One of the most popular sports in America and Canada is American football. This contact team sport is a blend of physical play in conjunction with strategic motion with the ultimate aim of scoring points by furthering the ball into the opponents goal line or reaching their end zone by either carrying the ball and running along with it or passing it to a team member. The team which scores the maximum points within the stipulated time is declared the winner.
American football does have its origins in rugby football but has adapted itself with a few changes to the American and Canadian system. Though Canadian football and American football are predominantly quite similar there are a few variations in the forms such as in the team size, playing area, number of downs, time rules etc. The differences are not major and each can be adapted into another with some degree of tuning.
There are 2 major types of American football played in the USA, namely, collegiate football and professional football. Together with the growth as well as the increasing popularity a number of football leagues were born in the nation. Two of the most powerful and prestigious leagues which are in existence in the United States presently are the National Football League as well as the United Football League.
American football games that see the participation of student athletes through the various colleges, military academies and universities across the country is called collegiate or college football. It was through college football the American football got into the news and became as big a sports activity as it is today. Though football or rugby was played mostly in schools in England, the game was exported to America. The first American football game to be played in the United States was in 1874 between Harvard University and McGill University, Montreal. The 1st collegiate football competition occured the following year in 1875 in the match played between Tufts University and Harvard.
Present day college football is in the sports news with the first kick off during the football season on the first Labor Day weekend a week ahead of the NFL games and continues until the beginning of December. The penultimate weekend of the college football season sees most of the rivalry matches and conference games being played.
The professional football players are teams that play American football at a professional level. These professional teams are a part of the two leagues within the U . S called the NFL and the UFL. The NFL enjoys the status of being the largest professional football league on the globe. Formed with eleven teams this league has grown in strength and today consists of 32 teams. The league is further split up into the American Football Conference plus the National Football conference and the conferences contain four divisions made up of four teams each respectively.
The NFL season particularly the Super Bowl, which is the final championship game is followed by sports enthusiasts and news providers equally as it truly is one of the biggest games amongst the Americans.