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. The most popular forms of the game are professional and college football, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. , nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually. The National Football League, the most popular American professional football league, 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 in the world. The league has an annual revenue of around US$15 billion, making it the most valuable sports league in the world. Other professional leagues exist worldwide, but the sport does not have the international popularity of other American sports like baseball or basketball. (Full article...)Lumen Field is a multi-purpose stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. Located in the city's SoDo neighborhood, it is the home field for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL), the Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer (MLS), and OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Originally called Seahawks Stadium, it was renamed Qwest Field in June 2004 when telecommunications carrier Qwest acquired the naming rights. The stadium became known as CenturyLink Field following Qwest's June 2011 acquisition by CenturyLink and was nicknamed "The Clink" as a result; it received its current name in November 2020 with CenturyLink's rebrand to Lumen Technologies. It is a modern facility with views of the Downtown Seattle skyline and a seating capacity of 68,740 spectators for NFL games and 37,722 for most MLS matches. The complex also includes the Event Center which is home to the Washington Music Theater (WaMu Theater), a parking garage, and a public plaza. The venue hosts concerts, trade shows, and consumer shows along with sporting events. Located within a mile (1.6 km) of Downtown Seattle, the stadium is accessible by multiple freeways and forms of mass transit.
The stadium was built between 2000 and 2002 on the site of the Kingdome after voters approved funding for the construction in a statewide election held in June 1997. This vote created the Washington State Public Stadium Authority to oversee public ownership of the venue. The owner of the Seahawks, Paul Allen, formed First & Goal Inc. to develop and operate the new facilities. Allen was closely involved in the design process and emphasized the importance of an open-air venue with an intimate atmosphere. (Full article...)General images
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Dec 11 | Army–Navy Game | Army vs Navy |
Dec 18 | Independence Bowl | #3 BYU vs UAB |
Dec 25 | NFL on Christmas | Cleveland Browns vs Green Bay Packers Indianapolis Colts vs Arizona Cardinals |
Dec 29 | Alamo Bowl | #16 Oklahoma vs #14 Oregon |
Dec 30 | Peach Bowl | #10 Michigan State vs #12 Pittsburgh |
Dec 31 | Cotton Bowl Classic | #1 Alabama vs #4 Cincinnati |
Orange Bowl | #2 Michigan vs #3 Georgia | |
Jan 1 | Fiesta Bowl | #5 Notre Dame vs #9 Oklahoma State |
Rose Bowl | #11 Utah vs #6 Ohio State | |
Sugar Bowl | #7 Baylor Bears vs #8 Ole Miss | |
2021 season: NFL • NCAA FBS (Bowl games) |
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“ | College football: I do not see the relationship of those highly industrialized affairs on Saturday afternoons to higher learning in America. | ” |
— Robert Maynard Hutchins University of Chicago president, on the putative extra-academic character and corporate, professional nature of the collegiate game in the United States |
Did you know...
- ...that while at the University of Miami, Devin Hester, pictured, became the first person in the university’s history to play in all three phases of American football?
- ...that in 1968, placekicker Garo Yepremian left his professional football career with the Detroit Lions to enlist in the United States Army?
- ...that during his senior season at the University of Pittsburgh, linebacker Hugh Green won the Walter Camp Award, the Maxwell Award, the Lombardi Award, and finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting to running back George Rogers?
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