American Football - Surprising Facts

American Football is much popular in the United States as many tournaments are held each year. The last of them is the Super Bowl to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy. There are many surprising, fun, and interesting facts about American football which are discussed here in detail.

Combination of Soccer and Rugby

American Football is a combination of two games called Soccer and Rugby. The USA wanted to develop a football game which should be different from other similar games. The first American Football game that was officially played was held in a college.

Size of the Field

The size of the field on which the game is played is 360 feet by 160 feet. The length of the end zones is 10 yards. Safety equipment like helmets, pads for shoulder and thighs, mouth guards, etc. should be worn.

Change of Safety Rules

The game was previously played without wearing helmets and this happened till 1943. But due to the safety of the players it became mandatory to wear helmets. Another security material that players have to wear is protective gear.

Duration of Game

The duration of the game is 60 minutes which is divided into four quarters of 15 minutes each. The game is stopped frequently so there are chances that the duration can reach from 2.5 hours to 3 hours. The duration of the game for high school for each quarter is 12 minutes. The time of the game is shorter for young students.

Getting Best Players

Initially, the games were arranged between amateur clubs and college athletic departments. The aim of both teams is to look for the best players. In order to achieve this aim, illegal payment and rewards were started by Athletic clubs.

Date of First Game

The first game was played on November 6, 1869. Very few rules were there that had to be followed by the teams. Later, Walter Camp changed the rules which are now being used.

APFA

APFA stands for American Professional Football Association which was formed in 1920This is the same organization which led to the formation of the NFL (National Football League. The number of games managed by the NFL is 256 which starts from Labor day to New Year day.

Number of Spectators

The game is viewed by more than 115 million people each year.

Cost of Advertisement

The cost of an advertisement having the duration of 30 seconds for Super Bowl 2023 was $7 million.

Two Divisions of NFL

NFL consists of two divisions and these divisions are NFC and AFC. NFL has to manage 32 teams. Playoffs are arranged to get the champion in AFC and NFC. Both of them should have one champion each.

Average Earnings

Average Earnings for a player is around $2.1 million per year. The payment is made to the player on the basis of contract, team, and performance. Some top players can also earn 20 million per year.

Popularity of the Amateur Football

Many colleges in the 1880s played a kind of game which similar to soccer or football. The main aim of these colleges in the United States is to improve and expand athletics. After the Civil War, amateur football became very popular.

Cheating

Amateur football clubs offered jobs to the top players so that they could play for them. Some clubs also provided expensive trophies to the best players. Best players also received double amount as remuneration.

Shortest Duration for Season

The shortest season for the game was of 17 weeks during which fans enjoyed, cheered their teams, watched the annual Super Bowl, and did a lot of things.

Most Super Bowl Wins

Pittsburg Steel has won 6 Super Bowl Trophies which is the highest number of trophies won by any team. The next name is of Dallas Cowboys who won 4 trophies and the England Patriots have won four.

Most Scored Points

George Tech College made a record by scoring 222 points which is the highest and the team that it defeated scored 0 points.

Longest College Football

A match was held between Kentucky and Arkansas which lasted a little less than four hours.

Longest Professional Game

The longest professional game was played between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins. The duration of the game was 82 minutes and 20 seconds. Each quarter was of 15 minutes followed by an overtime of 22 minutes and 20 seconds.

Winning Most Championships

Princeton has won 28 championships which is the highest number of winning collegiate national football championships.

First College Player to win awards

Vinny Testaverde was the first college player who win the following awards in his senior year −

Maxwell
O’Brien
Walter Camp
Heisman

Multiple records Holder

Steve McNair has made a large number of records. He has a record of 5,799 yards in a season, career passing yards of 14,496, and 400 yards in many games.

Winning and Losing

Prairie View College won two national championships – one in 1953 and the other in 1964. The same college also has a record of losing 80 games in a row.

Conference Championships

Conference Championship is played by all the teams since 1998 except Houston.

Highest Number of Fans

Green Bay Packers is one of the oldest teams of the NFL and has so many fans that more than 100,000 people are on the waiting list to get season tickets.

First Super Bowl Winner

The Green Bay Packers won the first Super Bowl in 1967.

Highest number of Yards

Emmitt Smith has more than 18,000 yards which is the highest number.

Most number of not getting defeated continuously

Canton Buildings has a record of not being defatted in the 25 straight games held between 1921 and 1923. There were 22 wins and 3 ties.

Most number of losing continuously

Tampa Bay Buccaneers has the record of losing 26 games continuously. The record was made between 1976 and 1977.

Richest NFL Player

Tom Brady had a long career from 2000 to 2022 in which he earned $332,962,392 and became the richest NFL player. The second richest NFL player is Aaron Rogers is the second richest NFL player who earned $305,608,010 since 2005. He played 18 games since he started his career.