The game of football is a sport that requires immense athleticism and stamina. The stopping and starting of the game, along with sprinting to catch a ball, causes players to work out intensely without taking time to recover. This type of workout is better for overall fitness than continuous running, and it increases endurance and improves cardiovascular capacity. Studies suggest that the adrenaline rush experienced while playing football also helps relieve stress and can even lower blood pressure.
Football is a team sport played on a field that is about a hundred yards long with goal lines at each end and yard markers every five yards. There are eleven players on each team. The object of the game is to advance the ball by running or throwing it into the opponent’s end zone and scoring points by doing so. Tackling an opposing player while he has the ball in his own end zone results in two points (a safety). The other method of scoring is by kicking the ball through the goal posts and earning six points.
To start a play, one player from each team lines up in front of the line of scrimmage. This line is where the ball is placed at the beginning of each down, and it is where a team will receive four chances to gain 10 or more yards. If the offensive team fails to achieve 10 yards in four downs, they must punt the ball to the other side of the field.
The players on the offensive team consist of a quarterback, wide receivers and running backs. The quarterback, or QB, throws passes to the wide receivers and hands the ball to the running backs to gain yards. The center, left guard, right guard and right tackle make up the offensive line. They protect the quarterback by blocking opposing players so he has enough time to throw the ball.
When a play begins, the ball is snapped from the center to the quarterback. He then passes it to the fullback or running back who has gained a forward motion by gaining ground on his run. The quarterback can also pass the ball to a tight end or wide receiver, or he may hand it off to a running back.
On defense, the linebackers (MLB and OLB) try to stop runners and break up passing plays by tackling opponents before they can get past the line of scrimmage. The safeties are deep behind the linebackers and try to prevent quarterbacks from throwing long passes.
The clock doesn’t always stop during a game because the referees will throw a flag when a player goes out of bounds, a penalty is called or if the pass is incomplete. The clock also stops if a team kicks the ball out of bounds or if a player is tackled in their own end zone, which results in the other team being given a free kick.