Portal:American football
The American Football Portal
American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of soccer and rugby. The first American football match was played on November 6, 1869, between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton, using rules based on the rules of soccer at the time. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp, the "Father of American Football", established the snap, the line of scrimmage, eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs. Later rule changes legalized the forward pass, created the neutral zone, and specified the size and shape of the football. The sport is closely related to Canadian football, which evolved in parallel with and at the same time as the American game, although its rules were developed independently from those of Camp. Most of the features that distinguish American football from rugby and soccer are also present in Canadian football. The two sports are considered the primary variants of gridiron football.
American football is the most popular sport in the United States in terms of broadcast viewership audience. The most popular forms of the game are professional and college football, with the other major levels being high-school and youth football. , nearly 1.04 million high-school athletes play the sport in the U.S., with another 81,000 college athletes in the NCAA and the NAIA. The National Football League (NFL) has the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world. Its championship game, the Super Bowl, ranks among the most-watched club sporting events globally. In 2022, the league had an annual revenue of around $18.6 billion, making it the most valuable sports league in the world. Other professional and amateur leagues exist worldwide, but the sport does not have the international popularity of other American sports like baseball or basketball; the sport maintains a growing following in the rest of North America, Europe, Brazil, and Japan. (Full article...)The New York Giants, an American football team which currently plays in the NFL's National Football Conference, have qualified for the postseason ten times since 1994. With the retirement of Phil Simms and Lawrence Taylor—two of the most important figures in franchise history—after the 1993 season, the Giants entered a new era.
After a successful 1993 season, the Giants struggled under head coach Dan Reeves, and failed to reach the playoffs for three consecutive seasons. With the hiring of Jim Fassel as the team's new head coach in 1997, the Giants fortunes improved and they made the playoffs several times. Led by free agent acquisition quarterback Kerry Collins, the Fassel era included an appearance in Super Bowl XXXV, where they lost to the Baltimore Ravens. Although there was success, the Fassel era was also marked by inconsistency, and he was fired after the 2003 season. (Full article...)General images
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James Francis Thorpe (Sac and Fox (Sauk): Wa-Tho-Huk, translated as "Bright Path"; May 22 or 28, 1887 – March 28, 1953) was an American athlete and Olympic gold medalist. A member of the Sac and Fox Nation, Thorpe was the first Native American to win a gold medal for the United States in the Olympics. Considered one of the most versatile athletes of modern sports, he won two Olympic gold medals in the 1912 Summer Olympics (one in classic pentathlon and the other in decathlon). He also played football (collegiate and professional), professional baseball, and professional basketball.
He lost his Olympic titles after it was found he had been paid for playing two seasons of semi-professional baseball before competing in the Olympics, thus violating the contemporary amateurism rules. In 1983, 30 years after his death, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) restored his Olympic medals with replicas, after ruling that the decision to strip him of his medals fell outside of the required 30 days. Official IOC records still listed Thorpe as co-champion in decathlon and pentathlon until 2022, when it was decided to restore him as the sole champion in both events. (Full article...)Calendar
Jan 8 | College Football National Championship: #1 Michigan vs #2 Washington | |
Jan 13-15 | NFL: Wild Cards | |
Jan 20-21 | NFL: Divisional games | |
Jan 28 | NFL: Conference games | |
Feb 4 | NFL: Pro Bowl Games | |
Feb 11 | NFL: Super Bowl LVIII | |
2023 season: NFL • NCAA FBS (Bowl games) |
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“ | You can call it a miracle or a legend or whatever you want to. I just know that on that day, Brett Favre was larger than life. | ” |
— Gene Stallings former University of Alabama coach on Favre after he led the University of Southern Mississippi to a victory over Stalling's Alabama team. Less than six weeks earlier Favre underwent surgery to remove 30 inches of his small intestine. |
Did you know...
- ...that the Ottawa Rough Riders adopted the Rough Riders name in 1898 in recognition of the Rough Riders regiment commanded by Theodore Roosevelt, pictured, in the Spanish–American War?
- ...that Brian Mitchell ranks second–just 216 yards behind wide receiver Jerry Rice–in the enumeration of NFLers by career all-purpose yards gained despite having just once earned Pro Bowl honors?
- ...that two quarterbacks to have played for the Louisiana Tech University Bulldogs—Tim Rattay and Luke McCown—rank as amongst the ten players in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I history by total career passing yardage?
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