Football is not just a game in America. It's an event—a big event. Millions of people attend football games or watch them on television. Thousands of others play football themselves on professional, school, or neighborhood teams, or just with friends. The games are often only a part of the colorful spectacles that go with them. Parades and marching bands, cheerleaders, and cheering fans with and horns are all part of the festivities surrounding football.
Football has its beginnings in soccer and rugby. All have the same objective, which is to get the ball to the goal and score points. Soccer was played in England in the eleventh century. The ball was advanced only by kicking it. In 1839, rugby was born when a frustrated English soccer player picked up the ball and ran down the field with it. American college students played soccer in the 1800s, but the game was called "football." Then, in 1874, a new form of the football game developed that combined both soccer and rugby. Players not only kicked the ball but also advanced it by running with it and passing it to teammates.
American football developed into a rough . Because protective equipment was not used in those days, it was quite dangerous. 1905, 18 players were killed, and 159 were seriously injured. President Theodore Roosevelt threatened football if the roughness didn't stop. The rules committee began changing the rules, and eventually football developed into the game it is today.
The basic idea of football is very simple. The team that has the ball runs with it, throws, or kicks it toward the other team's goal while the other team tries to stop them. Each time a team reaches the other's goal, it scores a certain number of points. They want to get the ball so they can score. The team that scores the most points wins the game.
The teams play for one hour, divided into four quarters. There is always a halftime break of at least fifteen minutes. The teams are allowed timeouts, which are times when the clock is stopped, and the team can get together to talk about . The clock is also stopped when players are injured and when there are penalties given for playing against the rules. Sometimes new players are those who have already*played. There are also breaks for television commercials. With all this going on, the one-hour game can easily take up to two and a half or three hours!
Football in the United States is played by more than 600 colleges and universities. The stadiums in which they play are often called "bowls." At the end of the college season, usually in December or January, the best college teams are invited to play against each other in "bowl games. There is the Orange Bowl in Miami, the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, and the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville, Florida. These games attract large crowds and offer colorful marching bands and of cheerleaders who perform a combination of gymnastics, dancing, and to entertain the audience and encourage the players.
The greatest of all the bowl games is the Rose Bowl, held in Pasadena, California, since 1902. It attracts a crowd of over 100,000 people every year and is played on New Year's Day. The game itself, however, is not the main attraction. What thousands of people come to see and millions more watch on their televisions internationally is the Tournament of Roses Parade. It is a breathtaking parade of floats covered entirely with flowers, petals, seeds, and other flower parts. Marching bands and from around the world participate and compete for prizes for the best and most beautiful float. There are circus scenes and tropical forests and giant spaceships, all covered with flowers. The parade is a spectacle of beauty that is unequaled anywhere.
After the Rose Bowl and the end of the college football season, fans turn their attention to the professional teams who are playing their own championship games. The final play-off game to decide the season's champion team is called the Super Bowl. Once again, the game is less important than all the activity surrounding it. It has now become a tradition to have "Super Bowl" parties on "Super Bowl Sunday." Usually, friends gather at one household. Everyone brings food, and some partygoers bring extra televisions that are placed outdoors and in rooms throughout the house. That way the guests, in between eating and talking, can watch the game from wherever they are.
Even those not interested in football look forward to seeing the halftime show. This has become quite an . In recent years, top entertainers have performed at the Super Bowl. Light shows and fireworks displays, marching bands, cheerleaders, and dancers are all part of halftime. It is watched by millions of viewers around the country. Part sport, part entertainment, football has become an important part of the American way of life.
