Soccer terms used by American Football
NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...
The World Cup is Earth’s most famous sports tournament. Just as the Olympics, it is played every four years and pits countries against each other. It also features the world’s most popular sport: football.
The game of “football” (soccer) began with the Romans as a way to keep their soldiers in shape, remain competitive, and sharp. The game of soccer has since evolved into the sport it is today. For decades, the game was being played without any rule standards. In 1863, a set of unified rules was formed in England and called “Association Football.”
RELATED:TRUMP: LET’S’ RENAME FOOTBALL
The term “soccer” came out of the slang use of “Association” with younger players adding an “er” to most things. If you surfed, you were a surf-er, or if you played golf, you were a golf-er. If you played Association Football, you were an assoc-er. That later became shortened to “socc-er.”
Everywhere in the world, this game is called “football.” In North America, the same game is called “soccer.”
In the 1800s, most Ivy League colleges played football (soccer), as most students were European immigrants and football (soccer) was the sport they grew up with. Harvard University predominantly played rugby as a large percentage of its athletes were schooled in England. Other universities were intrigued with the sport of rugby and enjoyed that this game had more contact and was rough. Eventually, more and more colleges began to switch over to rugby as their main sport.
Rugby came from football (soccer). The official name of this sport is “Rugby Football.” Rugby started at the Rugby School in England, a boys’ school. While playing football (soccer), a kid named Webb Ellis picked up the football (soccer) ball and ran with it. Another kid tackled him. The boys liked this because it brought an element of roughhousing and began playing a version of their new sport. A set of rules was developed in 1845.
In 1869, a game between Rutgers University and Princeton University was played that used football (soccer) rules, rugby rules, and some other new rules. It is considered to be the very first American Football game, even if those playing rules do not resemble anything of today’s game.
Enter Walter Camp
Eventually, Yale University head coach Walter Camp tinkered with the rugby game and developed a new game. He called it “American Football.”
So, football (soccer) was first, then rugby football came from football (soccer), then American Football came from Rugby football.
Therefore, football (soccer) is the grandfather of American Football. And all three sports call themselves officially “football.” Just like if the grandfather is named Jones, his son is also called Jones, and his son is also a Jones.
The main difference that Camp installed was possession. In basketball, polo, soccer, hockey, lacrosse, and water polo, all of these sports have one thing in common: they have possession as long as they retain the ball. But in American Football, if you fail on a play, you still keep possession.
Another thing Camp changed was that he installed a system of downs, and yardage that must be accomplished to continue possession. At first, it was 15 plays to drive the field, but few offensive possessions could sustain a drive. So, that was changed to 5 yards with three downs. This is why Canadian Football still plays three downs. Later, Camp changed it again to 10 yards with four downs after the forward pass was legalized.
Camp also reduced the size of the rugby field, which was longer and wider. The standard size of the actual ball used has been narrowed four times as passing became more prevalent.
American Football uses football (soccer) terminology
When the game of rugby was slowly beginning to be developed into the new American Football version, a lot of things that were used in football (soccer) and rugby were simply copied and duplicated in this new game.
This is not unusual. If you go into any American restaurant, you can order an omelet or a hamburger. The omelet was a standard French breakfast item, whereas the hamburger was a sandwich featured in Hamburg, Germany; yet, both of these are considered American dishes, and how they are made was copied from the original.
What the new sport of rugby did was use many things from its father sport. And when American Football came along, it also used terminology, language, field components, actions, equipment, player and game officials identification, that were commonplace in both football (soccer) and rugby.
Basically, instead of coming up with new material, American Football simply copied from its father and grandfather sports.
In other words, the Jones grandson only drives a Chevy because his dad and grandfather only drove a Chevrolet.
Here is a list of terms that American Football (AF) uses that are derived from its football (soccer) roots:
- Halves
At first, the game of American Football was two halves with 45-minutes per half, just like football (soccer). Football (soccer) is still this way in the college, professional, and international levels, and varies with the lower levels. Later, AF changed to four quarters but still uses two halves. In a teacher learning from the student moment, a lot of leagues and tournaments, including the World Cup, have instituted a hydration period, which is a stoppage close to halfway through each half. This emulates playing in quarters.
- Halftime
The English began this trend during football (soccer) games at the conclusion of the first half. Made sense for AF, so they copied it.
- Changing Ends
In 1863, football (soccer) rules were changed to allow teams to change ends after halftime. This was done in the spirit of fair play, which did not give one team an advantage over the other in terms of adverse field conditions, the sun, or weather. So, if you have ever wondered why AF teams “change ends” after quarters and after halftime, now you know.
- Football
All three sports have a ball, and all three call it a “football.” In North America, it is called a “soccer ball.” The soccer ball is completely round so that it will roll, bounce, be kicked, and can be played against the body and head. The rugby ball is shaped like a watermelon because it is bounced, frequently kicked, drop-kicked, and has a better shape for being held. The American Football version is more elongated so that it can be held, but the narrow shape is perfect for throwing, including long distances.
- Box
The penalty box is an area where certain fouls count towards a penalty kick instead of a direct kick, and is a place where the defense usually crowds around during an offensive attack. AF uses the term “box” to describe a defense that crowds around the line of scrimmage during an offensive attack. Same strategy.
- Offside
In football (soccer), a one-on-one with the goalkeeper is a major advantage to the attacking team, so the rules state that the offense must have two players between themselves and the goal, and when an attacker jumps over this imaginary line, it is called “offside.” AF uses the same principle of jumping over the imaginary line.
- Red & Yellow
Football (soccer) uses red cards and yellow cards for fouls; AF uses red flags and yellow flags for fouls. AF could have used any colors they wanted, but chose what was already familiar.
- Pass
When one player kicks the ball to another, this is a pass. When one player tosses the ball to another, this is an AF “pass.” The difference is that one is done with the foot while the other is done with the hand.
- Crossbar
The crossbar is the horizontal part of the goal in all three sports.
- Uprights
The uprights are the vertical parts of the goal in all three sports.
- Tackle
In football (soccer), when a defender swipes away a ball and stops an attack, it is called a “tackle.” In American Football, when a defender knocks a player down and stops an attack, it is called a tackle.
- Interception
When one player kicks the ball to another, but a defender jumps in front to collect the ball, this is an “interception.” When one player tosses the ball to another, but a defender jumps in front to collect the ball, this is an AF interception. Same thing, different sports.
- Turnover
After each interception, this is classified as a turnover in all three sports.
- Goal
In football (soccer), a goal is scored when the ball goes into the net and fully off the goal line. In rugby, a goal is scored when the ball is kicked between the uprights and fully off the goal line. In AF, a goal is scored when the ball goes between the uprights, over the crossbar, and fully off the goal line. AF calls their goals “field goals.” All of these are called “goals” because the grandfather sport called it this, so the new sports didn’t have to come up with anything new.
- Referee & Linesman
In football (soccer), the center official is called the referee. The linesman looks down the parallel line with the second-to-last defender to determine whether players are onside or offside when the pass is kicked. The head official in AF is the “referee,” whereas the “linesman” (sometimes called the line judge) looks down the parallel line of scrimmage.
- Substitution
When a new player enters the game, it is called a “substitution” in football (soccer). In the college, professional, and international levels of football (soccer), teams are allowed only three substitutes per game, and the player coming off the field cannot re-enter the game. AF used this same rule of substitution. That is why long ago, athletes played both ways. The All-America Football Conference in 1946 came up with free substitution. When three AAFC teams merged into the NFL in 1950, the established league adopted this rule, whereas now any number of players could be substituted and could re-enter. College football adopted unlimited substitution in 1965.
- Tie
Except in playoff situations or the knockoff rounds of any football (soccer) tournament, when two teams have the same score at the conclusion of the game, this is called a tie. AF called theirs the same thing.
- Overtime
In most levels of football (soccer), when a winner is necessary, an extra period of play is required and called “overtime.” In international games, this is called “extra time.” In overtime, any number of goals can be scored, but the entire period must be played out. AF has always called their added periods of play overtime. All levels of AF have their own rules regarding this extra period and how a winner is determined.
- Sudden Death
In football (soccer), at many levels, after the game is concluded and a tie game is the result, but a winner must be proclaimed, the teams will go into several periods of overtime, as stated above. If a winner is still not named, then usually two 5-minute sudden-death periods are played. The difference is that in overtime, both teams play out a certain amount of time regardless of the scoring. In sudden death overtime, the winner is the first team to score, and the game is now over, no matter how much time is left on the clock. Football (soccer) calls this final extra period “sudden-death.” AF simply copied it.
- 11-a-side
Soccer has 11 players per side, while rugby has 15. AF plays 11 players per side because football (soccer) does.
- Punt
When the goalkeeper kicks the ball downfield, it is called a punt, and a player from either team can gain possession. When an AF player kicks the ball downfield, it is called a “punt.” AF could have called this action something new, but it simply transferred the terminology to the new sport instead because the actions are the same.
- Penalty
Both sports have “penalties” for various infractions. AF needed a description, and football (soccer) already had a name for these.
- Offense & Defense
In football (soccer), the team that is doing the attacking is called “the offense,” while the players who attempt to stop the other team from scoring are referred to as “the defense.” AF uses the same terms.
- Holding
In both sports, when one player grabs another player and does not let go, it is called “holding.” AF simply used the same terminology.
- Cleats
These outdoor sports shoes were invented in 1526 for Henry VIII, the King of England, so that he had a traction advantage when he would “play football.” In football (soccer), these are called “boots,” but the shoes are the same. The Roman army invented a similar shoe that had tacks that protruded from the bottom of the shoe, called “caligae,” when they entered certain terrains in foreign lands that required better footing.
Barry Shuck is a pro football historical writer and a member of the Professional Football Researchers Association
More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos