Football
FOOTBALL. The game of football, as played in the United States, is a sport much different from its two ancestors, soccer and rugby. Football is a game in which two teams of 11 players each try to move a ball, by running with it or passing it, across the other team's goal. The game has distinct English roots. Its oldest forerunner is soccer, which is called association football in England and in most other parts of the world. Soccer is based on the use of the feet--and sometimes the head, legs, and chest--to control the ball. Except for the goalkeeper, players are prohibited from touching the ball with their hands (see Soccer).
Various games resembling soccer have been played for more than 2,000 years, probably starting in China, but the modern game developed in England. Rugby developed from soccer in England in the 1820s, and it is from rugby that the American brand of football evolved. Running with the ball in hand, throwing it, and kicking it are allowed in both rugby and football, but forward passing, or throwing the ball toward an opponent's goal, is not permitted in rugby. Strategies based on the running of set plays are an important part of football, but are not featured in rugby.
The principal type of football is tackle football, in which one or more defensive players attempt to bring the ballcarrier down to the ground by tackling. Two popular variations of the game, touch football and flag football, do not involve so much roughness. In touch football, the player with the ball is "tackled" simply by being touched by an opponent. Some teams play one-hand touch football and others play a two-handed version. In flag football, all the players wear belts with plastic or cloth flags, or streamers, attached. The ballcarrier is considered stopped when an opponent grabs one of his flags. Flag football is somewhat more challenging than touch football and less open to disagreements about "tackling."
Tackle football is played in...
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