American Football which is also known as Gridiron and is simply called Football in the United States and Canada is an outdoor game.
This game is played by 2 teams which contain 11 players in each team. American Football which is a very complicated game requires a rectangular ground that has goalposts at each end. The ground must be 120 yards long and 53 or 54 yards wide. In Soccer which is Widely known as Simple football players play with a round-shaped ball but in American Football the oval-shaped ball is used. In this game, the team which has the ball tries to reach the goalpost while the other team tries to defend the attack of the other team. This game is not like soccer. Because in that game players don't wear many types of equipment but in American Football, players wear a helmet, and pads for the shoulder, thigh, knee, and elbow. The risk of getting injured is high in American football. Although American football or Gridiron is been played widely it is most popular in North America.
History of American Football (Gridiron)
The roots of American Football go back to 19 century. It has evolved from soccer and rugby. It was first played in November 1869 in New Brunswick, New jersey, united states. First match was played between Princeton and Rutgers. Each team consisted of 25 players. The soccer rules were used in this match. But because of so many players on the ground, it caused so many casualties. As time went on, soccer's rules were not proven to be reliable for American Football. So, changes have to be made. Walter Camp who was captain of Yale's football team and is also widely known as the father of American football was the person who changed many rules of the game in 1880. One of the crucial changes was players were reduced to 11 in each team. This rule made the game less risky than it was before. Later, the shape and size of the ball was changed and the neutral zone was also created. As this game became popular in many college teams, it started to become popular with the normal public. As the popularity of this game increased, the players were now getting paid. The bidding of players starting in at that time. But this bidding had very bad impacts on professionalism. The stability of the game was damaged and non-ethical behavior became to started in players.
There were two major organizations at that time one was National Football League (NFL) and the other was American Football League (AFL). The bidding war was at its peak before 1966. But in 1966, an agreement was signed between AFL and NFL which stopped the bidding war. This agreement was the reason for American Football's stability. After seeing many ups and down this game is now very much popular in the United States and Canada.
This game is very much popular in America according to its viewership. We find a large number of fans of this game in America. This game plays a very crucial role in colleges as a sport. There are a lot of players and teams who play this game and made their name in the world and earn a lot of money.
Because it evolved from soccer that is why people also call it football. Some people think that American Football and Rugby are the same games. Although these are similar games the rules of these games are quite different from each other. Moreover, rugby is more tough game than American Football.