Football is a highly competitive team sport that is very popular in places like Canada and the U.S. In the United States, two professional leagues are responsible for the ongoing success of the game, namely the United Football League and the National Football League. In addition, it is played in two different levels, namely collegiate and professional. Aside from knowing the varying rules and other interesting aspects of the sport, it is also good to know its history including who invented football.
The Invention of Football
Who invented football? With games like rugby and association football or soccer considered as the major roots of the game, Walter Camp was credited as the inventor and father of American football. The reason for this is that he was a major factor in shaping the basic rules and other important fundamental aspects of the sport, which separated it completely from other sports of similar nature. These rules and aspects gave the game its identity.
Additional Facts and Other Interesting Information
Besides Canada and the U.S., the game of football continues to grow in other locations including Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom. Likewise, the game is also being played widely in countries such as Spain, Israel, Mexico, Sweden and various Pacific Island nations.
As the father of the game, Camp introduced various important fundamental aspects of the sport. Among them were the points system, system of downs and the snap-back from center. Furthermore, he is also credited for the standard offensive positioning of players. Likewise, he also introduced the concept of ‘safety,’ which is one of the important parts of the sport.
In this game, there are numerous circumstances when change of possession is possible. These include the failure of teams to secure a first down, after scoring field goals or touchdowns and after punts. In addition, there is a change in ball possession after fumbles and interceptions.
Another important aspect of the game is the scoring. It is very much possible for points to be scored after a safety, which carries a score of 2 points for the defensive team. Meanwhile, the offensive team can score 6 points after making a touchdown. After that, the offense can score another 3 points if it can hit a field goal.
For offense, each team needs tight ends, wide receivers, running backs, a quarterback and an offensive line. For defensive purposes, a team must have the secondary, defensive line and linebackers. Other important aspects that players, fans and spectators need to know in order to understand the game include penalties, free kicks and kickoffs.
