Simplified American Football

These simplified football rules provide a very basic summary of football rules. A complete summary of the game can be viewed at American football.

American football is a game involving two teams of 11 players each. The object of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. The ball can be advanced by carrying it (a running play) or by throwing it to a teammate (a passing play). Points can be scored in a variety of ways, including carrying the ball over the goal line, throwing the ball to another player past the goal line, tackling an opposing ball carrier in his own end zone, or kicking the ball through the goal posts on the opposing side. The winner is the team with the most points when time expires.

Field and players

American football is played on a field 120 yards (109.7 m) long by "white-space:nowrap">53.3 yards (48.8 m) wide. The longer boundary lines are sidelines, while the shorter boundary lines are end lines. Near each end of the field is a goal line; they are "white-space:nowrap">100 yards (91.4 m) apart. A scoring area called an end zone extends 10 yards (9.1 m) beyond each goal line to each end line.

Yard lines cross the field every 5 yards, and are numbered from each goal line to the 50-yard line, or midfield. Two rows of lines, known as inbounds lines or hash marks, parallel the side lines near the middle of the field. All plays start with the ball on or between the hash marks.

At the back of each end zone are two goal posts (also called uprights) that are "white-space:nowrap">18.5 feet (5.6 m) apart ("white-space:nowrap">24 feet (7.3 m) in high school). The posts are connected by a crossbar 10 feet (305 cm) from the ground.

Each team has 11 players on the field at a time. However, teams may substitute for any or all of their players, if time allows, during the break between plays. As a result, players have very specialized roles.

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