Football 101

Let me begin with a confession. Until a few years ago, I had zero interest in football. I didn't know a touchdown from a touchback and I didn't feel my life was any less complete. I'd dread the arrival of the season. Friends would be going off to games and I had to run through all my usual excuses as to why I couldn't join them. Privately, I had decided NFL stood for "No Friggin' Life."

Finally though, I did what you do when you can't beat 'em. I learned the rules, started following the sports section in the paper, surreptitiously watched the pros on slow weekends and somewhere along the way I came to love it. With more female football fans getting into the game each year, there's no time like the present to increase your NFL or NCAA IQ. Here's a quick look at the basics and a few shopping links to more resources (for when you find yourself hooked).

The players
Each side fields 11 players at a time. The team in possession of the ball is called the offense. The team that's trying to stop them from scoring, or regain possession, is called the defense. Here's a breakdown of each position.

Offense

Quarterback – He's the guy who runs the show, deciding which plays the offense will use during the huddle (that cozy coffee klatch before the snap). The quarterback will hand off the ball to a running back, pass it to a receiver or make a run with it himself.

Center – The player who snaps the ball back between his legs to the quarterback at the beginning of a play and blocks the defense.

Offensive line – The five players (usually built like refrigerators) whose job it is to protect the quarterback and create openings for runners by blocking the defense. Unlike the center, the two guards and two tackles rarely touch the ball.

Running backs – They're the ones who line up beside or behind the quarterback and rush with the ball if it's handed off to one of them. They also block and can receive passes.

Wide receivers – Look for them near the sidelines at either end of the formation. Their mission is to catch a pass from the quarterback.

Tight ends – You'll find them on either side of the offensive line. They will either catch passes like the wide receivers, block to protect the quarterback, or clear a path for a runner.

The offense can vary the number of wide receivers, running backs and tight ends according to their choice of plays.

Defense

The positions of the defense can also vary by strategy. Their goal is to stop the offense from moving the ball down the field and, if possible, gain possession of it.

Defensive line – This consists of 3 to 5 players positioned directly in front of the offensive line. When the ball is in play, they'll try to tackle the quarterback or a running back carrying the ball.

Defensive backs – A minimum of three members of the defense charged with covering the receivers to prevent pass completion. They can also try to tackle the quarterback.

Linebackers – The rest of the defense who line up between the defensive line and defensive backs.  They tackle runners on the offense or sometimes break through to tackle the quarterback.

Special teams

Different players take the field for plays which involve kicking. The placekicker handles the kickoff and field goal attempts. The punter catches the snap from the center and kicks the ball as far as possible into the opponent's end of the field, a play that generally takes place on the fourth down.

The rules
Volumes could be and have been written to explain the fine points of the game, but I'll boil things down to the very basics.

In essence, football is about the contest between an irresistible force (the offense) meeting an immovable object (the defense), making it a game of inches.

The team who gets possession of the ball first in the game is decided the same way we vote for local judges –- with a coin toss. Winners of the toss may choose to receive or kick off. The team kicking off will place the ball at a point 30 yards from their end zone (35 in college ball) and the placekicker will send it soaring down the field. After the kick, a player with the offense will catch the ball and run it as far forward as possible or, if it's caught in the offense's own end zone, he can either run with it or just kneel for a "touchback," at which time the ball will be placed on the offense's 20-yard line. If the ball goes out of bounds, the offense can choose to resume play at that point on the field or 30 yards from the point of the kick.

Now, the team in possession of the ball has four chances, or "downs" to move the ball 10 yards by running or passing. If they're successful, they have another four chances and so it goes until they either lose possession of the ball -- through a fumble (when someone literally drops the ball) or a pass interception -- not gain 10 yards in four tries, the clock runs out, they get the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown, or they kick a field goal. 

If the team with the ball doesn't manage to gain at least 10 yards in 4 downs, the ball goes to the opposing team at that place on the field. Teams rarely use all four downs to move 10 yards. If they can't get a first down in three attempts, they'll punt the ball on the fourth down as far as possible toward their opponents' goal line. 

The game is divided into 15-minute quarters, with an extended break at halftime to allow players to recuperate and fans to top off their beverages. However, the clock only runs while the ball is in play. The clock stops at the end of an incomplete passing play (missed ball) or when a penalty is called. In an NFL game, if the score is tied after four quarters, the teams play an additional period lasting up to 15 minutes.

Scoring
Teams score points in four ways.

1. Running the ball into, or catching a pass inside the opponents' end zone, recovering a fumble in the end zone, or an untouched kickoff recovered in the end zone by the kicking team is a touchdown for six points.
2. After each touchdown, the ball is placed at the opponent's two-yard line, where the offensive team has two options. Usually they'll try a kick for the extra point, in which the ball must pass between the opponents' goal posts.  But, the offense can also score two points by running the ball across the goal line or passing the ball to a teammate in the end zone 
3. If the offense decides it can't score a touchdown, it can opt for a field goal attempt. This is often made in the last seconds of a game and, most often, within the opponents' 45-yard line. If the ball passes between the defense's goal posts, it's good for three points.
4. Finally, if a member of the offense is tackled behind his own goal line, the defensive team scores two points. This is called a "safety."

Penalties
While in the heat of the action it can appear that almost anything goes, teams can lose yardage (though not points) for being caught by the referees for committing anything from a rather sizeable list of official faux pas. These infractions include, but are by no means limited to: "offsides" (when a player is across the line of the ball (line of scrimmage) at the start of a play); "holding" (when a blocker illegally interferes with a would-be tackler or pass receiver – by grabbing his jersey, for example); and, believe it or not, "unnecessary roughness," a sort of catch-all for unsportsmanlike behavior like tackling a player after he has run out of bounds. In short, what could land a player in jail for simple assault off the field, will cost his team a specific number of yards to its disadvantage.  

There you have it. While I don't pretend to have begun to explain all of the game's intricacies, the above should be enough to clue you in to what's going on down there on the field. The more games you see (and the more questions you ask), the more your understanding and appreciation will grow. If you'd like to take a more comprehensive crash course, or invest in a little fan gear, here are a few shopping links to help you out:

• Books on football 
• Movies about football 
• Football video games 
• NFL fan gear 
• NCAA football gear 

Alison Gubser has spent the last 11 years in the wonderful world of online retail. As MSN Shopping’s fashion Category Manager she tracks the latest trends and styles and advises: when in doubt, wear black.

Related: How to throw a fumble-free football party >