Football

  

Researched by Drew B.
2007-08

INTRODUCTION

Football originated over 100 years ago.  Since then, the U.S. has organized into two divisions, the NFC and AFC.  There have been thousands of great players.  Two of them are John Elway and Robert Ames.  There are many rules to keep the game safe.  Football has come a long way. 

PAST AND PRESENT

Football started over 100 years ago but the NFL didn’t start until 1920.  Until around 1958, most people were baseball fans.  Then baseball went on strike, and more people started watching football.  Now the Super Bowl is one of most watched games and roughly half of all males 12 years and older name it at their favorite sport.  William Heffelfinger was one of the first professional players in 1892 and made 500 dollars a game.   Now, many football players make millions of dollars a season.  Football started as a combination of rugby and soccer for colleges in England.  The field was110 yards long and 53 yards wide with no end zone.  Field goal posts were the same as today but 10 yards back and not on the goal line.  The ball was like the rugby ball.   It had a rubber bladder encased in leather. It was a cross between today’s football and a basketball.


SCORING

In the game of football there are many ways to score points.  Here is a list of all the ways to score and the point value.  A run for a touchdown is worth six points.  A pass for a touchdown is six points.  An extra point is worth one point.  A field goal is worth three points.  A safety is worth two points.  A two-point conversion is worth two points.
 
                                                                                                                                                                                            PENALTIES

The game of Football can be a very rough sport.  There are lots of penalties to make sure players follow the rules to keep from getting hurt or hurting other players.  A penalty against a team can either take away field position or give the opposing team a more favorable field position.  Here are some of the penalties:Off Sides is five yards back, Roughing the Passer 15 yards forward, Illegal Formation five yards back, Face Mask minor five yards forward major 15 yards forward, Unsportsmanlike Conduct 15 yards forward, Illegal Man Downfield five yards back, Illegal Substitution five yards forward or back, Clipping 15 yards back,  Pass Interference 15 yards forward or back, Holding five yards or ten yards, and Delay of Game five yards back.


 FAMOUS PLAYERS

There have been many great players in football history, but John Elway was one of the best.  He was born on June 28, 1960 in Port Angeles, Washington.  When he was in high school he moved to Las Angeles to play more competitive games.  In 1979 John was the highest recruited college athlete in the nation.  By the time he finished playing quarterback, at Stanford University he held the NCAA Division 1career records for passing attempts and completions.  In 1983, he was first drafted by the Colts but he refused to play for Baltimore and got traded to the Broncos.  After 14 years in Denver, he was the winningest starting QB in league history.  In 1998, he won a Super Bowl and in 2004 he was inducted into the professional football hall of fame.
 

WHO HELPED ME WITH MY PRODUCT

Mrs. Goodpaster helped me cut my papers and helped me get my papers straight and lined up.  Mrs. Lambert helped me on the computers with my rough draft.  My mom helped me get information.  My dad and Loren Wood both helped me with coaching experience.  My dad also helped me create pieces for my product.



CONCLUSION

 I chose football because football is my favorite sport to play.  Around 1958 football came one of the most popular sport in the U.S.A.  Half of 12 and older males watch the super bowl.  John Elway was a great quarterback for the Denver Broncos.

 

WHO I INTERVIED AND WHAT I LEARNED

I got to meet Robert L. Ames.  We met at the Selah Library.  He has been involved with football for 57 years.  His father was a coach and went to games with him.  His favorite part of playing is the relationships with the other players.  He says the size and speed of the players is what has changed the most in football.  He thinks the player’s skills are better.  He thinks a bad part of football is that players are taking drugs and steroids to be better.  He also thinks football is much more physical today. Robert Ames was a free agent and played one year with the Green Bay Packers under Vince Lombardi.  His record was 11 and 3.

 

THE PRODUCTS I CREATED

 Football Game    
I made a miniature football field for a finger football game.  I used a green piece of paper and drew lines for the yard lines and put a Seahawk logo in the middle.  In the end zone, I put blue pieces of paper and printed a paper that says “Seahawks” and glued it in the end zone.  Then I printed numbers for the yard line.  I made a football to attempt field goals.  Then I made two field goal posts .  I made question cards and if you answer the question correctly then you get to move forward 10 yards.  If you answer the card incorrectly you have to kick the football from where you are.  If you make it, you get three points.  If you answer all the questions correctly and get across the field to the goal line, you get 7 points.  At the end of the game, the player with the most points wins.
 


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Peterson, Robert.  Pigskin.  New York: Oxford, 1997.  pp. 1-228.  
 
Buckley, James.  Encyclopedia of NFL.  Mankato Mn.:Shorline publishing group.  Pp.  2,3,12,22,23,26,27. 

John Elway’s Home Page.
 
 Wood, Loren. Coaching experience. Sept- Nov 2007.

Beecroft, Rick. Coaching experience. Sept- Nov 2007.  

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