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--Ladies, "Marie Claire" has put together a list of things you should know before football season starts . . . #1.) SCORING. A touchdown is worth SIX points, not seven. But after a team scores a touchdown, they can kick for one extra point. They COULD also run a play to get two more points, it's called a two-point-conversion. But they usually always kick. --A field goal is when they kick it through the uprights. It's worth three points. A safety is worth two points. That's when a player with the ball gets tackled in his own end zone. Easy, right? #2.) THE THIN YELLOW LINE. It represents the position for the next first down. And it only works through the magic of television . . . the players can't see it. #3.) WHAT "FIRST AND TEN" MEANS. It means it's "first down," and the team with the ball has to go ten yards to get another first down. So, if it's "second and six," that means it's second down and the team has six yards to go for a first down. --"Fourth and inches" means they literally only have to move the ball a few inches to get a first down. But sometimes the team with the ball will punt on the fourth down because if they DON'T get a first down, the other team gets the ball right then and there. #4.) PENALTIES. When a referee throws a yellow flag, it means one of the players committed a penalty. There are a bunch of different penalties in football, but here are the four most common: --Offsides. It means one of the players on defense was on the wrong side of the ball when the play started. It's usually happens when a player is trying to get a good "jump" . . . just like in track when a sprinter starts running before the gun goes off. --False Start. It means one of the players on OFFENSE moved too soon. The big offensive linemen aren't allowed to move once they lean down and get into position, because it can trick a defensive player into jumping offsides. --Holding. Players are allowed to block each other, but if a player gets past a blocker, and that blocker hangs onto him, it's holding. --Pass Interference. If the quarterback throws a pass, the defense is allowed to knock the BALL down, but they can't knock the RECEIVER down. SOME physical contact is tolerated, but for the most part, it's not. --In the NFL, the ball is placed where the pass interference penalty happened, which can be 30 or 40 yards up the field. And it's an automatic first down. --In COLLEGE football, it's pretty much the same thing, but there's a 15-yard limit. So, even if it was a 30-yard pass, the offense gets the ball 15 yards up the field. Marie Claire
By Sam