One of the most popular sports in America and Canada is American football. This contact team sport is a combination of physical play in conjunction with strategic motion together with the ultimate aim of scoring points by furthering the ball in 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 some changes into the American and Canadian system. Though Canadian football and American football are predominantly quite similar there are some variations in the forms such as in the team size, playing area, number of downs, time rules etc. The differences are certainly not major and each can be adapted into another with some degree of tuning.
There are two major forms of American football played in the USA, namely, collegiate football and professional football. With the growth and the ever increasing popularity a number of football leagues were born in the country. Two of the most powerful and prestigious leagues which are around in the United States presently include the National Football League and 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 known as collegiate or college football. It was through college football the American football came into the news and became as big a sport 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 get played in America was in 1874 between Harvard University and McGill University, Montreal. The first collegiate football competition was held 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 till the beginning of December. The penultimate weekend in 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 section of the two leagues within the U . S called the NFL as well as the UFL. The NFL enjoys the status for being the largest professional football league on the globe. Formed with eleven teams this league has grown in strength and now includes thirty two teams. The league is further divided into the American Football Conference plus the National Football conference and these conferences contain four divisions consisting of four teams each respectively.
The NFL season especially the Super Bowl, which is the final championship game is followed by sports enthusiasts and news providers equally as it is the most significant games amongst the Americans.