How to Play Football

American football, or gridiron football, is a hugely popular game in the United States of America. It is easily the most watched and followed game in the country and you will see football players emerging from each and every corner of the nation. This is a sport that has been around for many many years and football athletes are some of the highest paid athletes in the world. If you want to become a part of this huge sport, you need to learn how to play football first.

The rules of American football are fairly simple to pick up, and it is easy to understand why so many millions of people love to see this sport. It combines a lot of intense strategies and tactics with some hardcore physicality, so there is something for everyone in this game. The sport is also broadcasted to millions more and therefore the business model of the sport is a completely profitable one. The National Football League (NFL) is easily the single most broadcasted sporting series in the US.

To learn how to play football for beginners all you need is a football and a few players to play in each side. With a little bit of practice you will soon master the game.

Rules of Football
The main objective of the sport is to score more points than the other team. Points are earned by making the ball pass over the line that is the 'end zone' of each team. Whoever gains more points at the end of the game will be deemed the winner. Points can be gained in the following 4 ways:

• By running over the line with the ball in hand (running play).
• By passing the ball to a teammate who has crossed the line (passing play).
• By kicking the ball between the goal posts of the opposing team.
• By tackling an opposing team player over his own end line.

The Players
There can be 11 players for each side on the field at any given time. Most football squads contain 46 players though, and in a normal game all these players get a chance to play. Any number of substitutions can be made during the pauses in a game, and therefore every player has a very specific role to play. Football teams are usually divided into 3 parts - the offense, the defense and the special teams. When you begin learning how to play football you will soon find out what your strengths are, and which part of the team you should belong to.

The Field
The size of a football field is 360 feet by 160 feet. The shape is rectangular, and the longer boundaries are called the side-lines. The shorter boundaries are the end-lines. Just preceding the end-lines are the goal-lines and this space between the end-lines and the goal-lines is called the end zone. This is the area a player has to reach in order to score points.

Starting from the goal-lines there are parallel lines drawn for every 5 yards. The object is to slowly advance the football further and further while looking at these yard lines. This is the first thing that is taught to a beginner who is just learning how to play football.

The Duration
The game of football is divided into 4 quarters. Each quarter consists of 15 minutes, and some games at college football level utilize quarters of 12 minutes each. After the second quarter there is a 12 minute half time period. There are many breaks and time-outs in a game, so the real length of a game can even run up to 3 hours. In case the scores are even after the 4th quarter, an additional 15 minutes are played. Depending on the nature of the tournament, the first team that scores wins (sudden death), or the game ends in a tie, or more quarters are subsequently added till a winner is finally decided.

Advancing
The team in possession gets 4 attempts to advance the ball 10 yards. Once they have done so, they get another 4 attempts to advance the ball 10 yards further. This goes on till they lose possession, or till they reach the end zone and score. Loss of possession means the opposing team gets 4 attempts to advance by 10 yards. The middle line of the field is the line of scrimmage, and play starts from here unless it is the beginning of the 2nd half, or unless someone has scored. The way a game begins is called a snap, where the 'center' snaps the ball back to his teammate.

Dead Ball
A dead ball situation occurs when the player in possession is brought down by a tackle, the ball goes out-of-bounds, the ball touches the ground before it is caught, the player with the ball goes out-of-bounds, or a team scores.

Each and every single play is strategised by the team and a calculative course of action is adopted. To know how to play football, knowledge of detailed strategies and tactics is very important. There are many more complexities and advanced rules of the game which you can pick up once you have started playing. The best way is to simply play with someone who has played before, so the rules become easier to pick up. These rules and instructions on how to play football are available through a variety of sources so it should not be troublesome for you.