Understanding the National Football League is about more than just knowing positions, players and statistics. As one of the most popular spectator sports leagues in the U.S., the NFL has its own set of rules governing game play, naming a champion and finding new players. Following the NFL can be a year-round pastime if you're looking for something to do with your spare time.
Rules Differences
Most of the rules of football carry over from college football to the NFL, but there are some major difference you may notice as you watch professional football. For example, in college, a pass interference penalty on the defense results in a 15-yard penalty. But in the NFL, the foul results in the ball being placed closest to where the infraction occurred. Another main rule difference involves overtime. In college, each team gets the ball on offense for an opportunity to score a touchdown or field goal. The team that scores more points in the overtime period wins. In the NFL, if two teams are tied at the end of regulation, a coin flip is used to determine who will receive the ball first. The first team to score at least one point in the overtime period wins the game. If there is no winner at the end of overtime, the game is recorded as a tie.
Draft
NFL teams are always looking for new talent to add to their rosters. To make the process fair, the NFL has established a draft to allow teams to claim new players from the college ranks. Football players who have been out of high school for two full years are eligible to enter their names into the NFL draft. Teams then have the opportunity to pick players based on a pre-determined draft order. The Super Bowl winner from the previous year has the last pick in the draft, with the Super Bowl winner taking the second-to-last spot. Playoff teams come next, according to their regular-season record. Finally, teams that didn't make the playoffs round out the beginning of the draft, with the team with the worst regular-season record picking first.
League Setup
The NFL is divided into two conferences -- the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference. Within each conference are four divisions. Each team plays the other teams in their division twice, then plays other teams from around the league to fill out the regular-season schedule. The regular-season usually begins around the beginning of September, with the final regular-season game coming at the end of December or beginning of January, depending on the calendar.
Playoffs
While college football has a bowl system, the NFL uses a standard playoff system to determine a league champion. At the end of the regular season, the best team in each division is given a spot in the playoffs. These teams are seeded 1 through 4 according to their regular-season record. The remaining teams in each conference are ordered based on their record, and the top two teams from each conference also receive a playoff spot, making 12 teams in total in the playoffs. The top two division leaders from each conference receive a bye into the second round of the playoffs. The two teams remaining at the end of three rounds of playoffs meet in the Super Bowl.
Member Comments