American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive team sport known for mixing strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. The ball can be advanced by carrying it (a running play) or by throwing it to a teammate (a passing play). Points can be scored in a variety of ways, including carrying the ball over the goal line, catching a pass from beyond the goal line, tackling an opposing ball carrier in his own end zone, or kicking the ball through the goal posts on the opposing side. The winner is the team with the most points when the time expires.

The sport is also played outside the United States. National leagues exist in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Finland, Sweden, Japan, Mexico, Israel, Spain and several Pacific Island nations. The National Football League, the largest professional American football league in the world, ran a developmental league in Europe from 1991–1992 and 1995–2006.

American football is closely related to Canadian football, but with significant differences. Both sports originated from rugby football.

History

main: History of American football

The history of American football can be traced to early versions of rugby football and soccer. Both games have their origins in varieties of football played in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century, in which a ball is kicked at a goal and/or run over a line. Also like soccer, American football has twenty two players on the field of play. Furthermore, some player position references from soccer are used, such as the term "halfback" and "fullback".

The popularity of collegiate football grew as it became the dominant version of the sport for the first half of the twentieth century. Bowl games, a college football tradition, attracted a national audience for collegiate teams. Bolstered by fierce rivalries, college football still holds widespread appeal in the US.

The origin of professional football can be traced back to 1892, with William "Pudge" Heffelfinger's $500 contract to play in a game for the Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. In 1920 the American Professional Football Association was formed. The first game was played in Dayton, Ohio on October 3rd, 1920 with the host Triangles defeating the Columbus Panhandles 14-0. The league changed its name to the National Football League (NFL) two years later, and eventually became the major league of American football. Initially a sport of Midwestern, industrial towns in the United States, professional football eventually became a national phenomenon. Football's increasing popularity is usually traced to the 1958 NFL Championship Game, a contest that has been dubbed the "Greatest Game Ever Played". A rival league to the NFL, the American Football League (AFL), began play in 1960; the pressure it put on the senior league led to a merger between the two leagues and the creation of the Super Bowl, which has become the most watched television event in the United States on an annual basis.