1.
American football
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The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
2.
College Football All-Southern Team
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The College Football All-Southern Team was an all-star team of college football players from the Southern United States. The honor was given annually to the best players at their respective positions and it is analogous to the All-America Team and was most often selected in newspapers. Notable pickers of All-Southern teams include John Heisman, Dan McGugin, Grantland Rice, W. A. Lambeth, Reynolds Tichenor, Nash Buckingham, Innis Brown, virginias 115–0 drubbing by Princeton in 1890 signaled footballs arrival in the south. For example, North Carolina was in both the SIAA and SAIAA at different points in its history, and Virginia Tech had one year in the SIAA. Clemson, today in the ACC, was in the SIAA, the SIAA was the oldest of these, founded in the winter of 1894 by Vanderbilt chemistry professor William Lofland Dudley. This organization really represents the south, as its scope is wider. V. P. I. can scarcely be figured in the calculation as that institution hasnt played any of the S. I. A. A. representatives. South Atlantic writers of course were not fond of this, and would sometimes critique the latest All-Southern selection with titles such as Virginia, in 1922 teams from the SIAA and SAIAA left for the Southern Conference and All-Southern teams become effectively All-Southern Conference teams. By 1933 the contemporary Southeastern Conference was established, Walter Camps annual official All-America first team had been historically loaded with college players from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, and other Northeastern colleges. Many selectors picked only Eastern players, in 1894, Michigan defeated Cornell and lobbied for its center Fatty Smith to be the first Western All-American. Notably the University of Michigan claims for their center Fatty Smith the supremacy in his position, but the western institutions have not yet mastered the eastern knowledge of all the details and fine points of the game. Smith has made a record against the west and even against Cornell. When brought to face a man like the Stillman of today or the Bulliet of last year, Smith would simply be lost, so it would be with all of the claimants for line positions from western teams. And no one claims for a moment that western back field men could play in the class with eastern men. The selectors were typically Eastern writers and former players who attended games in the East. The article noted, Eastern sporting editors must be devoid of all sense of humor, what man in the lot that have picked All-American elevens this fall, saw a single game outside the North Atlantic States. With a conceit all their own they fail to recognize that the United States reaches more than 200 miles in any direction from New York, suppose an Ohio football writer picked All-American teams. Ohio readers would not stand for it, but apparently the eastern readers will swallow anything
3.
Transylvania University
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Transylvania University is a private university in Lexington, Kentucky, United States. It was founded in 1780, making it the first university in Kentucky and it offers 36 major programs, as well as dual-degree engineering programs, and is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Its medical program graduated 8,000 physicians by 1859 and its enduring footprint, both in national and southern academia, make it among the most prolific cultural establishments and the most storied institutions in the South. Transylvania was the first college west of the Allegheny Mountains, and was the namesake of the Colony of Transylvania, Latin for across the woods, Thomas Jefferson was governor of Virginia when the Virginia Assembly chartered Transylvania Seminary in 1780. Called Transylvania University by 1799, its first sponsor was the Christ Episcopal Churchs rector, the school later became affiliated with the Presbyterian Church. Originally situated in a log cabin in Boyle County, Kentucky, the first site in Lexington was a single building in what is now the historic Gratz Park. By 1818, a new building was constructed for students classes. Later, in 1829, that burned, and the school was moved to its present location north of Third Street. Old Morrison, the campus building at the time, was constructed 1830–34, under the supervision of Henry Clay. After 1818, the university included a school, a law school, a divinity school. This school was not affiliated with the modern University of Kentucky, founded by Baptist churches in Kentucky, Bacon College operated from 1837 to 1851. It was also distinct from nearby Georgetown College, another Baptist-supported institution and this school closed in 1860 and its Harrodsburg building burned in 1864. By mutual agreement and an act of the legislature the college was merged with Transylvania University in 1865. It attracted many politically ambitious young men including Stephen F. Austin, following the devastating Civil War, Kentucky University was hit by a major fire, and both it and Transylvania University were left in dire financial straits. In 1865, both institutions secured permission to merge, the new institution used Transylvanias campus in Lexington while perpetuating the Kentucky University name. However, due to questions regarding having a federally funded land-grant college controlled by a religious body, the A&M of Kentucky soon developed into one of the states flagship public universities, the University of Kentucky. Kentucky Universitys College of the Bible, which traced its roots to Bacon Colleges Department of Hebrew Literature, Transylvanias seminary eventually became a separate institution, but remained housed on the Kentucky University campus until 1950. It later changed its name to the Lexington Theological Seminary, in 1903, Hamilton College, a Lexington-based womens college founded in 1869, merged into Kentucky University
4.
Florida Gators football
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The Florida Gators football program represents the University of Florida in American college football. Florida competes in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association and they play their home games in Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium on the universitys Gainesville campus. The Gators have won three championships and eight SEC titles in the 108-season history of Floridas varsity football program. The Florida football program has evolved from its beginnings and achieved notable successes. Florida has had a home field since the beginning of their football program. Since 1930, their home field has been Steve Spurrier-Florida Field at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, the stadium was known as Florida Field until 1989 when its name was extended to honor alumnus and sports benefactor Ben Hill Griffin. During the 1990s, football coach Steve Spurrier called the stadium the Swamp, the quickly became popular. Since 1906 Florida has had twenty-five head coaches, including three who were inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame for their coaching success and their first head coach was Pee Wee Forsythe in 1906, the 2015 season was the first for their twenty-fifth head coach, Jim McElwain. During the programs early years, Florida was a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association, in 1932 the University of Florida was a founding member of the Southeastern Conference, and it is currently one of fourteen member institutions. The Gators have competed in the SEC Eastern Division since the league began play in 1992. Florida plays an eight-game SEC schedule, with six games against the other Eastern Division teams, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, the schedule is filled out with an annual game against Louisiana State and a rotating SEC Western Division team. Until 2003, the Gators also played Auburn every season, Florida has also played in-state rival Florida State every year since 1958, usually facing off in the last game of the regular season. The two teams emergence as perennial football powers during the 1980s and 1990s helped build the Florida–Florida State rivalry into a game often has national-title implications. The remaining dates on Floridas regular schedule are filled by non-conference opponents which vary from year to year, previously known as the worlds largest outdoor cocktail party, it is most commonly called the Florida–Georgia game by Gator fans. The game is held at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida, the designated home team alternates, with ticket distribution split evenly between the schools. In the rivalrys early years, games rotated among locations in Savannah, Georgia, Tampa, Florida, Jacksonville and, occasionally, Gainesville, since 1933 the game has been played in Jacksonville, except for 1994 and 1995. Georgia had early success in the rivalry, winning the first six games, after the 2014 game Florida had won 21 out of the most-recent 27 games, and holds a 38–28–1 advantage in the series since 1950. The Bulldogs lead the overall, 49–43–2
5.
Green Bay Packers
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The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference North division. They are also the third-oldest franchise in the NFL, organized and it is the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team based in the United States. Home games are played at Lambeau Field, the Packers are the last vestige of small town teams common in the NFL during the 1920s and 1930s. Founded in 1919 by Earl Curly Lambeau and George Whitney Calhoun, between 1919 and 1920, the Packers competed against other semi-pro clubs from around Wisconsin and the Midwest. They joined the American Professional Football Association, the forerunner of todays NFL, the Packers have won 13 league championships, the most in NFL history, with nine NFL titles before the Super Bowl era and four Super Bowl victories. They won the first two Super Bowls in 1967 and 1968 and were the only NFL team to defeat the American Football League prior to the AFL–NFL merger. The Vince Lombardi Trophy is named after the Packers head coach of the same name and their two further Super Bowl wins came in 1997 and 2011. The Packers are long-standing adversaries of the Chicago Bears, Minnesota Vikings, and Detroit Lions, the Bears–Packers rivalry is one of the oldest in NFL history, dating back to 1921. The Green Bay Packers were founded on August 11,1919 by former high-school football rivals Earl Curly Lambeau, Lambeau solicited funds for uniforms from his employer, the Indian Packing Company. He was given $500 for uniforms and equipment, on the condition that the team be named for its sponsor, the Green Bay Packers have played in their original city longer than any other team in the NFL. On August 27,1921, the Packers were granted a franchise in the new pro football league that had been formed the previous year. Financial troubles plagued the team and the franchise was forfeited within the year, before Lambeau found new financial backers and these backers, known as the Hungry Five, formed the Green Bay Football Corporation. After a near-miss in 1927, Lambeaus squad claimed the Packers first NFL title in 1929 with an undefeated 12–0–1 campaign, among the many impressive accomplishments of these years was the Packers streak of 29 consecutive home games without defeat, an NFL record which still stands. The arrival of end Don Hutson from Alabama in 1935 gave Lambeau, credited with inventing pass patterns, Hutson would lead the league in receptions eight seasons and spur the Packers to NFL championships in 1936,1939 and 1944. An iron man, Hutson played both ways, leading the league in interceptions as a safety in 1940, Hutson claimed 18 NFL records when he retired in 1945, many of which still stand. In 1951, his number 14 was the first to be retired by the Packers, after Hutsons retirement, Lambeau could not stop the Packers slide. He purchased a large lodge near Green Bay for team members, rockwood Lodge was the home of the 1946-1949 Packers, though the 1947 and 1948 seasons produced a record of 12-10-1, and 1949 was even worse at 3-9
6.
Detroit Tigers
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The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the American League Central division. One of the ALs eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in 1901 and they are the oldest continuous one-name, one-city franchise in the AL. The Tigers have won four World Series championships,11 AL pennants, the Tigers also won division titles in 1972,1984 and 1987 while members of the AL East. The team currently plays its games at Comerica Park in Downtown Detroit. The Tigers constructed Bennett Park at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Trumbull Avenue in Corktown, in 1912, the team moved into Navin Field, which was built on the same location. It was expanded in 1938 and renamed Briggs Stadium and it was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961 and the Tigers played there until moving to Comerica Park in 2000. The club is a member of the American League, one of four clubs still located in its original city. It was established as a member in 1901. The Tigers played their first game as a league team at home against the Milwaukee Brewers on April 25,1901. After entering the ninth inning behind 13–4, the team staged a comeback to win 14–13. The team finished third in the eight-team league,11 years later, an elegant stadium was constructed on the site of Bennett Park and named Navin Field for owner Frank Navin. In 1938, it was improved and named Briggs Stadium, and was subsequently renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961, Tiger Stadium was used by the Tigers until the end of the 1999 season. Since 2000, they have played in Comerica Park, there are various legends about how the Tigers got their nickname. One involves the orange stripes they wore on their black stockings, Tigers manager George Stallings took credit for the name, however, the name appeared in newspapers before Stallings was manager. Another legend concerns a sportswriter equating the 1901 teams opening day victory with the ferocity of his alma mater and they had played significant roles in certain Civil War battles and in the 1898 Spanish–American War. The baseball team was informally called both Wolverines and Tigers in the news. The earliest known use of the name Tigers in the media was in the Detroit Free Press on April 16,1895, upon entry into the majors, the ballclub sought and received formal permission from the Light Guard to use its trademark
7.
Cincinnati Reds
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The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Reds compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. They were a member of the American Association in 1882. The Reds played in the NL West division from 1969 to 1993 and they have won five World Series titles, nine NL pennants, one AA pennant, and 10 division titles. The team plays its games at Great American Ball Park. Bob Castellini has been executive officer since 2006. The origins of the modern Cincinnati Reds can be traced to the expulsion of a team bearing that name. Both were important activities to entice the citys large German population, while Hulbert made clear his distaste for both beer and Sunday baseball at the founding of the league, neither practice was actually against league rules in those early years. On October 6,1880, however, seven of the eight team owners pledged at a league meeting to formally ban both beer and Sunday baseball at the regular league meeting that December. Only Cincinnati president W. H. Kennett refused to sign the pledge, when these attempts failed, he formed a new independent ballclub known as the Red Stockings in the Spring of 1881, and brought the team to St. Louis for a weekend exhibition. The Reds first game was a 12–3 victory over the St. Louis club, upon arriving in the city, however, Caylor and Thorner discovered that no other owners had decided to accept the invitation, with even Phillips not bothering to attend his own meeting. By chance, the duo met a former pitcher named Al Pratt, the ploy worked, and the American Association was officially formed at the Hotel Gibson in Cincinnati with the new Reds a charter member with Thorner as president. The club never placed higher than second or lower than fifth for the rest of its tenure in the American Association, the National League was happy to accept the teams in part due to the emergence of the new Players League. This new league, a failed attempt to break the reserve clause in baseball. Because the National League decided to expand while the American Association was weakening and it was also at this time that the team first shortened their name from Red Stockings to Reds. The Reds wandered through the 1890s signing local stars and aging veterans, during this time, the team never finished above third place and never closer than 10½ games. At the start of the 20th century, the Reds had hitting stars Sam Crawford, seymours.377 average in 1905 was the first individual batting crown won by a Red. In 1911, Bob Bescher stole 81 bases, which is still a team record, like the previous decade, the 1900s were not kind to the Reds, as much of the decade was spent in the leagues second division
8.
Philadelphia Eagles
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The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football franchise based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Eagles compete in the National Football League as a club of the leagues National Football Conference East division. The franchise was established in 1933 as a replacement for the bankrupt Frankford Yellow Jackets, when a group led by Bert Bell secured the rights to an NFL franchise in Philadelphia. Bell, Chuck Bednarik, Bob Brown, Reggie White, Steve Van Buren, Tommy McDonald, Greasy Neale, Pete Pihos, Sonny Jurgensen, the team has an intense rivalry with the New York Giants. This rivalry is the oldest in the NFC East and is among the oldest in the NFL and they also have a historic rivalry with the Washington Redskins, as well as their bitter rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys, which has become more high-profile in the last three decades. The team consistently ranks in the top three in attendance and has sold out every game since the 1999 season, in a Sports Illustrated poll of 321 NFL players, Eagles fans were selected the most intimidating fans in the NFL. Midway through the 1931 season, the Frankford Yellow Jackets went bankrupt, the Bell-Wray group had to pay an entry fee of $3,500 and assumed a total debt of $11,000 that was owed to three other NFL franchises. Neither the Eagles nor the NFL officially regard the two franchises as the same, citing the period of dormancy. Furthermore, almost no Yellow Jackets players were on the Eagles first roster, the Eagles, along with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the now-defunct Cincinnati Reds, joined the NFL as expansion teams. To accommodate football at Shibe Park during the winter, management set up stands in right field, some 20 feet high, these east stands had 22 rows of seats. The goalposts stood along the first base line and in left field, the uncovered east stands enlarged capacity of Shibe Park to over 39,000, but the Eagles rarely drew more than 25 to 30,000. The Eagles struggled over the course of their first decade, enduring repeated losing seasons, soon after, Bell and Rooney traded the Eagles franchise to Thompson and moved it to Pittsburgh, while Thompson moved the Steelers franchise to Philadelphia. By the late 1940s, head coach Earle Greasy Neale and running back Steve Van Buren led the team to three consecutive NFL Championship Games, winning two of them in 1948 and 1949. After the 1957 season, the Eagles moved from Connie Mack Stadium to Franklin Field at the University of Pennsylvania, Franklin Field would seat over 60,000 for the Eagles, whereas Connie Mack had a capacity of 39,000. The stadium switched from grass to AstroTurf in 1969 and it was the first NFL stadium to use artificial turf. In 1960, the Eagles won their third NFL championship, under the leadership of future Pro Football Hall of Famers Norm Van Brocklin and Chuck Bednarik, the head coach was Buck Shaw. The 1960 Eagles, by a score of 17–13, became the team to defeat Vince Lombardi. The Eagles had a good 1961 season and then fell on hard times in 1962
9.
Quarterback
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A quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the team and line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is considered the leader of the offensive team. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually the leader of the offense, the quarterback touches the ball on almost every offensive play, and his successes and failures can have a significant impact on the fortunes of his team. Accordingly, the quarterback is among the most glorified and scrutinized positions in team sports, prior to each play, the quarterback will usually tell the rest of his team which play the team will run. After the team is lined up, the center will pass the ball back to the quarterback, usually on a running play, the quarterback will then hand or pitch the ball backwards to a half back or full back. On a passing play, the quarterback is almost always the responsible for trying to throw the ball downfield to an eligible receiver downfield. Depending on the scheme by his team, the quarterbacks role can vary. While quarterbacks in Canadian football need to be able to throw the ball often, in the NFL, quarterbacks are required to wear a uniform number between 1 and 19. In the CFL, the quarterback can wear any number from 0 to 49 and 70 to 99. Because of their numbering, quarterbacks are eligible receivers in the NCAA, NFHS, after a Super Bowl victory, the starting quarterback is the first player to be presented with the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The starting quarterback of the victorious Super Bowl team is chosen for the Im going to Disney World. Campaign, whether they are the Super Bowl MVP or not, examples include Joe Montana, Trent Dilfer, Dilfer was chosen even though teammate Ray Lewis was the MVP of Super Bowl XXXV, due to the bad publicity from Lewis murder trial the prior year. In addition to their role, quarterbacks are occasionally used in other roles. Most teams utilize a backup quarterback as their holder on placekicks, in the Wildcat, a formation where a halfback lines up behind the center and the quarterback lines up out wide, the quarterback can be used as a receiving target or a blocker. A more rare use for a quarterback is to punt the ball himself, Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway was known to perform quick kicks occasionally, typically when the Broncos were facing a third-and-long situation. As Roger Staubachs back-up, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Danny White was also the teams punter, ascending the starting role upon Staubachs retirement, White held his position as the teams punter for several seasons—a double duty he performed to All-American standard at Arizona State University. White also had two touchdown receptions as a Dallas Cowboy, both from the halfback option, if quarterbacks are uncomfortable with the formation the defense is using, they may call an audible change to their play
10.
Halfback (American football)
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A halfback is an offensive position in American football, whose duties involve lining up in the backfield and carrying the ball on most rushing plays, i. e. a running back. The halfback position is one of the more glamorous positions on the field, sometimes the halfback can catch the ball from the backfield on short passing plays as he is an eligible receiver. Occasionally, they line up as wide receivers. When not running or catching the ball, the responsibility of a halfback is to aid the offensive linemen in blocking. Before the emergence of the T-formation in the 1940s, all members of the backfield were legitimate threats to run or pass the ball. Most teams used four offensive backs on every play, a quarterback, the quarterback began each play a quarter of the way back, the halfbacks began each play side by side and halfway back, and the fullback began each play the farthest back. Historically, from the 1870s through the 1950s, the position was both an offensive and defensive position. There has also been a shift in most offense’s dependence on halfbacks, however, the average output of the halfback has not changed. Older systems require the halfback be proficient at throwing the ball downfield as well, many of the “scat backs” in the modern era produce more total yards and touchdowns than their ancestor “power backs” by breaking off big plays on outside runs and receptions. The spread offense and the hurry-up offense change the halfback’s role, the spread, the hurry-up, and the pro-style offenses dominate American football but the “smash-mouth” style of play is far from extinct. A power-running scheme is often utilized to counter an effective Spread attack, as it allows a team to control the clock and this strategy is utilized in NFL, college, and all other forms of American football. The need for “power backs is very prevalent, alongside the need for “scat backs”, in the past few decades the role of the halfback has gone through a great shift as most offensive game plans are now fueled by creativity and finesse instead of raw force. Stamina and durability is more important than ever in the hurry-up offense, on the other hand, speed is often valued over strength, and pass-catching ability is sometimes valued over blocking proficiency. Power was once the most desired trait in a halfback, but has been taken by the need for a diverse skill set. In the last few decades the running back’s individual share of output has declined as quarterbacks are generally treated as the cornerstone of the offense. The demands of an up-tempo offense also favor a multiple running back system, from the dawn of American football through the 1880s most offensive schemes focused on the running game. In a running based game plan the halfback was typically the cornerstone of the offense and this system focused on a physical run attack concentrated in the inside of the field, and therefore depended on a skilled “power back”. There were no forward passes, and pure speed took a backseat to tackle-breaking and bucking ability, there was a focus on physicality over finesse, as this type of playing style earned the moniker of “smash mouth” football
