Tackle (football move)
Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary and important purposes of tackling are to dispossess an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend; the word is used in some contact variations of football to describe the act of physically holding or wrestling a player to the ground. In others, it describes one or more methods of contesting for possession of the ball, it can therefore be used as both a defensive or attacking move. In Middle Dutch, the verb tacken meant to handle. By the 14th century, this had come to be used for the equipment used for fishing, referring to the rod and reel, etc. and for that used in sailing, referring to rigging, equipment, or gear used on ships. By the 18th century, a similar use was applied to harnesses or equipment used with horses. Modern use in football comes from the earlier sport of rugby, where the word was used in the 19th century. In American football and Canadian football, to tackle is to physically interfere with the forward progress of a player in possession of the ball, such that his forward progress ceases and is not resumed, or such that he is caused to touch some part of his body to the ground other than his feet or hands, or such that he is forced to go out of bounds.
In any such case, the ball becomes dead, the down is over, play ceases until the beginning of the next play. A tackle is known as a quarterback sack when the quarterback is tackled at or behind the line of scrimmage while attempting to throw a pass. A tackle for loss indicates a tackle that causes a loss of yardage for the opposing running back or wide receiver; this happens when the quarterback is sacked, when either a rusher or a receiver is tackled behind the line of scrimmage, or when the ball is fumbled behind the line of scrimmage and was picked up by an offensive player who does not manage to move past the line before being tackled. When a player who does not have the ball is taken down, it is referred to as a block. Tacklers are not required to wrap their arms around the ball carrier before bringing him to the ground. Tackles can be made by grabbing the ball carrier's jersey and pulling him to the ground; as mentioned above, the referee can declare that a play is dead if the ball carrier's forward progress has been stopped if he has not been taken to the ground.
To protect players from catastrophic injury, there are some restrictions on tackles and blocks. At no time may a defensive player tackle an offensive player by grabbing the facemask of their helmet. Although spear tackles are allowed in gridiron football, a player may not use his helmet to tackle an opponent as the technique can cause serious injury to both players and warrants a 15-yard penalty as well as a fresh set of downs if committed by the defending team. A similar penalty is assessed to any player attempting to make contact with his helmet against another opponent's helmet, known as a helmet-to-helmet collision. Grabbing a ball carrier by the pads behind his neck and pulling him down is known as a "horse collar", a method, made illegal at all levels of American football, it is illegal to tackle a player who has thrown a forward pass after he has released the ball. However, in the NFL a player can continue forward for one step, which means that a player, committed to attacking the quarterback will still make a tackle.
Place kickers and punters are afforded an greater protection from being tackled. Once the play is ruled complete, no contact is permitted. Blocks that occur in the back of the legs and below the knees, initiated below the waist, or clotheslines are generally prohibited and players who use them are subject to much more severe penalties than other illegal tackles. However, a player who plays on the line can block below the knees as long the block is within five yards of the line and the player they block is in front of them and not engaged by another blocker. In the National Football League, tackles are tracked as an unofficial statistic by a scorekeeper hired by the home team. Though the statistic is cited, the league does not verify that the counts are accurate. Unlike other codes, tackles in association football have to be predominantly directed against the ball rather than the player in possession of it; this is achieved by using either leg to wrest possession from the opponent, or sliding in on the grass to knock the ball away.
A defender is permitted to use their body to obstruct the motion of a player with the ball, this may be part of a successful tackle. Pulling a player to the ground in the style of tackle common to other codes is absent from the game. Although some contact between players is allowed, the rules of association football limit the physicality of tackles, explicitly forbidding contacts which are "careless, reckless or excessive force
Punt (gridiron football)
In American and Canadian football, a punt is a kick performed by dropping the ball from the hands and kicking the ball before it hits the ground. The most common use of this tactic is to punt the ball downfield to the opposing team on the final down, with the hope of giving the receiving team a field position, more advantageous to the kicking team when possession changes; the result of a typical punt, barring any penalties or extraordinary circumstances, is a first down for the receiving team. A punt is not to be confused with a drop kick, a kick after the ball hits the ground, now rare in both American and Canadian football; the type of punt leads to different motion of the football. Alex Moffat invented the now-common spiral punt. A punt in gridiron football is a kick performed by dropping the ball from the hands and kicking the ball before it hits the ground. In football, the offense has a limited number of downs, or plays, in which to move the ball at least ten yards; the team in possession of the ball will punt the ball to the opposing team when they are on their final down, do not want to risk a turnover on downs by not gaining enough yardage to make a first down, do not believe they are in range for a successful field goal.
The purpose of the punt is for the team in possession, or "kicking team", to move the ball as far as possible towards the opponent's end zone. Thus, the most common use of this tactic is to punt the ball downfield to the opposing team on the final down, with the hope of giving the receiving team a field position, more advantageous to the kicking team when possession changes. A punt play involves the kicking team lining up at the line of scrimmage with the kicker, or punter lined up about 15 yards behind the center; the receiving team lines up with two players downfield to catch the ball. The center makes a long snap to the kicker who drops the ball and kicks it before it hits the ground; the player who catches the ball is entitled to attempt to advance the ball. The result of a typical punt, barring any penalties or extraordinary circumstances, is a first down for the receiving team at the spot where: the receiver or subsequent receiving team ball carrier is downed or goes out of bounds. Other possible results include the punt being blocked behind the line of scrimmage, the ball being touched, but not caught or possessed, downfield by the receiving team.
In both cases the ball is "free" and "live" and will belong to whichever team recovers it. If the kicked ball is blocked and fails to cross the line of scrimmage, it may be picked up and advanced by either team. However, if it is picked up by the kicking team, the play is treated as any other play from scrimmage; the official rules regulate when and how the receiving team may hit the kicker before and after the kick. If the receiving team drops the ball or touches the ball beyond the line of scrimmage without catching it it is considered a live ball and may be recovered by either team. If the receiving team never had full possession, it is considered to be a muffed punt rather than a fumble. However, the receiving player must be pursuing the ball. If the receiving player is blocked into the ball, it is not considered "touching" the ball. A field goal cannot be scored on a punt kick. By contrast, the now rarely attempted drop kick can be used to score either field goals or extra points in both American and Canadian football.
The player attempting to catch the kicked ball may attempt a fair catch. If caught, the ball becomes dead and the receiving team gets the ball at the spot of the catch. A touchback may be called if any of the following occur: The kicked ball lands in the receiving team's end zone without first touching any player, whether as a direct result of the kick or a bounce; the receiving team catches the ball in its own end zone and downs it before advancing the ball out of the end zone. The ball enters exits the end zone behind the goal line. After a touchback, the receiving team gets the ball at its own 20-yard line If a player from the kicking team is the first to touch the ball after it crosses the line of scrimmage, "illegal touching" is called and the receiving team gains possession at the spot where the illegal touching occurred; this is not considered to be detrimental to the kicking team. Since there is no further yardage penalty awarded, the kicking team is said to have "downed the ball" when this occurs.
While the ball is not automatically dead upon an illegal touch, can be advanced by t
Placekicker
Placekicker, or kicker, is the player in American and Canadian football, responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter as well; the kicker was not a specialized role. Prior to the 1934 standardization of the prolate spheroid shape of the ball, drop kicking was the prevalent method of kicking field goals and conversions, but after its replacement by place kicking, until the 1960s the kicker always doubled at another position on the roster. George Blanda, Frank Gifford and Paul Hornung are prominent examples of players who were stars at other positions as well as being known for their kicking abilities; when the one-platoon system was abolished in the 1940s, the era of "two-way" players gave way to increased specialization, teams would employ a specialist at the punter or kicker position. Ben Agajanian, who started his professional career in 1945, was the first confirmed place-kicking specialist in the NFL, kicking for ten teams.
Because of the difference in techniques needed, to avoid leg fatigue, to reduce the risk of injury, on the professional level most teams employ separate players to handle the jobs. The placekicker will only punt when the punter is injured, vice versa. A professional team will even have a kickoff specialist who handles only the kickoffs and serves as a backup to the kicker who handles field goals and extra points; this is done to further protect a premier point-scoring kicker from injury or if he, while accurate, does not have sufficient distance on kickoffs. Amateur teams do not differentiate between placekickers and punters, have different players assume different placekicking duties, or have regular position players handle kicking duties; the last option is quite common on high school teams, when the best athletes are the best kickers. Before the modern era of pro football, this was the case for professional teams when most placekicks were still made in the "straight on" style outlined below.
Although kickers are protected from direct physical contact on field goal attempts, this is not true on kickoffs, a kicker can see significant contact during a kick return. Kicker Björn Nittmo notably suffered severe brain damage from a hit he sustained on a kickoff in 1997. Placekickers and punters are the lowest paid starters on professional teams, although proven placekickers sometimes earn over $1 million per year in salary, it is not uncommon for placekickers to be some of the smallest members of their team. However, The New York Times in 2011 wrote that NFL kickers had adopted year-round weight training and strict diets. Sebastian Janikowski that year was a 250-pound kicker. Kicker Rob Bironas, 6 feet and 205 pounds, noted, "I might be bigger than some wide receivers and cornerbacks."The presence of foreign born-and-raised players in the highest levels of gridiron football has been limited to placekickers, more to punters from Australia as well. These players come from outside the traditional American high school or college football systems—and all but one of the women to have played men's American football at the college level were placekickers while the lone exception was a placekick holder.
Notably Tom Landry recruited several soccer players from Latin America, such as Efren Herrera and Raphael Septien, to compete for the job of placekicker for the Dallas Cowboys. Cypriot Garo Yepremian was renowned as much for his kicking proficiency as he was for his complete lack of awareness of the sport early in his career; these anecdotes increase the perception of the placekicker as an outsider. As of 2017, only four kickers have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame: George Blanda, Lou Groza, Jan Stenerud and Morten Andersen, among them and Andersen are the only ones who did not play another position. There is only one special teams player to win the NFL's MVP – Mark Moseley in 1982. Due to their duties in kicking both field goals and extra points placekickers are responsible for scoring more points than any other player on a team, often entire football games may come down to a single kick; the top 25 players in NFL history in career scoring are all placekickers. Justin Tucker is the highest paid kicker in the NFL.
In the NFL, along with punters and quarterbacks, are among the only players allowed to wear single-digit uniform numbers. In college and high school football, kickers can wear any number and wear one of an eligible receiver; because kickers are less prominent on team rosters, low uniform numbers are much more used among other positions at those levels, kickers are given high jersey numbers that go unused by other players. The two players in documented football history to have worn the uniform number 100, Chuck Kinder and Bill Bell, were both placekickers. Placekickers today are predominantly "soccer-style" kickers, approaching the ball from several steps to the left of it [for a right-footed ki
1917 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team
The 1917 Georgia Tech Golden Tornado football team represented the Georgia Institute of Technology in American football during the 1917 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association football season. The Golden Tornado, coached by John Heisman in his 14th year as head coach, compiled a 9–0 record and outscored opponents 491 to 17 on the way to its first national championship. Heisman considered the 1917 team his best, for many years it was considered "the greatest football team the South had produced"; the team was named national champion by Billingsley, Houlgate, NCF The backfield of Albert Hill, Everett Strupper, Joe Guyon, Judy Harlan led the Golden Tornado, all four rushed for more than 100 yards in a 48–0 victory over Tulane. During the regular season Georgia Tech defeated strong opponents by large margins, its 41–0 victory over eastern power Penn shocked many. Davidson, with Buck Flowers, was defeated 32–10. Tech's 83–0 victory over Vanderbilt is the worst loss in Vanderbilt history, its 63–0 defeat of Washington & Lee was the worst loss in W&L history at the time.
Tech finished the season by defeating Auburn 68 -- 7. Davidson and Auburn were the only teams to score points against Georgia Tech; because of the American entry into World War I in April, several SIAA schools did not field football teams. However, Georgia Tech had an increasing enrollment and bright prospects for its football team after its undefeated 1916 season. Losses from the previous season's team included fullback Tommy Spence. In 1917 football used a one-platoon system, in which players played both offense and defense. Fifteen of the 21 players on the 1917 roster were from the state of Georgia, 10 of its 11 starters came from Georgia high schools; the team's captain was tackle Walker "Big Six" Carpenter. Its renowned backfield consisted of quarterback Al Hill, halfback Everett Strupper, halfback Joe Guyon, freshman fullback Judy Harlan. Coach John Heisman's swift backfield used the pre-snap movement of his "jump shift" offense, Al Hill led the team in carries. Ev Strupper, arguably the best of the four, was deaf.
When "Strupe" tried out for the team, he noticed that the quarterback shouted the signals every time he was to carry the ball. Realizing that the loud signals would be a tip-off to the opposition, Strupper told Heisman: "Coach, those loud signals are unnecessary. You see when sickness in my kid days brought on this deafness my folks gave me the best instructors obtainable to teach me lip-reading." Heisman recalled. But he could read your lips like a flash. No lad that stepped on a football field had keener eyes than Everett had; the enemy found this out the minute he began looking for openings through which to run the ball."Joe Guyon, the team's best passer, was a Chippewa Indian, born on the White Earth Indian Reservation. Guyon had played for Pop Warner at Carlisle, had to sit out the 1916 season in accordance with conference transfer rules, he ran in contrast to Strupper's dodging style. Judy Harlan said about Guyon, "Once in a while the Indian would come out in Joe, such as the nights Heisman gave us a white football and had us working out under the lights.
That's when Guyon would give out the blood curdling war whoops." The Golden Tornado opened its season on September 29 with a doubleheader in three inches of mud. In the first game Georgia Tech defeated Furman 25–0, playing substitutes. Hay was spread on the field in an attempt to counteract the steady downpour. Tech quarterback Al Hill scored two touchdowns, Dan Whelchel scored a third when he recovered a fumble by Theodore Shaver after crossing the goal line. Although Furman's lineup included future South Carolina Hall-of-Famer Speedy Speer, there was little Speer could do to affect the outcome. Tech's starting lineup was Ulrich, Whelchel, Wright, Colcord, Smith and Harlan. After the Furman game, the rain subsided and Tech defeated the Wake Forest Baptists 33–0. Ev Strupper and Joe Guyon had sat out the previous game; the first touchdown was on the play. Strupper scored the second touchdown on a short drive set up by his 40-yard punt return. Early in the second quarter, Strupper shot through the line for the third touchdown.
Tech's fourth touchdown required considerable effort and a methodical drive, ending in a 15-yard dive for a touchdown by Strupper. End runs by Guyon and Simpson's line plunging set up the fifth touchdown with Guyon's 6-yard run. Strupper ran for 198 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries. Tech's starting lineup was Bell, Thweatt, Dowling, Carpenter, Strupper and Armsley. In the second week of play, Georgia Tech beat Penn 41–0. Bernie McCarty called it "Strupper's finest hour, coming through against powerful Penn in the contest that shocked the East." In comparison, Pop Warner's undefeated Pittsburgh defeated Penn 14–6. Penn was the first northeastern powerhouse to lose to a team from the South. Both Strupper and Hill rushed for more than 100 yards
Hash marks
Hash marks are short lines, running perpendicular to sidelines or sideboards, used to mark locations in sports. In ice hockey, the hash marks are two pairs of parallel lines on either side of the face-off circles in both ends of the rink. Players must remain on their team's side of the hash mark nearest their own goal during a face-off until the puck hits the ice. In US football and Canadian football, the hash marks are two rows of lines near the middle of the field that are parallel to the side lines; these small lines are used to mark the 1-yard sections between each of the 5-yard lines, which go from sideline to sideline. All plays start with the ball between the hash marks; that is, if the ball is downed in between a hash mark and the nearest sideline, it must be placed on that hash mark for the next play. Prior to the adoption of hash marks, all plays began where the ball was declared dead, including extra point attempts; the hashmarks in that indoor 1932 playoff game were 10 yards from the sideline, that width was adopted by the NFL for the 1933 season.
It was increased to 15 yards in 1935, 20 yards in 1945, to the current 23 yards, 1 foot, 9 inches in 1972. In most forms of professional football in the U. S. including the National Football League and most forms of indoor football, the hash marks are in line with the goal posts, both being 18 feet 6 inches apart in the NFL and between 9 and 10 feet in indoor football. High school football, college football and Canadian football have hash marks wider than the goal posts; the college football standard, the previous standard in the NFL, is 40 feet apart, introduced in 1993. The college width was the same as the high school standard, at one-third of the width of the field; the Canadian standard is 51 feet in width, 24 yards from each sideline. A Canadian football field width is 65 yards, 35 feet wider than those in the United States
American football
American football, referred to as football in the United States and Canada and known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team controlling the oval-shaped football, attempts to advance down the field by running with or passing the ball, while the defense, the team without control of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and aims to take control of the ball for themselves; the offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, otherwise they turn over the football to the defense. Points are scored by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's 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 match of American football was played on November 6, 1869, between two college teams and Princeton, under rules based on the association football rules of the time.
During the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. 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, the concept of downs; the sport is related to Canadian football, which evolved parallel and contemporary to the American game, most of the features that distinguish American football from rugby and soccer are present in Canadian football. American football as a whole 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. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually all of them men, with a few exceptions. The National Football League, the most popular American football league, has the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world.
In the United States, American Football is called "football". The terms "gridiron" or "American football" are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Australia. American football evolved from the sports of rugby football. Rugby football, like American football, is a sport where two competing teams vie for control of a ball, which can be kicked through a set of goalposts or run into the opponent's goal area to score points. 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, head or sides, with the ultimate goal being to advance it into the opponent's goal. Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for several years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school.
Representatives of Yale, Columbia and Rutgers met on October 19, 1873 to create a standard set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, 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. After playing McGill University using both Canadian and American rules, the Harvard players preferred the Canadian style having only 11 men on the field, running the ball without having to be chased by an opponent, the forward pass and using an oblong instead of a round ball. An 1875 Harvard–Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes; these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to "selling refrigerators to Eskimos." Princeton, Harvard and Columbia agreed to intercollegiate 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.
Yale player Walter Camp, now regarded as the "Father of American Football", secured rule changes in 1880 that reduced the size of each team from 15 to 11 players and instituted the snap to replace the chaotic and inconsistent scrum. The introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt. 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. This "block game" proved unpopular with the spectators and fans of both teams. A rule change was necessary to prevent this strategy from taking hold, a reversion to the scrum was considered. However, Camp proposed a rule in 1882 that limited each team to three downs, or tackles, to adva
