Football 101 : American Football for Aussies Part 1
The following rules have been transcribed from the NCAA football rule book and reproduced to help inform the Australia Sporting community to help bring awareness of the game to this country. The Following article is from a series called Halftime Hype that I update daily here on Medium

American football (a.k.a Gridiron) looks like chaos on the field once a play starts. Because this game is foreign to us, all we see is a bunch of guys running around a football field with massive pads and a helmet smashing into people.
This of course is not true. Gridiron is a complex game and sounds like another language when you first start leaning about it.

Like most Australians, I was someone who has been brought up on a healthy diet of Rugby League and Cricket. So I was in the exact same boat only 10 weeks ago. The only thing I knew about the game was that there were 4 quarters, a defensive and offensive team, a dance after a touchdown was made and A LOT of advertising breaks…
RULE 1: The Game, Field, Players and Equipment
The Game
The game is played between two teams consisting of 11 players each (Offensive Team has 11 and Defensive Team has 11 excluding substitutes)
Goal Lines
Goal lines, one for each team, shall be established at opposite ends of the field of play, and each team shall be allowed opportunities to advance the ball across the other team’s goal line by running, passing or kicking it.
This is called a Drive
Team Captains
Each team shall designate to the referee not more than four players as its field captain(s). One player at a time shall speak for his team in all dealings with the officials.
Touch Downs (TD’s)
are awarded to a team that carries the ball across the goal line. The ball does not have to be planted on the ground for the TD to be awarded. TD’s are worth 6 points
Points After Touchdown (PAT)
These are field goals performed after a touchdown has been awarded. A kick conversion is worth 1 point, however the offense has the option to run in another touchdown for a 2 point conversion. If the defensive team intercepts this play and runs the ball into their goal line, the points awarded are 2
Field Goals
Field Goals are worth 3 points. Unlike the PAT, if the defensive intercepts the ball and runs it into the end zone, a full 6 point TD is awarded.
Game Length
The game is split into 4 quarters at 15 minutes a piece. After a quarter ends, teams switch sides. In the 2nd and 4th quarter there is a “2 Minute Warning” Each side gets 3 timeouts per half. The entire length of play for a single game is 60 minutes. In addition to this, there is also a play clock, where each side has 40 seconds to decide a play strategy, and snap the ball to begin that play

Because of the complexity of this game I won’t be going over anymore rules than what I have in this post. Subscribe to my Medium account and subscribe to my series “Halftime Hype” through the Medium app on your phone.
Until next time I’ll see you on the field,
Jason Hunt
Additional Note
Halftime Marketing is dedicated to helping the sport of Gridiron grow in Australia. However it isn’t the only sport or business that we want to help grow. For more information on how we can help you market your product or service on social media head to our website https://halftimemarketing.com and contact us today for a free social media audit.
Be sure to follow us on:
and help our mission to help our future Gridiron athletes achieve their dream of playing this sport professionally in our great country
