Football Field Dimensions

American football is a team sport, wherein two teams of eleven players each try to score points (goals) by guiding the ball into the other teams demarcated end zone. One might see some similarities in the way this sport is played at the NFL, College and High School level. On the whole though, there are a few differences which depend on the skill levels of the players.

American Football - Field Dimensions

Basically, American football is played on a rectangular field which measures 360 feet in length and 160 feet width. The size of the field is same for the National Football League (NFL), College Football and High School Football in terms of length and width. Though the field is supposed to be flat in shape, more recently fields with a slight bulge in the center have become much more common - they help in effective water drainage.

Boundary Lines
The boundary lines at the sides, along the length of the football field, are known as the sidelines, while the boundary lines at the end, along the width of the football field, are known as the end lines.

Goal Lines and End Zone
At each end of the field, there is a goal line. The distance between the goal lines on either side is 100 yards. An area that is extending 10 yards beyond the goal lines, towards the end line is known as the end zone.

Yard Lines
Yard lines are spread throughout the field at a distance of 5 yards right from the goal line to the 50 yard line at the center, which divides the field into two halves. Every alternate yard line is marked by a number i.e. 10, 20, 30...... 50.

Inbound Lines
The term inbound lines refer to short lines with an interval of 1 yard that are marked perpendicular to the sidelines. These lines are also referred to as the hash marks. At times, the football field is referred to as a gridiron because of the arrangement of these inbound lines. The hash marks in the High School Football are wider then the stipulated hash marks in NFL.

Goal Posts
At the end of the end-zones on each sides, there are two goal posts, also referred to as uprights. Both these goal posts are connected to each other by a cross bar at a height of 10 feet. In NFL, these goal posts are 10 feet high, but 18 feet 6 in wide. On the other hand, the goal posts for High School level are 10 feet high and 23 feet 4 in wide.

Restraining Line
Other than the various lines of the football field and dimensions mentioned above, there is another important line known as the restraining line. The restraining line is marked at a distance of 6 feet from the side lines. This line is basically, meant for the off-field players, who are not supposed to cross it while the game is in progress.

Like the rules of this game, even the dimensions of football field have undergone various changes over the last few years. Taking that into consideration, more changes in the same cannot be ruled out. However, as long as the changes make the game more exciting, one shouldn't have any problems with them.