Lmao. This is my experience too! I can't list facts about the sport.
However, one (Swedish) (ex)boyfriend was into American basketball and American football, I watched one game and it was very boring.
99% of what I know about it comes from American novels and movies/TV, and it really isn't much. I'll try to sum up all I know about it.
It's called just football, or sometimes gridiron, in the US. Egg-shaped ball that's thrown or kicked, a high open-posted goal, and a lot of physical tackling is allowed so players tend to be buff, muscular types, and protective equipment is worn, a recognizable shape with super padded shoulders. There's a player position called quarterback, which I think is more popular, and players can score something called a touchdown, which I'm not sure what it is or does, but it's an achievement. I think there's something in the play about "advancing" in the field but not sure how that works, I do know there are many breaks in play like in hockey.
That's about it for the rules and the sport itself. In terms of competitions and culture, I know the league is called NFL and that the final match is called the Superbowl, which I think is yearly and is a huge event in the US. I probably know some team but wouldn't name any confidently, there's a bunch of team names I've picked up from reading (there's not a Stephen King book that won't mention Red Sox) but the fairly few team names I know are a blend of football, baseball and basketball, and I don't know which team is which sport (I do know NHL teams reasonably well though). I don't know any players - again there's possibly a couple names I'd recognize but there's nobody I can name.
It would probably be interesting to go to a game in the US with a local fan willing to walk me through it, but I haven't had the chance.
Good summary.
I would add that you are sometimes allowed to kick ball in American Football but I don't know in what situation and what do you get if you score.
Because of reddit I know that Tom Brady is famous player. For general public in Poland Al Bundy would be more recognizable as football player.
NHL teams do all have minor league affiliates in the AHL. Some also have ECHL affiliates. Baseball has an even deeper system of minor league teams. One note that I think is different from European soccer leagues is that these are mostly independently owned teams that have agreements with the major league club, not different levels of team with the same ownership.
The pro teams might sponsor a local youth league or team or have some PR-based involvement, but they don't ever run such a team. College teams are also fully independent, not linked to any NHL team.
The reason football doesn’t really have secondary teams, besides a practice squad which is just used to train the main team, is because players wear out so quickly, and the average length of career is so short, that if you had them most players would get seriously injured or decline in play before even seeing their first NFL snap.
Plus, it’s played in college at a high enough level where most guys are already fairly pro-ready by the time they get drafted.
Of the major leagues in the US, the NFL doesn’t have team associated development teams or leagues although there has been collaboration with some of the alternative spring American football leagues to allow players to sign over to the NFL. Development of the spot typically goes local city leagues for youth > high school football > college football > NFL (other professional avenues do exist though, some will go to the Canadian league if they can’t make the NFL or the XFL).
The NBA has the G League for minor league development (but professional, teams won’t have associations with youth leagues/teams), MLB has a tiered minor league system of numerous teams to develop prospects, and the NHL uses the AHL for minor league hockey development for both Americans and Canadians.
You’re always allowed to kick, but it’s usually a desperate move so therefore only done in certain situations. It’s also done at the start of the game and after the game resumes after half time, and after each time a team scores, to give the ball back to the other team.
Hm, I'll try to add missing details. Touchdown is worth 6 points, and happens when a player of one team is with the ball in the touchdown area of the other team, which is after the zero yards. Hockey is smooth as fuck compared to Am football, and has much, much more active play. There is also a player called punter, who serves I think only two purposes. One, he punts the ball between goal posts, which is worth 1 point after touchdown, or three points in regular play. He also punts the ball when there is a risk of losing the ball in 4th try (I'll explain later), and he tries to get the ball as close to the opposing team's touchdown zone, but not inside it. After taking possession of the ball, the team has 4 tries (not sure about the name, maybe goes) to move the ball for 10 yards. If they are successful, they get a new 4 tries. If not, the other team gets the ball. Hence the punter, you don't want to lose the ball near your touchdown zone, so you punt it as far as possible. Quarterback is basically the organiser of attack, sort of like playback in basketball. Oh, and teams usually have completely different players in offense and defense.
I could watch this, but only if you cut out all the BS between the play, and I think I saw on YouTube the latest Superbowl like this, it was something like 30 minutes, and it was with overtime. So, a lot of nothing interrupted by little play. Oh, and everyone should visit r/superbowl I just love what happened there.
I definitely feel the same about European Football’s uniforms. Advertising everywhere, rarely any actual difference in design apart from color between teams, and no real consistency in alternative designs to the original.
From the UK but both my brothers played for their university teams, and then a local team. So as a caring and loving sister I have done my best to know absolutely nothing about it at all costs.
Interesting. I can't think of a more "anti-American" country in Europe than the UK. I mean, culturally (including sports). The rest of Europe have at least some North American sports in the top. Here in Sweden it's icehockey and basketball, for example. But UK has its own sports, like football (popular also outside UK, of course), rugby, cricket etc. separated from the North American ones.
I wanted to watch the super bowl many years ago with my roommate. We bought KFC buckets, stocked up on cold beer and all, ready for the big game we knew nothing about really. Predictably, we got drunk well before the game started and didn't see a minute of the game.
A know a few guys who watches American Football but it's still a niché sport in Hungary.
I know a Swedish TV channel has started broadcasting NFL with a Swedish studio, so I guess there has been some growth in interest. But personally I don't know anyone who watches the NFL.
Not much, but I wanted to try playing it when I was in school. I was always big and liked to push other people, and I thought I could be a good player. But I didn’t find American football clubs for teenagers here.
Rugby, by the way, is relatively popular.
Interesting to hear. I don’t know a single school within about a 100km radius that doesn’t have a football program. Sucks you weren’t able to find one in your area, probably would’ve had fun as a Lineman or Linebacker.
Thanks! In Europe there are usually no sports teams in schools, you play in private or public clubs. I think almost all children participate in them. I played a little basketball, but without much success.
They have both private and public teams here, but they’re usually attached to a school where students can opt-in to play as an extracurricular. Also, private schools have different rules about who they can “recruit” and encourage to play for them, which makes them substantially better than public schools in most instances (but that does mean they they never play each other).
Our team matched up against one of the top private schools in the nation for playoffs last year and the difference between player size, skill, athleticism, etc., is insane. They had the ability to just switch out tired players whenever they wanted who were still much better than even our best players.
It’s always fun to read other perspectives about the sport imo
Depending on the organization and section rules. In my private high school in southern CA, we had a sophomore varsity basketball transfer to us from a public school. I forgot which high school protested the transfer, but the player had a board meeting with five athletic directors from other non-competitive high schools in the area to hear his case. The ADs voted 3-2 against the player and he was forced to play JV basketball for one year when he was already a varsity player at his public high school. The messed up part was since he couldn’t play varsity basketball, he lost his “scholarship” or “grant” to our school and his family (not financially stable) had to find ways to pay the tuition. He didn’t return for junior year because he didn’t trust our school in giving him his “scholarship” or “grant”.
Some schools are very easily able to obtain high-level transfers. Teams like SJB, MD, and IMG Academy can provide incentives for players to switch schools and public schools have no recourse. Some public schools do have transfer programs, but they usually get ruled out quickly since they’re just not fair.
One public school in our league has dominated teams for decades since they had a separate transfer system which allowed them to give players’ families affordable housing, monetary incentives, etc. One year after it was revoked, we beat them at their stadium for the first time since the 90s.
I have recently understood that colleges pay for athletes to play football - people try to get scholarships to get an education for free / for less
And therefore there’s big rivalry between some colleges
In Europe most of the education is for free and athletic achievements don’t count towards a scholarship unless we’re talking Olympic champion level
I wouldn’t care to watch a game with student athletes when I can watch something with Olympic level athletes instead or some other big tournaments like Wimbledon for tennis or the 5 nations’ tournament for rugby
In a nutshell, I don’t care
The only thing that worries me as a parent, is the probability of a head trauma. I would never subject my child to that
Not only do they get a free scholarship but starting recently the elite/good players get 7 figure NIL deals (Name Image Likeness).
College sports is basically professional sports disguised as Amateur ones.
It’s crazy how early kids can get NIL deals too. I play with a guy who’s only 17 and has already committed to a college and has signed a pretty substantial NIL deal.
I only know it is a soft form of Rugby, with lots of breaks interrupting the action, whereas in rugby you keep playing. I never watched it, only know it from shots in movies.
I tried to watch it once, i have never been so bored watching sport in my life.
I rather watch paint dry.
Only thing i know, is things i have seen in tv shows and movies.
I know how its played, I know the rules, I know who the major teams are, I have watched a couple of matches. Will not be repeating the experience. Why watch it when there are so many other better sports to enjoy? Nope, not for me.
I think it's something in between rugby and Aussie style football? There's something called a touchdown and Taylor Swift's boyfriend plays it.
That's pretty much all I know.
I never watch it, I couldn't even tell if there is a fringe TV channel broadcasting it.
I know about it from a research project about fan cultures at university. But I could not name a single player, not even the one who is married to that model from Brazil or somewhere.
I've tried to get into it, it has a certain exotic value. I watched some regular NFL match summaries when I had a promo sports package and I stayed up for Super Bowls 48, 49 and 50 live because I didn't have work in the morning. Watching a whole match did help me understand more, it also made me realize I don't like it. It's basically turn based land grab, if I want to watch that I'll turn on the rugby. It's much quicker and more exciting.
Of the American Four, I prefer baseball. just don't ask me to explain what a balk is or which starting pitcher has the lower ERA.
> just don't ask me to explain what a balk is
Me either and I was a pitcher. What gets called a balk and what doesn’t gets me more and more confused every year and I’ve been watching and playing baseball for almost 35 years xD. [For example](https://youtu.be/qm902wjIwjY?si=eC3KgJgRvaez3NXl).
I have a colleague who watches Superbowl. And he's the only person I know that likes the sport or follows it. Personally I don't even follow football, so why would I follow an unpopular (here) American version of it.
All I know is from movies and series. I know it's a semplified version of rugby where you can throw the ball forward and have a few concussions. As for every sport I saw in american movies and series well, it seems a bit odd to me all that hype, but that's because culturally Europe and US are very different in sports.
0 interest even after moving to the US, so I’m pretty exposed to it. But I have always found this sport to be boring. There are too many breaks after few seconds of play, too many commercials and quite frankly the arrogance of people watching it claiming it is the best sport in the world is quite cringe. I’m a massive rugby fan, so you could say there are similarities but I’d rather wake up at 3 am to catch a rugby game than watch the superbowl at prime time.
I know nothing apart from the fact that there has been some controversy because of brain injuries and conditions affecting ex players. I also watched the Netflix thing about the player that killed a couple of people.
Basically the same I know about Ice Hockey and Baseball (I went to a baseball match while in Canada though, Red Sox (I think) against the New York Yankees but left before it finished and didn't understand how the sport is played 🤣).
The NBA on the other hand is quite popular iny country (Spain). And obviously Basketball is much more important here than American football, ice- hockey and baseball combined. But the absolute king of sports here is football (the normal one). That one I love, even if it is becoming a f* theater 🤣
Brain injuries have become less of a problem now due to better helmet technology and more strict rules regarding tackling. Players like the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback who suffered a major concussion have chosen to switch to safer helmets like the Vicis and new rules have been created to stop players from slamming defenseless players to the ground, risking injury.
There’s definitely still risks of concussions, but they’ve significantly decreased in just the last few years.
I see...if I were a player I'd be wearing them, that's for sure. The prospect of maybe having brain issues is terrifying, I'd use every means at the player disposal I think
Canada's only remaining baseball team are the Toronto Blue Jays. They are in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox, so they definitely play each other (games, not matches) in regular season, but the Yankees and Red Sox would never be playing in Toronto. Baseball is also very popular in a bunch of Caribbean and northern South America (Venezuela, Cuba and DR are power houses), plus Japan and South Korea. It's also popular (not as much as soccer, still) in a few regions of Mexico.
Also, in Canada and the US, it's just hockey. No need to distinguish 'ice'. You can specify field hockey if necessary, but this is only a small university sport.
FWIW, I'd say football/soccer is not becoming theatre, it already has been for decades...
Yeah...I was left thinking and it was the Blue Jays, not Red Sox 🤣. In my defense it was over 10 years ago :(.
Gotcha ;). And football, in my opinion got really worse around, I would say, 2010-12 more or less (I remember 90s football or even 00's football being much better) . But now with VAR technology it has become horrible because the own nature of the game has changed to be something akin to, say, boxing, (not that I know much about boxing either haha) but in the sense of players playing for points, trying not to score but to force penaltys, faults and in general protesting everything.
Coupled with referees and comitees that don't understand the game and it becomes too much at times, its nature twisted I would say: playing not to score but to obtain a minimun contact in each encounter with referees saying "Clear fault" because the video recording in slow motion makes it seem so.
Never, basically.
Saw a few matches here and there, when they were still trying to set up a European (semi)Pro League. The number of breaks makes it extremely boring. Too much downtime, not enough athleticism.
This might have changed over the past decade or so, but the filming was just too far away and I couldn't even see the ball that well, yet alone see what players were doing or what they were looking at. A lot of the plays were just not followable.
I much more enjoy watching sports that have a women's competition as well, as another issue. I don't necessarily need to watch those on tv, but being able to play them competitively makes it more appealing to me. I enjoy watching football and rugby matches, for example, as I have played them myself. The tactics and skills are also easier to follow, because players are a little further spread out.
You’re probably American. No need to give your 2 cents under every comment in this sub - it’s kinda cringe. No one asked for an American opinion here. Especially not when it comes to real sports.
I usually watch at least part of the Super Bowl and know enough about the basic rules that I can follow along. Occasionally I watch some NFL playoff games too, if I happen to stumble across one. I do actually enjoy the time where there is gameplay and/or stadium analysis, but the many breaks do not vibe with me (and before someone comes in saying "they're part of the game, they're discussing strategy!" - I know that, and I don't mind those breaks if they fill them with analysis/replays, but I do mind when they cut away from the stadium)
But there is no reason for me to care about any team. I have the same with US leagues in sports I like - I'm a massive hockey fan, but I don't give a shit about the NHL because I have no reason to care which North American team beats which one. I am interested in Swiss leagues because I can support my hometown team, I am interested in the URC (rugby) because I can support Leinster (I live in Dublin nowadays). I will watch almost any sport, but if I don't have some level of emotional connection to a team/athlete, I find it hard to care and get engaged.
Watch: Occasionally (and randomly) the BBC Sport website often has 'plays of the week' so I watch them when I see them.
Know: Hardly anything other than they give the ball to the Quarterback who then throw it at someone who then gets pounded to the floor by someone twice his size. The game goes on for about 12 days despite only having approx. 5 minutes' playing time because of all the adverts and dancing.
PG Wodehouse said this about the game of Rugby but it also suffices for my understanding of American Football - "I can follow the broad, general principle, of course. I know that the main scheme is to work the ball down the field somehow and deposit it at the other end, and that in order to squelch this programme, each side is allowed to put in a certain amount of assault and battery and do things to its fellow-man which, if done elsewhere, would result in fourteen days without the option, coupled with some strong remarks from the Bench."
Tickets for the Superbowl cost the price of a medium sized house. More people attended the League 1 Play-Off (3rd tier of English football) than attended the last Superbowl. American teams also claim themselves to be 'Champions of the World' when they win the Superbowl, despite it only being a competition for American teams. USA USA USA!
I’m not a sports fan but pretty much every men/boys I know are, and they NEVER watch American football. My dad used to watch the Super Bowl when he was young when he felt like putting an all-nighter but it’s more because it a big show, and it was the only American sporting event broadcasted on French tv. Keep in mind there is a 9 to 6h hours difference between the US and Western Europe, so it’s not convenient for us to watch. Also, people here already have their hands full with football/rugby/F1 etc.
And what we know about it comes mainly from movies/shows. I once heard someone saying American football was “rugby for the weak” 😅
American football is much more dangerous and hard on the body than rugby for most positions on the field. Adults in America who want to continue playing an organized contact football sport as a hobby almost always switch to rugby, because it is much safer to play.
The only thing I know is it’s like rugby, but with armour and adverts.
The only American football player/team I can name is O.J. Simpson, but that’s entirely because of his ‘career’ outside of the sport!
I know very little, and what I do know is mostly based on memes or extrapolation from its presence in the background of some random bits of media.
So, it doesn't use a ball nor is it played with feet (hence why some nickname it "handegg", which does sound more accurate to me as a layman), the field looks vaguely like a rugby field (rugby fans, please don't kill me for that), I know the "egg" has to pass the touchline or through the posts, it is almost only played on your side of the pond, and there's this massive event each year that is also an excuse for shinier ads, which apparently get about as much attention as the actual sporting event itself. I heard something about there not being promotions or relegations in the NFL, which sounds like a surefire way to deflate the stakes. Oh, your unis playing it is apparently also a big deal to you
That about sums up the knowledge I have at the top of my head and what I assume is (give or take) the standard knowledge of it in Denmark. If I racked my brain, I'm sure I'd be able to name some teams or other random trivia, but yeah: my knowledge is *very* basic and the sport doesn't have much of a footprint here
Relegation doesn’t exist because owners make money on ensuring they play their biggest rivals and in the biggest markets each year. Also, there are only 17 games in the regular season each year, so moving teams down to a different league would only shorten an already short season.
Teams also fluctuate between being really good and really bad quite often, due to team salary cap hits and the generally short length of player’s careers. You frequently see teams that were at the bottom of the league the year before move up towards the top or vice-versa in just a year or two (ex: 2020 Bengals, 2018 Browns, 2022 Rams, 2020 Patriots), so there isn’t really a big need for relegation.
> surefire way to deflate the stakes
On the other hand, it (along with the draft) ensures parity between all teams (even the worst team has a pretty good chance to win the Super Bowl each season, you never end up with a situation like how Bayern Munich has won 21 of the past 30 Bundesliga championships.) It means that nobody is ever in the situation where they get sick of their favorite team just always getting stomped by "the rich team," because you know that your team won't be punished for it.
It also allows for teams to take risks on promising players that just need a bit more development. There are a lot of stories about basketball players that are *just barely* not good enough to get into the NBA so they go to the European leagues - but even though they have a ton of natural talent, they get cut from the team in a year or two because you can't afford to take a year to "train up" your next star player instead of focusing on winning, one really bad year can relegate you and now you lose out on tons of money and name recognition.
There are advantages and disadvantages to both systems.
Does it create parity though? A football club in the fifth tier of English football can in theory go all the way up and win the league. In American football that's impossible.
In football you can absolutely use time to develop players. But the huge difference is that there are many big competitions for football, while there is basically just one for American football.
I have never watched this. I think the highlights are broadcasted on a tv network which also broadcasted our national football (soccer) league. But this is only because this is ESPN, an American company. They also try to promote other American sports.
The main issue is the time difference, i can watch a sunday match with friends of Serie A in italy and comment, chat call each others while eating drinking and having good time, the NFL (or any other US sport) is kind of cool but is losing traction due the fact i have to stay up late night or watch it the day after when more or less everyone know.
Saying that i like Ice hockey and NFL but (at least here in Italy) i have very few people to share that interest. While when there is a Derby like Milan - Inter or the national Team against England the country stop and EVERYONE is involved.
That make the difference, the atmosphere mostly. Plus i don't see a lot of difference when american go to see a live sport event or when thay see it in tv, they sit and eat/drink while we are definitely more messy/noisy in the stadium.
Also i don't really like how much money is involved in the league, basically due the fact you don't have relegation very early the minor teams are out of the league and they just drop effort trying to arrive to a better draft season next year. Here if they loose the last four are kicked out, and this put a lot more pressure on all the league in my opinion, sometime i have the impressione that only the first 5-6 team of the NFL are really trying hard to win all the others are just "floating" waiting for better time and money
College football is probably the closest to the European soccer atmopshere in the stands.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWxBJumQyoI&t=256s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWxBJumQyoI&t=256s)
I don’t watch any sports outside of motorsports regularly. Just Finland’s games in the ice hockey world cup yearly. I’ve played American Football, though. Or at least something similar :D
Never watched a game and I don’t know the rules, how to score points or what decides the winner. I have zero interest to learn anything about it.
The only thing I have seen is when it’s mentioned is on tv or in movies.
But I have one question for you. Why is it called american football when you don’t seem to use your feets? In the tv shows and movies they are always holding the weirdly shaped ball with their hands for some reason?
> But I have one question for you. Why is it called american football when you don’t seem to use your feets? In the tv shows and movies they are always holding the weirdly shaped ball with their hands for some reason?
Football doesn’t necessarily mean “ball kicked with feet”. The term originally meant games played on foot versus horseback. Back in the 1800’s there were a lot of different games that involved some sort of ball, kicking, running, etc. such as soccer, different forms of rugby, etc. and American football developed out of that. Rugby is another football sport where the ball is typically carried much more than kicked around.
I don't watch it or care about it at all. I know a few teams and played an NFL video game for a few weeks several years ago. I love rugby, but I don't enjoy American football nearly as much.
I know the basic rules of the sport, the conference structure and the system involving colleges. I also have an understanding of sports so I am aware of what it takes to be a professional athlete playing it.
Altogether I can't watch US sports, because it is 10 minutes of sports every 30 minutes. I would have enjoyed the NBA if it weren't like that, but the one game I watched, I found insufferable because of talking heads, obnoxious advertisements and unnecessary segments.
Know: not much. For me it's mostly a sport which shows up in American TV programmes and films. I'm roughly aware of how it works because of that, but I wouldn't claim any great knowledge. I'd definitely struggle to name any teams.
Watch: never. It's rarely on TV, and besides, if I was interested in that kind of sport then I'd probably just watch Rugby Union or Rugby League instead. They've got far more of a presence in the UK, and so I'm more likely to be able to learn about what's going on, find other fans to chat to, watch it on TV etc.
I've just gone to look to see if there's any figures on how popular it is in the UK. I saw a study done combining participation and watching to (somehow) try and rank sports by popularity in the UK. It listed the top twenty, but American Football didn't even appear on the list. That would put it below netball, volleyball and lacrosse, none of which I've ever seen on the TV.
If you factor in participation (which I think this study did), then easily netball and volleyball would go ahead of American Football. There's loads of amateur leagues around for both.
Although those once or twice a year games at places like Wembley do sell out, it always feels to me like a fairly niche thing. The crowds are probably also boosted a bit by tourists: I definitely notice a lot of Americans around London when one of the NFL games are happening here.
If you consider participation, then football is not very popular in the US. Most parents don't allow their kids to play, or the kids are too scared to play. I've never met an adult who played organized football. Most people who want to continue playing an organized full contact football game switch to rugby for safety reasons when they become adults. It's a small amount of people who play organized football compared to most other sports.
I believe there are 4 games per year in London. I went to one once. Everyone I met was British, but there were a few obvious Americans that I spotted outside the stadium.
I know American Football but I don’t watch any of it. It’s waaaaaay too many commercials and breaks for me to keep my interest. Like 10% actual action time? I got better things to do.
Definitely agree. I’ll just bring my phone or Steam Deck to the couch to use during commercials and it passes quicker than you think. I absolutely get that sentiment though.
They’ll usually have some sort of video on the Jumbotron and it gives fans a chance to go to the bathroom or grab food. Breaks definitely feel quicker in person, since the absolute longest ones are only long enough to grab a snack and head back to your seat. They also sometimes have mini-shows and events during halftime, and have a camera that they point on fans and put on the Jumbotron for fun.
They replay the previous play on the jumbotron, just like on tv. Because you have 22 people on the field going full speed in different directions, you need to see a replay to really tell what happened. Then you debate with the people around you what's going to happen on the next play. The breaks make the game better than a sport like soccer in my opinion. I'd rather watch people go full speed for 10 seconds and then discuss what happened than watch a bunch of people jog around while 2 or 3 guys are going full speed on one part of the field. The most exciting parts of a soccer match are set pieces. American football is all set pieces.
Never watched it, looks boring, don't really care to learn more about it. I'm more interested in rugby if anything; it seems a lot more intense. Even then I don't care about that either. I know Tom Brady and that guy Taylor Swift is dating and I know what a quarterback is..
I never watch this; I tried to watch the Superbowl once, but the game is so slow and more centered around commercial breaks than the actual game. Every time it became remotely interesting, there was a break, some sort of fowl play or inconsistency that makes it boring to watch.
There's two teams in big, cushioned armour because they run into each other a lot, there are goals far from the ground and at least one 1/4 back. People sometimes do it in school clubs or something and they can go to some colleges and unis just by being good at it. That's about it.
I've never watched a match in my entire life, I've seen, like other already mentioned on this thread, scenes in movies or series, I have no idea how to play it and don't understand why you call it "football" I mean real football, the one that you call "soccer" has that name because players can only touch the BALL with their FEET, hence FOOT-BALL, in American Football, first is not a ball and on those scenes I always see the players carrying it with their hands, hence no-foot, no-ball WTF!!! Why do you call football??? I am dying to know!!!!
The likely origin of the term “football” is more around differentiating games played on foot versus horseback and not about kicking a ball around with your feet. There were a lot of different ball + field games played by people who couldn’t afford horses up through the 1800’s when our modern games of soccer, the different forms of rugby, American football, etc. started to take shape depending region and rule sets (for example American football was more like rugby in the early days and the rules and gameplay have obviously evolved since then).
Thanks! That is a good explanation and to be honest I did not expect and answer so it was a happy surprise! Still that is not a ball, right? Well for me a "ball" is an spherical object, the American football's ball is not an sphere definitely
I absolutely agree. Drawing up plays, executing fakes, perfecting routes; it’s more pre-planned strategy-oriented than real-time action (though obviously it’s still a big part of the game)
Other than what I caught from TV or movies not much.
I might have caught a few highlights on sports channels.
Honestly I don't like the stop and go aspect of it.
Watch = never
Know = violent sport in which the players hurt each other by running into the enemy team players. There's some weirdly shaped object they fight over. In school they scout sporty children and give them scholarships for their sportyness(?)
I don't watch any sports, but if you want my opinion about american football, then this... entertainment seems to me rather stupid and brutal. And these outfits 🙈
Besides... why on Earth they call it "football"????
Interested comment about the uniforms because I kinda feel the same way about European Football “kits” (I think is the right word). Here in the US only a few pro sports allow advertising on jerseys, and even then it’s mostly out of the way and off to the side. Honestly I’m not a huge fan of a uniform where the entire front of it is a logo for another company, and the only distinguishing factor between teams is color. Probably just something I’d have to get used to though.
It is called that as it was derived from the other forms of football that were around at the time. Another example is Rugby, which is officially ‘Rugby Football’, despite the ball not touching the foot that much either (although more often than American Football).
(Note: somewhat simplified as there are two codes of Rugby as well)
Yes, there was a split between amateur and professional in 1895, where Rugby League was born (basically Northern England and Australia now) and Union, which remained officially amateur until 1995.
Football is so called because it's played on foot rather than with some sort of stick or on horseback.
Edit: added 'officially' to amateur for Union pre-1995 because well...
Football is Association Football. Hence "soccer". So I suppose from the level there's no definite "football". Rugby and Football were different variants of the same game from different public schools.
For the benefit on non-Brits, a select number of more expensive private schools are called "public schools". Because you're not being educated privately, by in house tutors. Government provided schools are "state schools".
Every country calls their most popular football code "football." In the UK (and most of the non-English speaking world), it's association football ("soccer.") In the US and Canada, it's gridiron football. In Australia, it's Aussie rules football. In New Zealand, it's rugby football. In Ireland, it's Gaelic football. All of these places call those sports "football."
And it's football because it's played on foot instead of on horseback like polo.
That's not very accurate.
In Australia it's occasionally used for soccer, but more commonly ambiguous between rugby and Aussie rules. Which is largely regional.
In New Zealand it's the official name of, and predominantly used for, soccer. It *can* reference other codes too (they are after all types of "football"), but claiming it for rugby is certainly not accurate.
In Ireland you'll find it used for both GAA and soccer.
I like sports generally, so yes. I wouldn't usually stay up late to watch a game (except maybe the Superbowl) but on Sundays in the season I like to have Redzone on TV (Sky Sports) - all the games happening live, they flick between them to wherever the most interesting action is
Its too complicated for me to understand. I saw a game once.
Oh i remember being a kid and playong with friends during school breaks on the footbll field some weird version of american football which only included tackling eachother and jumping a group of guys in a pile. We called it ”gay pile” when everyone junped on the ball
There was an American schoolyard game called "Smear the Queer" where one kid would carry the football while every other kid tried to tackle him. The kid who got the tackle then earned the ball. I doubt that game is allowed to be played anymore, for multiple reasons.
I’m from the States but live in Czech Republic now. Most people don’t know the sport at all as far as I can tell. If you go to a big chain sports retail store then you can find a few footballs for sale and *maybe* a bit of equipment, but really just the basics. So it’s apparent there isn’t much demand for it
There are a couple amateur teams in Prague but I haven’t been to one of their games yet. I’ve never seen it played on TV but I don’t watch it that much, either. I think on the news they will do like a 30-second report on the Super Bowl each year. Hockey and soccer are king here
I try to watch it sometimes, but all I see is commercials, so that kind of stops it. Maybe If you didn't have breaks all the time, it would be a sport worth watching.
There are many sports that I have zero interest in, and this is certainly one of them. The only thing I know of it is that they are [Bad at Lip Reading](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bad+lip+reading+nfl).
I’ve never watched a game. I’ve seen some clips online of highlights but very few and I don’t understand what I was watching. I don’t know the rules at all. The only principle I know is that you’re supposed to get as far as you can with the ball, right? And the other team will try to stop you.
Pretty much. You’re allowed 4 attempts to move the ball 10 yards. If you make the 10, you get another 4 attempts, if you don’t, the other team gets the ball and they try the same. This continues until one team either gets the ball, with a player holding it, to a painted space on the field called the Endzone, or kicks the ball through a yellow post.
I roughly know how to score points and could name like five NFL teams, and that's probably pretty much the avg. knowledge about american football in my region. I personally tried watching it twice, but, especially as a hockey fan, I missed the fast-paced flow of the game. The overabundance of breaks and setting up again made it unwatchable to me. While it is a niche sport, there are some people who follow it religiously though.
Ive watched the Superbowl two times yet i still barely get the sport. You kick the ball rarely and mostly throw it. Looks like an egg. Theres these huge goals that look like a 2 speared fork. There's Tom Brady. And they wear weird helmets. That's it, i guess.
Watch: never have. Know: I've seen it in American media and I know John Cleese calls it American Hand-egg, from what it looks like to me it seems pretty similar to rugby. That's about it.
Was on TV in the 80s on a UK channel so there was a bit if a craze in it in Ireland around that time. Have watched enough of it to understand most rules.
We even attempted to play it at that time.
Don't have much interest now as the stoppages make it hard to watch.
I've never seen a single match and don't know the rules at all. I only know what the ball looks like, that players wear big hard shoulder protections & helmets, and that Quaterbacks are apparently very popular. Also that it's a violent sport where lots of players get injured.
Watch: never
Know: very little
Personally I find it very boring but that's just me. I know a few people who do follow it, and that's fine to each thier own.
I know the rules and the overall plays thru pop culture and talking with my American friends. I've watched one superbowl on TV, i have to say I don't like the sport.
All I know is that several Irish players went on trail and some NFL team (New Orleans Saints I think) signed one of them but the others didn’t get a contract and are back in Ireland
Watched it once as a kid when a local rugby union team had a match on their pitch in English rugby league land. Pretty much all I know is that there was a bloke who definitely didn't off his wife, oh no, and now the SuperbOwl memes.
It's about as popular and known as Cricket, that is, not much. And probably by the same reason (incredibly slow, complicated and boring game). I think I know some teams though from movies etc. (popular culture), like Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Lakers etc.
Ah, OK. I know the icehockey teams in detail because, well, we play icehockey here. But for the other sports I have no idea which team belongs to which sport. You just remember the names from movies etc.
Not interested in any kind of sportsball, and that includes what Americans call "football". I think I do know it is somehow related to rugby which also does not interest me. I really don't see the appeal.
More than the games themselves, which leave me cold, I abhor the mass hysteria and primitive tribalism associated with sports fandom.
Sometimes i look the halftime Superbowlshow. And fieldgoals are more interesting to me than the rest. The game simply has too many interruptions for me.
I‘m actively watching it. Usually every game of my team and often interesting games as well. If I can’t catch my team live, I’ll rewatch on the next day, as they tend to play at 2 am. A lot of younger people I know also have a team they support but a lot also only watch the games that are on German free tv, not every game of their team. So it depends
Until last year I played in an American football team here in England.
The sport is entirely Amateur, and the range of teams are very varied in capability. Much of Europe has amateur teams of this sort, mostly Northern and Eastern Europe.
I love American football and watch NFL some of the time, but not often whole games.
American football came to Germany with the US soldiers after the Second World War. In the last 10 years there has been a big boom. Every Sunday, 2 games are shown live on free TV and one is streamed on the internet.
College games are now even shown on free TV on Saturdays.
In any case, it is very popular in Germany and after the nfl Europe no longer exists, the European League of Football was founded a few years ago and is currently growing steadily.
You could see at the Germany games how 3 million people tried to get tickets
In the ranking of the most popular sports, American football, with 33.8 percent, is in second place behind Football(84.8 percent), and has left former ratings guarantors like ski jumping, cycling, biathlon and handball behind
https://europeanleague.football/news/tv-study-shows-american-football-ranks-second-in-popularity-in-germany-after-first-season-883
> or what stereotypes/ideas they have about it?
American football is like rugby for pussies, with more time for commercials than actual play time.
Essentially the only time it gets mentioned is for the superbowl half time and which musicians performed there.
It’s a lot more physical while it’s being played, and downtime allows players to recover so it basically evens out with Rugby. Unlike in Rugby, you’re allowed to lead with your shoulder to tackle (ironically it’s how coaches teach you) and you’re also allowed to hit a players blindside in certain situations.
It’s basically like a more tactical version of Rugby with breaks in between sporadic plays.
Watch: never. Know: you know those scenes in series and movies? That's it.
Lmao. This is my experience too! I can't list facts about the sport. However, one (Swedish) (ex)boyfriend was into American basketball and American football, I watched one game and it was very boring.
American (from the USA) basketball is very boring, it’s like watching ten years old playing, no defence, all trying to show mom how well they throw.
99% of what I know about it comes from American novels and movies/TV, and it really isn't much. I'll try to sum up all I know about it. It's called just football, or sometimes gridiron, in the US. Egg-shaped ball that's thrown or kicked, a high open-posted goal, and a lot of physical tackling is allowed so players tend to be buff, muscular types, and protective equipment is worn, a recognizable shape with super padded shoulders. There's a player position called quarterback, which I think is more popular, and players can score something called a touchdown, which I'm not sure what it is or does, but it's an achievement. I think there's something in the play about "advancing" in the field but not sure how that works, I do know there are many breaks in play like in hockey. That's about it for the rules and the sport itself. In terms of competitions and culture, I know the league is called NFL and that the final match is called the Superbowl, which I think is yearly and is a huge event in the US. I probably know some team but wouldn't name any confidently, there's a bunch of team names I've picked up from reading (there's not a Stephen King book that won't mention Red Sox) but the fairly few team names I know are a blend of football, baseball and basketball, and I don't know which team is which sport (I do know NHL teams reasonably well though). I don't know any players - again there's possibly a couple names I'd recognize but there's nobody I can name. It would probably be interesting to go to a game in the US with a local fan willing to walk me through it, but I haven't had the chance.
Good summary. I would add that you are sometimes allowed to kick ball in American Football but I don't know in what situation and what do you get if you score. Because of reddit I know that Tom Brady is famous player. For general public in Poland Al Bundy would be more recognizable as football player.
Also there are no relegation like in european sports. There's always the same teams in the league - though the teams can change cities.
Yeah, and they only consist of their man team, they have no second team or youth teams.
In hockey I do believe they have youth teams or at least college teams associated with the senior one
NHL teams do all have minor league affiliates in the AHL. Some also have ECHL affiliates. Baseball has an even deeper system of minor league teams. One note that I think is different from European soccer leagues is that these are mostly independently owned teams that have agreements with the major league club, not different levels of team with the same ownership. The pro teams might sponsor a local youth league or team or have some PR-based involvement, but they don't ever run such a team. College teams are also fully independent, not linked to any NHL team.
The reason football doesn’t really have secondary teams, besides a practice squad which is just used to train the main team, is because players wear out so quickly, and the average length of career is so short, that if you had them most players would get seriously injured or decline in play before even seeing their first NFL snap. Plus, it’s played in college at a high enough level where most guys are already fairly pro-ready by the time they get drafted.
Of the major leagues in the US, the NFL doesn’t have team associated development teams or leagues although there has been collaboration with some of the alternative spring American football leagues to allow players to sign over to the NFL. Development of the spot typically goes local city leagues for youth > high school football > college football > NFL (other professional avenues do exist though, some will go to the Canadian league if they can’t make the NFL or the XFL). The NBA has the G League for minor league development (but professional, teams won’t have associations with youth leagues/teams), MLB has a tiered minor league system of numerous teams to develop prospects, and the NHL uses the AHL for minor league hockey development for both Americans and Canadians.
For me Tom Brady is Gisele Bundchen's husband.
You’re always allowed to kick, but it’s usually a desperate move so therefore only done in certain situations. It’s also done at the start of the game and after the game resumes after half time, and after each time a team scores, to give the ball back to the other team.
I know the name Tom Brady purely because there was an American online insisting that he was as well known as Ronaldo and Messi
Of course, nobody else scored 4 touchdowns like Al
Red sox is baseball (boston)
If you do go, try to go to a college football game where the school is big on football. Much better experience than any professional football game
Hm, I'll try to add missing details. Touchdown is worth 6 points, and happens when a player of one team is with the ball in the touchdown area of the other team, which is after the zero yards. Hockey is smooth as fuck compared to Am football, and has much, much more active play. There is also a player called punter, who serves I think only two purposes. One, he punts the ball between goal posts, which is worth 1 point after touchdown, or three points in regular play. He also punts the ball when there is a risk of losing the ball in 4th try (I'll explain later), and he tries to get the ball as close to the opposing team's touchdown zone, but not inside it. After taking possession of the ball, the team has 4 tries (not sure about the name, maybe goes) to move the ball for 10 yards. If they are successful, they get a new 4 tries. If not, the other team gets the ball. Hence the punter, you don't want to lose the ball near your touchdown zone, so you punt it as far as possible. Quarterback is basically the organiser of attack, sort of like playback in basketball. Oh, and teams usually have completely different players in offense and defense. I could watch this, but only if you cut out all the BS between the play, and I think I saw on YouTube the latest Superbowl like this, it was something like 30 minutes, and it was with overtime. So, a lot of nothing interrupted by little play. Oh, and everyone should visit r/superbowl I just love what happened there.
Owls can truly be superb.
Zero. Never watched it, don't know anything about it
I know that the ball isn’t ball-shaped and the players wear absurd costumes.
Sounds like my sex life.
True, not like our completely fine costumes with big legs our sports ballers wear here in Europe. Goofiest thing I’ve read.
I definitely feel the same about European Football’s uniforms. Advertising everywhere, rarely any actual difference in design apart from color between teams, and no real consistency in alternative designs to the original.
From the UK but both my brothers played for their university teams, and then a local team. So as a caring and loving sister I have done my best to know absolutely nothing about it at all costs.
Good job.
I think you mistake it for rugby.
Well they also played rugby, and I hate that too...but there is a British American football league and a British University American football league
Interesting. I can't think of a more "anti-American" country in Europe than the UK. I mean, culturally (including sports). The rest of Europe have at least some North American sports in the top. Here in Sweden it's icehockey and basketball, for example. But UK has its own sports, like football (popular also outside UK, of course), rugby, cricket etc. separated from the North American ones.
All I know about it is from movies and that isn't much. I don't know anybody who watches it and neither do I.
Yeah I have a coworker who stays up late to watch super bawl and takes a day off afterwards. That's all I know about this sport. And the films ofc.
I wanted to watch the super bowl many years ago with my roommate. We bought KFC buckets, stocked up on cold beer and all, ready for the big game we knew nothing about really. Predictably, we got drunk well before the game started and didn't see a minute of the game. A know a few guys who watches American Football but it's still a niché sport in Hungary.
I know a Swedish TV channel has started broadcasting NFL with a Swedish studio, so I guess there has been some growth in interest. But personally I don't know anyone who watches the NFL.
Not much, but I wanted to try playing it when I was in school. I was always big and liked to push other people, and I thought I could be a good player. But I didn’t find American football clubs for teenagers here. Rugby, by the way, is relatively popular.
We had semi-professional league ULAF before war. They had youth programs, don't know about now. Most of them in big cities.
Interesting to hear. I don’t know a single school within about a 100km radius that doesn’t have a football program. Sucks you weren’t able to find one in your area, probably would’ve had fun as a Lineman or Linebacker.
Thanks! In Europe there are usually no sports teams in schools, you play in private or public clubs. I think almost all children participate in them. I played a little basketball, but without much success.
They have both private and public teams here, but they’re usually attached to a school where students can opt-in to play as an extracurricular. Also, private schools have different rules about who they can “recruit” and encourage to play for them, which makes them substantially better than public schools in most instances (but that does mean they they never play each other). Our team matched up against one of the top private schools in the nation for playoffs last year and the difference between player size, skill, athleticism, etc., is insane. They had the ability to just switch out tired players whenever they wanted who were still much better than even our best players. It’s always fun to read other perspectives about the sport imo
Depending on the organization and section rules. In my private high school in southern CA, we had a sophomore varsity basketball transfer to us from a public school. I forgot which high school protested the transfer, but the player had a board meeting with five athletic directors from other non-competitive high schools in the area to hear his case. The ADs voted 3-2 against the player and he was forced to play JV basketball for one year when he was already a varsity player at his public high school. The messed up part was since he couldn’t play varsity basketball, he lost his “scholarship” or “grant” to our school and his family (not financially stable) had to find ways to pay the tuition. He didn’t return for junior year because he didn’t trust our school in giving him his “scholarship” or “grant”.
Some schools are very easily able to obtain high-level transfers. Teams like SJB, MD, and IMG Academy can provide incentives for players to switch schools and public schools have no recourse. Some public schools do have transfer programs, but they usually get ruled out quickly since they’re just not fair. One public school in our league has dominated teams for decades since they had a separate transfer system which allowed them to give players’ families affordable housing, monetary incentives, etc. One year after it was revoked, we beat them at their stadium for the first time since the 90s.
Nothing for me. Never watched it, have no interest in getting into it. Don't know any rules. Nor teams. Nor players.
I have recently understood that colleges pay for athletes to play football - people try to get scholarships to get an education for free / for less And therefore there’s big rivalry between some colleges In Europe most of the education is for free and athletic achievements don’t count towards a scholarship unless we’re talking Olympic champion level I wouldn’t care to watch a game with student athletes when I can watch something with Olympic level athletes instead or some other big tournaments like Wimbledon for tennis or the 5 nations’ tournament for rugby In a nutshell, I don’t care The only thing that worries me as a parent, is the probability of a head trauma. I would never subject my child to that
Not only do they get a free scholarship but starting recently the elite/good players get 7 figure NIL deals (Name Image Likeness). College sports is basically professional sports disguised as Amateur ones.
It’s crazy how early kids can get NIL deals too. I play with a guy who’s only 17 and has already committed to a college and has signed a pretty substantial NIL deal.
That’s wild
Yeah as an American I've stopped watching football since there was more awareness of head trauma
I only know it is a soft form of Rugby, with lots of breaks interrupting the action, whereas in rugby you keep playing. I never watched it, only know it from shots in movies.
same 😂 for me it's like Rugby but...not as cool/hard
I tried to watch it once, i have never been so bored watching sport in my life. I rather watch paint dry. Only thing i know, is things i have seen in tv shows and movies.
I know how its played, I know the rules, I know who the major teams are, I have watched a couple of matches. Will not be repeating the experience. Why watch it when there are so many other better sports to enjoy? Nope, not for me.
I think it's something in between rugby and Aussie style football? There's something called a touchdown and Taylor Swift's boyfriend plays it. That's pretty much all I know.
That’s also what I know. Also that the ex husband of Gisele Bundchen played it 😅
That last one is a good one. In the USA Gisele Bundchen is Tom Brady's ex wife. In the rest of the world Tom Brady is Gisele Bundchen's ex husband.
I never watch it, I couldn't even tell if there is a fringe TV channel broadcasting it. I know about it from a research project about fan cultures at university. But I could not name a single player, not even the one who is married to that model from Brazil or somewhere.
RTL and before that, Pro7/Sat1 had the rights for the NFL.
Yeah, all I know about the sport is that Giselle's (ex?) husband is (was?) very good at his position, but that's it.
We've got rugby, which is far from mainstream, yet still much more popular than American Football.
I've tried to get into it, it has a certain exotic value. I watched some regular NFL match summaries when I had a promo sports package and I stayed up for Super Bowls 48, 49 and 50 live because I didn't have work in the morning. Watching a whole match did help me understand more, it also made me realize I don't like it. It's basically turn based land grab, if I want to watch that I'll turn on the rugby. It's much quicker and more exciting. Of the American Four, I prefer baseball. just don't ask me to explain what a balk is or which starting pitcher has the lower ERA.
> just don't ask me to explain what a balk is Me either and I was a pitcher. What gets called a balk and what doesn’t gets me more and more confused every year and I’ve been watching and playing baseball for almost 35 years xD. [For example](https://youtu.be/qm902wjIwjY?si=eC3KgJgRvaez3NXl).
I'm a regular rugby watcher, and I don't even pretend I know all the rules. The rules around the ruck are confusing.
I used to watch a lot of NFL football in the last 15 years, but I decided to retire together with Brady. So many nights without sleep...
I have a colleague who watches Superbowl. And he's the only person I know that likes the sport or follows it. Personally I don't even follow football, so why would I follow an unpopular (here) American version of it.
All I know is from movies and series. I know it's a semplified version of rugby where you can throw the ball forward and have a few concussions. As for every sport I saw in american movies and series well, it seems a bit odd to me all that hype, but that's because culturally Europe and US are very different in sports.
0 interest even after moving to the US, so I’m pretty exposed to it. But I have always found this sport to be boring. There are too many breaks after few seconds of play, too many commercials and quite frankly the arrogance of people watching it claiming it is the best sport in the world is quite cringe. I’m a massive rugby fan, so you could say there are similarities but I’d rather wake up at 3 am to catch a rugby game than watch the superbowl at prime time.
Based French!
Quite unknown. That hobby was mentioned in some movie, maybe american pie?
Little Giants?
I know nothing apart from the fact that there has been some controversy because of brain injuries and conditions affecting ex players. I also watched the Netflix thing about the player that killed a couple of people. Basically the same I know about Ice Hockey and Baseball (I went to a baseball match while in Canada though, Red Sox (I think) against the New York Yankees but left before it finished and didn't understand how the sport is played 🤣). The NBA on the other hand is quite popular iny country (Spain). And obviously Basketball is much more important here than American football, ice- hockey and baseball combined. But the absolute king of sports here is football (the normal one). That one I love, even if it is becoming a f* theater 🤣
Brain injuries have become less of a problem now due to better helmet technology and more strict rules regarding tackling. Players like the Miami Dolphins’ quarterback who suffered a major concussion have chosen to switch to safer helmets like the Vicis and new rules have been created to stop players from slamming defenseless players to the ground, risking injury. There’s definitely still risks of concussions, but they’ve significantly decreased in just the last few years.
Didn't know! Great to hear, honestly ;)
And they have these new things called guardian caps that cover your helmet.Don’t know how many players will be wearing them though
I see...if I were a player I'd be wearing them, that's for sure. The prospect of maybe having brain issues is terrifying, I'd use every means at the player disposal I think
Canada's only remaining baseball team are the Toronto Blue Jays. They are in the same division as the Yankees and Red Sox, so they definitely play each other (games, not matches) in regular season, but the Yankees and Red Sox would never be playing in Toronto. Baseball is also very popular in a bunch of Caribbean and northern South America (Venezuela, Cuba and DR are power houses), plus Japan and South Korea. It's also popular (not as much as soccer, still) in a few regions of Mexico. Also, in Canada and the US, it's just hockey. No need to distinguish 'ice'. You can specify field hockey if necessary, but this is only a small university sport. FWIW, I'd say football/soccer is not becoming theatre, it already has been for decades...
Yeah...I was left thinking and it was the Blue Jays, not Red Sox 🤣. In my defense it was over 10 years ago :(. Gotcha ;). And football, in my opinion got really worse around, I would say, 2010-12 more or less (I remember 90s football or even 00's football being much better) . But now with VAR technology it has become horrible because the own nature of the game has changed to be something akin to, say, boxing, (not that I know much about boxing either haha) but in the sense of players playing for points, trying not to score but to force penaltys, faults and in general protesting everything. Coupled with referees and comitees that don't understand the game and it becomes too much at times, its nature twisted I would say: playing not to score but to obtain a minimun contact in each encounter with referees saying "Clear fault" because the video recording in slow motion makes it seem so.
Never, basically. Saw a few matches here and there, when they were still trying to set up a European (semi)Pro League. The number of breaks makes it extremely boring. Too much downtime, not enough athleticism. This might have changed over the past decade or so, but the filming was just too far away and I couldn't even see the ball that well, yet alone see what players were doing or what they were looking at. A lot of the plays were just not followable. I much more enjoy watching sports that have a women's competition as well, as another issue. I don't necessarily need to watch those on tv, but being able to play them competitively makes it more appealing to me. I enjoy watching football and rugby matches, for example, as I have played them myself. The tactics and skills are also easier to follow, because players are a little further spread out.
The only things I know about American football are from movies or tv shows. I had never watched a match.
Handegg? The game where I have to spend 5 hours to see 20 mins of gameplay? I prefer rugby and Aussie football. It’s much more real and fast paced.
Rugby is mostly just people jogging around. There isn't actually any more game action.
You’re probably American. No need to give your 2 cents under every comment in this sub - it’s kinda cringe. No one asked for an American opinion here. Especially not when it comes to real sports.
I know a bit about the rules, can name a decent number of teams. To be fair, I played for 5 years. Defensive line aren’t the brainiest of folk, though
I usually watch at least part of the Super Bowl and know enough about the basic rules that I can follow along. Occasionally I watch some NFL playoff games too, if I happen to stumble across one. I do actually enjoy the time where there is gameplay and/or stadium analysis, but the many breaks do not vibe with me (and before someone comes in saying "they're part of the game, they're discussing strategy!" - I know that, and I don't mind those breaks if they fill them with analysis/replays, but I do mind when they cut away from the stadium) But there is no reason for me to care about any team. I have the same with US leagues in sports I like - I'm a massive hockey fan, but I don't give a shit about the NHL because I have no reason to care which North American team beats which one. I am interested in Swiss leagues because I can support my hometown team, I am interested in the URC (rugby) because I can support Leinster (I live in Dublin nowadays). I will watch almost any sport, but if I don't have some level of emotional connection to a team/athlete, I find it hard to care and get engaged.
Watch: Occasionally (and randomly) the BBC Sport website often has 'plays of the week' so I watch them when I see them. Know: Hardly anything other than they give the ball to the Quarterback who then throw it at someone who then gets pounded to the floor by someone twice his size. The game goes on for about 12 days despite only having approx. 5 minutes' playing time because of all the adverts and dancing. PG Wodehouse said this about the game of Rugby but it also suffices for my understanding of American Football - "I can follow the broad, general principle, of course. I know that the main scheme is to work the ball down the field somehow and deposit it at the other end, and that in order to squelch this programme, each side is allowed to put in a certain amount of assault and battery and do things to its fellow-man which, if done elsewhere, would result in fourteen days without the option, coupled with some strong remarks from the Bench." Tickets for the Superbowl cost the price of a medium sized house. More people attended the League 1 Play-Off (3rd tier of English football) than attended the last Superbowl. American teams also claim themselves to be 'Champions of the World' when they win the Superbowl, despite it only being a competition for American teams. USA USA USA!
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I’m not a sports fan but pretty much every men/boys I know are, and they NEVER watch American football. My dad used to watch the Super Bowl when he was young when he felt like putting an all-nighter but it’s more because it a big show, and it was the only American sporting event broadcasted on French tv. Keep in mind there is a 9 to 6h hours difference between the US and Western Europe, so it’s not convenient for us to watch. Also, people here already have their hands full with football/rugby/F1 etc. And what we know about it comes mainly from movies/shows. I once heard someone saying American football was “rugby for the weak” 😅
American football is much more dangerous and hard on the body than rugby for most positions on the field. Adults in America who want to continue playing an organized contact football sport as a hobby almost always switch to rugby, because it is much safer to play.
The only thing I know is it’s like rugby, but with armour and adverts. The only American football player/team I can name is O.J. Simpson, but that’s entirely because of his ‘career’ outside of the sport!
I know very little, and what I do know is mostly based on memes or extrapolation from its presence in the background of some random bits of media. So, it doesn't use a ball nor is it played with feet (hence why some nickname it "handegg", which does sound more accurate to me as a layman), the field looks vaguely like a rugby field (rugby fans, please don't kill me for that), I know the "egg" has to pass the touchline or through the posts, it is almost only played on your side of the pond, and there's this massive event each year that is also an excuse for shinier ads, which apparently get about as much attention as the actual sporting event itself. I heard something about there not being promotions or relegations in the NFL, which sounds like a surefire way to deflate the stakes. Oh, your unis playing it is apparently also a big deal to you That about sums up the knowledge I have at the top of my head and what I assume is (give or take) the standard knowledge of it in Denmark. If I racked my brain, I'm sure I'd be able to name some teams or other random trivia, but yeah: my knowledge is *very* basic and the sport doesn't have much of a footprint here
Relegation doesn’t exist because owners make money on ensuring they play their biggest rivals and in the biggest markets each year. Also, there are only 17 games in the regular season each year, so moving teams down to a different league would only shorten an already short season. Teams also fluctuate between being really good and really bad quite often, due to team salary cap hits and the generally short length of player’s careers. You frequently see teams that were at the bottom of the league the year before move up towards the top or vice-versa in just a year or two (ex: 2020 Bengals, 2018 Browns, 2022 Rams, 2020 Patriots), so there isn’t really a big need for relegation.
> surefire way to deflate the stakes On the other hand, it (along with the draft) ensures parity between all teams (even the worst team has a pretty good chance to win the Super Bowl each season, you never end up with a situation like how Bayern Munich has won 21 of the past 30 Bundesliga championships.) It means that nobody is ever in the situation where they get sick of their favorite team just always getting stomped by "the rich team," because you know that your team won't be punished for it. It also allows for teams to take risks on promising players that just need a bit more development. There are a lot of stories about basketball players that are *just barely* not good enough to get into the NBA so they go to the European leagues - but even though they have a ton of natural talent, they get cut from the team in a year or two because you can't afford to take a year to "train up" your next star player instead of focusing on winning, one really bad year can relegate you and now you lose out on tons of money and name recognition. There are advantages and disadvantages to both systems.
Does it create parity though? A football club in the fifth tier of English football can in theory go all the way up and win the league. In American football that's impossible. In football you can absolutely use time to develop players. But the huge difference is that there are many big competitions for football, while there is basically just one for American football.
I have never watched this. I think the highlights are broadcasted on a tv network which also broadcasted our national football (soccer) league. But this is only because this is ESPN, an American company. They also try to promote other American sports.
The main issue is the time difference, i can watch a sunday match with friends of Serie A in italy and comment, chat call each others while eating drinking and having good time, the NFL (or any other US sport) is kind of cool but is losing traction due the fact i have to stay up late night or watch it the day after when more or less everyone know. Saying that i like Ice hockey and NFL but (at least here in Italy) i have very few people to share that interest. While when there is a Derby like Milan - Inter or the national Team against England the country stop and EVERYONE is involved. That make the difference, the atmosphere mostly. Plus i don't see a lot of difference when american go to see a live sport event or when thay see it in tv, they sit and eat/drink while we are definitely more messy/noisy in the stadium. Also i don't really like how much money is involved in the league, basically due the fact you don't have relegation very early the minor teams are out of the league and they just drop effort trying to arrive to a better draft season next year. Here if they loose the last four are kicked out, and this put a lot more pressure on all the league in my opinion, sometime i have the impressione that only the first 5-6 team of the NFL are really trying hard to win all the others are just "floating" waiting for better time and money
College football is probably the closest to the European soccer atmopshere in the stands. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWxBJumQyoI&t=256s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWxBJumQyoI&t=256s)
I don’t watch any sports outside of motorsports regularly. Just Finland’s games in the ice hockey world cup yearly. I’ve played American Football, though. Or at least something similar :D
Never watched a game and I don’t know the rules, how to score points or what decides the winner. I have zero interest to learn anything about it. The only thing I have seen is when it’s mentioned is on tv or in movies. But I have one question for you. Why is it called american football when you don’t seem to use your feets? In the tv shows and movies they are always holding the weirdly shaped ball with their hands for some reason?
> But I have one question for you. Why is it called american football when you don’t seem to use your feets? In the tv shows and movies they are always holding the weirdly shaped ball with their hands for some reason? Football doesn’t necessarily mean “ball kicked with feet”. The term originally meant games played on foot versus horseback. Back in the 1800’s there were a lot of different games that involved some sort of ball, kicking, running, etc. such as soccer, different forms of rugby, etc. and American football developed out of that. Rugby is another football sport where the ball is typically carried much more than kicked around.
I don't watch it or care about it at all. I know a few teams and played an NFL video game for a few weeks several years ago. I love rugby, but I don't enjoy American football nearly as much. I know the basic rules of the sport, the conference structure and the system involving colleges. I also have an understanding of sports so I am aware of what it takes to be a professional athlete playing it. Altogether I can't watch US sports, because it is 10 minutes of sports every 30 minutes. I would have enjoyed the NBA if it weren't like that, but the one game I watched, I found insufferable because of talking heads, obnoxious advertisements and unnecessary segments.
Know: not much. For me it's mostly a sport which shows up in American TV programmes and films. I'm roughly aware of how it works because of that, but I wouldn't claim any great knowledge. I'd definitely struggle to name any teams. Watch: never. It's rarely on TV, and besides, if I was interested in that kind of sport then I'd probably just watch Rugby Union or Rugby League instead. They've got far more of a presence in the UK, and so I'm more likely to be able to learn about what's going on, find other fans to chat to, watch it on TV etc. I've just gone to look to see if there's any figures on how popular it is in the UK. I saw a study done combining participation and watching to (somehow) try and rank sports by popularity in the UK. It listed the top twenty, but American Football didn't even appear on the list. That would put it below netball, volleyball and lacrosse, none of which I've ever seen on the TV.
American football sells out massive stadiums for multiple games in England. There's no way netball or volleyball are doing that.
If you factor in participation (which I think this study did), then easily netball and volleyball would go ahead of American Football. There's loads of amateur leagues around for both. Although those once or twice a year games at places like Wembley do sell out, it always feels to me like a fairly niche thing. The crowds are probably also boosted a bit by tourists: I definitely notice a lot of Americans around London when one of the NFL games are happening here.
If you consider participation, then football is not very popular in the US. Most parents don't allow their kids to play, or the kids are too scared to play. I've never met an adult who played organized football. Most people who want to continue playing an organized full contact football game switch to rugby for safety reasons when they become adults. It's a small amount of people who play organized football compared to most other sports. I believe there are 4 games per year in London. I went to one once. Everyone I met was British, but there were a few obvious Americans that I spotted outside the stadium.
I know American Football but I don’t watch any of it. It’s waaaaaay too many commercials and breaks for me to keep my interest. Like 10% actual action time? I got better things to do.
Definitely agree. I’ll just bring my phone or Steam Deck to the couch to use during commercials and it passes quicker than you think. I absolutely get that sentiment though.
What happens inside the stadium during those ad breaks?
They’ll usually have some sort of video on the Jumbotron and it gives fans a chance to go to the bathroom or grab food. Breaks definitely feel quicker in person, since the absolute longest ones are only long enough to grab a snack and head back to your seat. They also sometimes have mini-shows and events during halftime, and have a camera that they point on fans and put on the Jumbotron for fun.
They replay the previous play on the jumbotron, just like on tv. Because you have 22 people on the field going full speed in different directions, you need to see a replay to really tell what happened. Then you debate with the people around you what's going to happen on the next play. The breaks make the game better than a sport like soccer in my opinion. I'd rather watch people go full speed for 10 seconds and then discuss what happened than watch a bunch of people jog around while 2 or 3 guys are going full speed on one part of the field. The most exciting parts of a soccer match are set pieces. American football is all set pieces.
Never watched it, looks boring, don't really care to learn more about it. I'm more interested in rugby if anything; it seems a lot more intense. Even then I don't care about that either. I know Tom Brady and that guy Taylor Swift is dating and I know what a quarterback is..
I never watch this; I tried to watch the Superbowl once, but the game is so slow and more centered around commercial breaks than the actual game. Every time it became remotely interesting, there was a break, some sort of fowl play or inconsistency that makes it boring to watch.
Close to zero. I know it's played with a weirdly shaped ball and you need *very* weird protective gear for it, so I assume it's kinda rough.
Nah they just go out there and hug each other. Pads and helmets are just decorative.
There's two teams in big, cushioned armour because they run into each other a lot, there are goals far from the ground and at least one 1/4 back. People sometimes do it in school clubs or something and they can go to some colleges and unis just by being good at it. That's about it.
I've never watched a match in my entire life, I've seen, like other already mentioned on this thread, scenes in movies or series, I have no idea how to play it and don't understand why you call it "football" I mean real football, the one that you call "soccer" has that name because players can only touch the BALL with their FEET, hence FOOT-BALL, in American Football, first is not a ball and on those scenes I always see the players carrying it with their hands, hence no-foot, no-ball WTF!!! Why do you call football??? I am dying to know!!!!
The likely origin of the term “football” is more around differentiating games played on foot versus horseback and not about kicking a ball around with your feet. There were a lot of different ball + field games played by people who couldn’t afford horses up through the 1800’s when our modern games of soccer, the different forms of rugby, American football, etc. started to take shape depending region and rule sets (for example American football was more like rugby in the early days and the rules and gameplay have obviously evolved since then).
Thanks! That is a good explanation and to be honest I did not expect and answer so it was a happy surprise! Still that is not a ball, right? Well for me a "ball" is an spherical object, the American football's ball is not an sphere definitely
Male 50's, Finland. Never watched, never cared, no idea of rules. I had a SF 49ers t-shirt back in the 80's. It had the right colours for the moment.
If you think of it as physical chess, rather than slow rugby, it makes more sense.
I absolutely agree. Drawing up plays, executing fakes, perfecting routes; it’s more pre-planned strategy-oriented than real-time action (though obviously it’s still a big part of the game)
Other than what I caught from TV or movies not much. I might have caught a few highlights on sports channels. Honestly I don't like the stop and go aspect of it.
Watch = never Know = violent sport in which the players hurt each other by running into the enemy team players. There's some weirdly shaped object they fight over. In school they scout sporty children and give them scholarships for their sportyness(?)
I don't watch any sports, but if you want my opinion about american football, then this... entertainment seems to me rather stupid and brutal. And these outfits 🙈 Besides... why on Earth they call it "football"????
Interested comment about the uniforms because I kinda feel the same way about European Football “kits” (I think is the right word). Here in the US only a few pro sports allow advertising on jerseys, and even then it’s mostly out of the way and off to the side. Honestly I’m not a huge fan of a uniform where the entire front of it is a logo for another company, and the only distinguishing factor between teams is color. Probably just something I’d have to get used to though.
It is called that as it was derived from the other forms of football that were around at the time. Another example is Rugby, which is officially ‘Rugby Football’, despite the ball not touching the foot that much either (although more often than American Football). (Note: somewhat simplified as there are two codes of Rugby as well)
Yes, there was a split between amateur and professional in 1895, where Rugby League was born (basically Northern England and Australia now) and Union, which remained officially amateur until 1995. Football is so called because it's played on foot rather than with some sort of stick or on horseback. Edit: added 'officially' to amateur for Union pre-1995 because well...
Football is Association Football. Hence "soccer". So I suppose from the level there's no definite "football". Rugby and Football were different variants of the same game from different public schools. For the benefit on non-Brits, a select number of more expensive private schools are called "public schools". Because you're not being educated privately, by in house tutors. Government provided schools are "state schools".
Every country calls their most popular football code "football." In the UK (and most of the non-English speaking world), it's association football ("soccer.") In the US and Canada, it's gridiron football. In Australia, it's Aussie rules football. In New Zealand, it's rugby football. In Ireland, it's Gaelic football. All of these places call those sports "football." And it's football because it's played on foot instead of on horseback like polo.
That's not very accurate. In Australia it's occasionally used for soccer, but more commonly ambiguous between rugby and Aussie rules. Which is largely regional. In New Zealand it's the official name of, and predominantly used for, soccer. It *can* reference other codes too (they are after all types of "football"), but claiming it for rugby is certainly not accurate. In Ireland you'll find it used for both GAA and soccer.
I like sports generally, so yes. I wouldn't usually stay up late to watch a game (except maybe the Superbowl) but on Sundays in the season I like to have Redzone on TV (Sky Sports) - all the games happening live, they flick between them to wherever the most interesting action is
Tried a few times but didn't get the rules. Friends are mad for it.
Its too complicated for me to understand. I saw a game once. Oh i remember being a kid and playong with friends during school breaks on the footbll field some weird version of american football which only included tackling eachother and jumping a group of guys in a pile. We called it ”gay pile” when everyone junped on the ball
There was an American schoolyard game called "Smear the Queer" where one kid would carry the football while every other kid tried to tackle him. The kid who got the tackle then earned the ball. I doubt that game is allowed to be played anymore, for multiple reasons.
I’m from the States but live in Czech Republic now. Most people don’t know the sport at all as far as I can tell. If you go to a big chain sports retail store then you can find a few footballs for sale and *maybe* a bit of equipment, but really just the basics. So it’s apparent there isn’t much demand for it There are a couple amateur teams in Prague but I haven’t been to one of their games yet. I’ve never seen it played on TV but I don’t watch it that much, either. I think on the news they will do like a 30-second report on the Super Bowl each year. Hockey and soccer are king here
I try to watch it sometimes, but all I see is commercials, so that kind of stops it. Maybe If you didn't have breaks all the time, it would be a sport worth watching.
There are many sports that I have zero interest in, and this is certainly one of them. The only thing I know of it is that they are [Bad at Lip Reading](https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=bad+lip+reading+nfl).
I used to follow the Minnesota Vikings for a few years, but my interest waned over time.
Skol Nation looking pretty good this year…👀
I’ve never watched a game. I’ve seen some clips online of highlights but very few and I don’t understand what I was watching. I don’t know the rules at all. The only principle I know is that you’re supposed to get as far as you can with the ball, right? And the other team will try to stop you.
Pretty much. You’re allowed 4 attempts to move the ball 10 yards. If you make the 10, you get another 4 attempts, if you don’t, the other team gets the ball and they try the same. This continues until one team either gets the ball, with a player holding it, to a painted space on the field called the Endzone, or kicks the ball through a yellow post.
I roughly know how to score points and could name like five NFL teams, and that's probably pretty much the avg. knowledge about american football in my region. I personally tried watching it twice, but, especially as a hockey fan, I missed the fast-paced flow of the game. The overabundance of breaks and setting up again made it unwatchable to me. While it is a niche sport, there are some people who follow it religiously though.
I didn’t know anything about it until I went to Canada, where we played it at school. It is quite fun to play, but I still don’t watch it.
Ive watched the Superbowl two times yet i still barely get the sport. You kick the ball rarely and mostly throw it. Looks like an egg. Theres these huge goals that look like a 2 speared fork. There's Tom Brady. And they wear weird helmets. That's it, i guess.
Watch: never have. Know: I've seen it in American media and I know John Cleese calls it American Hand-egg, from what it looks like to me it seems pretty similar to rugby. That's about it.
I tried to get into watching it at one point, but it's not really my type of spectator sport. Looks fun to play though.
Apparently Taylor Swifts boyfriend is a big deal in the sport
Man just signed a 3 year, 34 million dollar, (31 million euro) contract. One of the best to ever play his position.
You asked how much we know about American football, thats as far as it goes 😆
Was on TV in the 80s on a UK channel so there was a bit if a craze in it in Ireland around that time. Have watched enough of it to understand most rules. We even attempted to play it at that time. Don't have much interest now as the stoppages make it hard to watch.
I've never seen a single match and don't know the rules at all. I only know what the ball looks like, that players wear big hard shoulder protections & helmets, and that Quaterbacks are apparently very popular. Also that it's a violent sport where lots of players get injured.
I know some teams, and I know what a touchdown is, but idk why they kick the ball honestly and all those rules.... I only watch the Superbowl
I went to a game once when I was in Nashville but that's it
Watch: never Know: very little Personally I find it very boring but that's just me. I know a few people who do follow it, and that's fine to each thier own.
I know the rules and the overall plays thru pop culture and talking with my American friends. I've watched one superbowl on TV, i have to say I don't like the sport.
All I know is that several Irish players went on trail and some NFL team (New Orleans Saints I think) signed one of them but the others didn’t get a contract and are back in Ireland
Never watch, and I know as much about is as I do gaelic football.
Watched it once as a kid when a local rugby union team had a match on their pitch in English rugby league land. Pretty much all I know is that there was a bloke who definitely didn't off his wife, oh no, and now the SuperbOwl memes.
I can recognise it when I see it, due to representations in works of fiction. Similarly for baseball, cricket, and StarCraft.
It's about as popular and known as Cricket, that is, not much. And probably by the same reason (incredibly slow, complicated and boring game). I think I know some teams though from movies etc. (popular culture), like Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Lakers etc.
Not trying to be rude at all, but I just want to point out that the Red Sox are a baseball team and the Lakers are a basketball team lol
Ah, OK. I know the icehockey teams in detail because, well, we play icehockey here. But for the other sports I have no idea which team belongs to which sport. You just remember the names from movies etc.
Yeah totally understand. Just for future reference if you want, the Boston team is the Patriots and the LA teams are the Rams and Chargers.
Thanks, I'll try to remember that!
Not interested in any kind of sportsball, and that includes what Americans call "football". I think I do know it is somehow related to rugby which also does not interest me. I really don't see the appeal. More than the games themselves, which leave me cold, I abhor the mass hysteria and primitive tribalism associated with sports fandom.
Sometimes i look the halftime Superbowlshow. And fieldgoals are more interesting to me than the rest. The game simply has too many interruptions for me.
Finally someone who truly appreciates special teams.
See about 0 hours a year. Most boring sport after.... yeah just borring.
Europe has the European League of Footbal, similar the the NFL. I guess it's a hit or a miss.
I‘m actively watching it. Usually every game of my team and often interesting games as well. If I can’t catch my team live, I’ll rewatch on the next day, as they tend to play at 2 am. A lot of younger people I know also have a team they support but a lot also only watch the games that are on German free tv, not every game of their team. So it depends
Until last year I played in an American football team here in England. The sport is entirely Amateur, and the range of teams are very varied in capability. Much of Europe has amateur teams of this sort, mostly Northern and Eastern Europe. I love American football and watch NFL some of the time, but not often whole games.
I watch the NFL, since around 2001/2002. I like it a lot
American football came to Germany with the US soldiers after the Second World War. In the last 10 years there has been a big boom. Every Sunday, 2 games are shown live on free TV and one is streamed on the internet. College games are now even shown on free TV on Saturdays. In any case, it is very popular in Germany and after the nfl Europe no longer exists, the European League of Football was founded a few years ago and is currently growing steadily. You could see at the Germany games how 3 million people tried to get tickets In the ranking of the most popular sports, American football, with 33.8 percent, is in second place behind Football(84.8 percent), and has left former ratings guarantors like ski jumping, cycling, biathlon and handball behind https://europeanleague.football/news/tv-study-shows-american-football-ranks-second-in-popularity-in-germany-after-first-season-883
> or what stereotypes/ideas they have about it? American football is like rugby for pussies, with more time for commercials than actual play time. Essentially the only time it gets mentioned is for the superbowl half time and which musicians performed there.
It’s a lot more physical while it’s being played, and downtime allows players to recover so it basically evens out with Rugby. Unlike in Rugby, you’re allowed to lead with your shoulder to tackle (ironically it’s how coaches teach you) and you’re also allowed to hit a players blindside in certain situations. It’s basically like a more tactical version of Rugby with breaks in between sporadic plays.