NFL – The Field

NFL Football Field

The FIELD demystified

Gridiron

The gridiron is the football field which consist natural grass or artificial turf  surface with numbered parallel lines that lead to an end zone at the ends of the field.

Yard

A football field is measured in yards. 10 yard increments totaling 100 yards excluding the end zones which are 10 yards each.

Did you leave it all on the field today – Anonymous

50 Yard Line

The 50 yard line makes the middle of the field i.e. dead smack in the middle of the field.

End Zone

Getting the ball in the End Zone is the goal of American Football. The End Zone is marked by a goal line, which is the line that the offense player must cross over to score. If you have ever seen a player dive for the line, its because all the player has to do is “Break the plain” i.e. touch the goal line.

Line of Scrimmage

When you are watching the game on T.V. it can be very confusing on what is a permanent part of the field and what the T.V. station computer generates on the field like the moving yellow line, black line, blue line. Those lines are artificially put on the field to help the view know where the ball is in relation to the play. The Line of Scrimmage is the spot on the field where the play legally begins. The T.V. station will generally show a blue line to represent the Line of Scrimmage. The players on the field line-up facing each other at the Line of Scrimmage. Neither team is allowed to cross the Line of Scrimmage until the play officially begins. Motion and Set: Nor the offense or defense is allowed to move until the ball is set.

Backfield

The backfield is everything behind the quarterback.

The Pocket

Man do we here that a lot during the game. After the ball is officially in motion, a protected area naturally forms around the quarterback (QB) as the offensive blockers defend try to defend QB. Out of Pocket is when the QB is no longer in his protected area.

Sideline

The lines perpendicular to the parallel on the field that indicate the out-of-bounds area. This is an important line because sometimes the players run out-of-bounds to stop the play clock.

Red Zone

The red zone is 20 yards before the end zone. When the offense is in the red zone fans get excited because this is an optimal scoring position.