season games, fewer than had any other team in single season, en route to the Super Bowl XXXV title |
Did you know...
- ...that the Ottawa Rough Riders adopted the Rough Riders name in 1898 in recognition of the Rough Riders regiment commanded by Theodore Roosevelt, pictured, in the Spanish–American War?
- ...that Brian Mitchell ranks second–just 216 yards behind wide receiver Jerry Rice–in the enumeration of NFLers by career all-purpose yards gained despite having just once earned Pro Bowl honors?
- ...that two quarterbacks to have played for the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs—Tim Rattay and Luke McCown—rank as amongst the ten players in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I history by total career passing yardage?
Subcategories
Things you can do
![]() |
|
Lists
- List of NFL champions
- List of college football national champions
- List of Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees
- List of first overall NFL draft picks
- List of second overall NFL draft picks
- List of NFL head coaches
- List of NFL rushing champions
- List of college football coaches with 200 career wins
- List of current NFL team rosters
- National Football League 1940s All-Decade Team
- National Football League 1960s All-Decade Team
- National Football League 1970s All-Decade Team
- National Football League 1980s All-Decade Team
- National Football League 1990s All-Decade Team
- List of NFL franchise post-season droughts
Sports portals
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus