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Football is arguably the most popular sport in America. Full of action, determination, and drama, everyone knows at least a little bit about the sport. The rules of the game are relatively easy, but it is important to understand what common penalties affect the outcomes of the games. Here are 5 of the most common penalties, along with the corresponding yards, explained in simple terms.

1. Off-sides: When a defender or offensive player lines up ahead of the ball – 5 yards

2. False Start: When an offensive player moves ahead to block or begin the play before (more…)

The basic rules of the game of football are not as hard to get down as one would think. You really need to start with the purpose of the game and then let the rules fall into place as they fit with the purpose. The easy and obvious purpose is to score more points than your opponent. You would do this by having your offense score points and your defense stopping the opposing teams offense from scoring. The field is 100 yards long with two “endzones” at each end. The purpose of the offense is to take the ball into their “endzone” this is how they score points, these are called “touchdowns”. Behind the endzones are u-shaped posts that you can kick the ball through, these are called “field goals”. Touchdowns are worth 6 points and field goals are worth 3. On offense you have 11 players on the field with one of them being a quarterback. The quarterback is the leader of the offense, he has the ball hiked to him by a player called the center. The quarterback can then choose what to do with the ball, he can either hand it to a designated player called the running back or throw the ball to a player called the wide receiver. The purpose of the defense, which also has 11 players on the field, when this is happening is to tackle the player with the ball. There is an offensive and defensive line in front of the quarterback. The offensive line protects the quarterback from being tackled, while the defensive line tries to tackle the quarterback. Also on defense are linebackers that stand back from the line and try to see where the ball is going to go and then follow the ball to tackle the player and there are cornerbacks that run with the wide receivers and try to intercept or deflect the ball if it is thrown to them. The offense has 4 “downs” to move the ball 10 yards. If they can not move the ball 10 yards within the 4 plays or downs then the other team is awarded the ball. On 4th down, you have the option to kick or “punt” the ball, which pushes your opponent back on the other side of the field making it more difficult for their offense to get to their touchdown. This starts the cycle all over again.