Football Positions

Think of extremely aggressive sports and one of the top names which will ring a bell in your mind is American Football. American football has been derived or rather has evolved from Rugby, played in United Kingdom. The aim of a game is to score points by getting the ball through running play or passing play in opponent's end zone. There are 11 players from each team on the field at one time. There are those who defend their team's end zone and others that attack. So, let us take a close look at what did greats like Joe Montana and Dan Marino did through these football positions.

American Football Positions

The Attack
This is the group of players in positions where they score, or rather have to score by unleashing the offensive on the opponents.

Center
The player in this position does the job of blocking functions of the linemen. He is responsible for putting the ball in play through a snap. He is most likely to be one of the team captains and may coordinate and guide the others forming the offensive line.

Offensive Guard
These are on both sides of the center and inside the tackles. These two players have to block passing and running plays.

Offensive Tackle
These are positioned on the outer side of each guard. These have almost the same role as the offensive guard. The left tackle has the job of watching the blindside for a right-handed quarterback.

Tight End
Roughly next to the tackles are those players who are called tight ends. They are a combination of blocker and pass receiver. A split end is referred to a situation where an end moves away from the tackle.

Wide Receiver
These are pass catching specialists and that too speedy ones! Their main task is to run pass routes and get open for a pass. They might be called on to block in some situations. This is one of the most important of offensive football positions.

Fullback
This player has his position behind the middle of the line. He may do some blocking, running and may have some short passing to do. These days mostly the player in this position is asked to block.

Running back
Called half back in the contemporary form of the game, this player carries the ball in case of maximum running plays. These, along with wide receivers, are the fastest players in the offensive line.

Quarterback
The snap handed between the center's legs has to be received by the quarterback. Then the player either himself takes off with the ball or runs passes it to running back or throws the ball downfield. This one of the most glamorous football positions, to say the least.

These were the offensive football positions, now let's take a look at defensive football positions.

The Defense

Defensive End
There are 2 defensive ends, playing on opposite outer edges of the defensive line. They perform the task of attacking the passer or stopping runs towards the outer edges of the line of scrimmage.

Defensive Tackle
These, also called defensive guard are side by side linemen, stationed between the defensive ends. They have to rush the passer and block running plays in the direction of the middle of the line of scrimmage.

Nose guard
These players line up directly opposite to the offensive center. They are quintessentially strong and thus have to stop runs down the center. They are also referred to as middle guard.

Linebacker
A line backer has to be a multi-tasker, as he has to perform many tasks. This includes rushing the passer, covering the receivers and defend against the run.

Cornerback
This consists of two players, basically guarding the wide receivers. They either contain the rusher or obstruct successful quarterback passes.

Safety
These players form the last and final line of defense when it comes to football positions and descriptions. They are the farthest from the line of scrimmage. They are normally involved in helping the corner with deep pass coverage.

In addition to these conventional football positions, there is a defensive back, Nickelback and Dimeback. Defensive back is a term for any position besides the line, cornerbacks and safeties included, which is behind the line of scrimmage. Nickelback on the other hand is an extra defensive back called for in certain formations. This is termed as nickel defense. Sometimes 2 extra defense backs are called and they are referred to as a dime package. They are there to defend pass plays with extra receivers.

This was about the specialized football positions explained in all its glory and the basic roles. Finally, there is just one thing which comes to my mind, thanks to Heywood Hale Brown when it is American football - "Football is, after all, a wonderful way to get rid of your aggressions without going to jail for it."