Niedersorbisches Gymnasium Cottbus
American Football in relation to Rugby
Facharbeit im Leistungskurs
Index
1.
Introduction
2.
Main part
2.1. History and Development
2.2.
Varieties
2.3.
Field
2.4.
Basic rules
2.4.1. Scores
2.4.2. Plays
2.4.2.1.
American Football
2.4.2.2.
Rugby
2.4.3. Clock-Management
2.4.4. Overtime
2.4.5. Irregularities
& Penalties
2.4.6. Referees
2.5.
Players
2.5.1. Offense
2.5.2. Defense
2.5.3. Special
Teams
3.
Negative Aspects of American Football
4.
Why athletes earn so much?
5.
End part
6.
Resources
7.
Attachment
Introduction
In
this term paper, I deal with the two sports, rugby and American football. As
you can see in my structure, I consider the basic rules of the sports, the line-up
and the roles of the different players. Because I play American football at the
"Young Cottbus Crayfish", I am gone very interested into the subject.
In the end, I have dealt with the negative aspects of American football, so
that the reader has an impression of the existing dangers of this sport.
Because at rugby there are almost the same risks I have taken the liberty not to
bring this into the continuous text. In general, I have sometimes described
only one sport, because in both sports you can find the same content on the
subject. By the way: In this term paper American football means the sport with
the more muscular players and the ovoid ball, football means soccer. I hope you
enjoy the read.
2. Main part
2.1. History & Development
Because
American football is originated from rugby, both have the same genesis.
According to a legend rugby is originated in 1823, as a boy named William Webb
Ellis took at a football match the ball in his hands and ran off because it was
too boring to play normal soccer. This all happened at the school in the
English town rugby. Because of this the Rugby World Cup is named after Webb
Ellis. In 1863 the English Football Association was founded with the aspiration
to bring together the diverse football rules. However, some clubs backtracked
very quickly because of disputes over rule changes from the association and
founded a competing league, the Rugby Football Union (RFU) on 26 January 1871.
As a result the RFU standardized the rules of the school of rugby. In 1895
there was a second separation, this time inside the RFU. The reason was a
dispute about the status of the game. About 20 clubs in the working-class area
of northern England split off as the Northern Rugby Union and allowed a
professionalization of the sport. To date, both variations of rugby exist. But
international meetings are held by the rules of Rugby Union.
American
football has evolved in 1869 at Universities from the East Coast of the U.S.
Rugby. The teams consist of eleven players and the game takes four times 15
minutes. The game is stopped after every play once the ball carrier was brought
down. At American football throws forward are also allowed, the ball has more
pointed ends.
2.2. Varieties
Because
of its history today there are two fundamentally different versions of rugby,
the most widespread rugby union (fifteen rugby) and the less widespread rugby
league (thirteen rugby). While the original rugby union is played with 15
players on the pitch, there is now a variant in which seven players stand on
the pitch, the 7-rugby. Since the ball is guided mainly by the hand, you can
also play rugby union in the sand, whence beach rugby was born. Variants with
twelve and ten rugby players are also possible, however, for them there is no
separate set of rules apply to the rugby union rules. The contactless versions
of rugby, the Tag rugby and the Touch rugby are developed from the native
rugby. Two varieties, which are not so famous are the Wheelchair rugby (only
played in wheelchairs and for athletes who are limited at least three
extremities) and the Underwater rugby (rugby played underwater).
American
football also has its varieties. In addition to it there is the so-called Flag
football, which is also very famous. This variant is played like Tag rugby. The
attacker is stopped without any body contact by pulling the flag from the
attacker’s belt. Another variety is Australian football,
which is played on an elliptic field.
2.3. Field
The
rugby field must, according to the official rules of the IRB (International
Rugby Board) have a surface consisting of grass, snow, sand or clay. At the two
ends of the playing field is the so-called end zone, the zones in which the
ball must be placed for a touchdown. The pitch is usually 157 yards (144 m)
long and 77 yards (70 m) wide. At the end of the field is each one H-shaped
goalpost. On the field, there are certain lines. The midfield line divides the
field into two halves. It is also called the 50-yard line. The team that starts
the game begins at this line. The 10-meter line is 10 meters away from the
midfield line. At the kickoff the defending team starts at it. 5 meters before
the end zone, there are six irregular line stripes on each side, which are
parallel to the center. These form the 5-meter line. Another 5 meters away from
the sides of the court are the dashed lines parallel to the touchline, the
5-meter touchline lines. Behind them should happen no more tackles. They serve
primarily for the orientation of the players. The touchlines are located at the
side edges of the playing field. In comparison, the American football field is
shorter and narrower. It is rectangular, 120 yards (109, 7 meters) long and 53
yards (48, 5 meters) wide. The playing field is divided into 12 equal sections,
which always are 10 yards long. The 100 yards in the middle are used as an
active field, the other 10 yards on each other side serve as end zone. As in
rugby, the field is divided with certain lines. The line that marks the
beginning of an end zone is called goal line., the center line of the pitch is
named 50-yard line, as in rugby. All lines are marked with highly visible
numbers. Finally in the end zone is placed each 1 H-shaped goalpost.
2.4. Basic rules
At
rugby a team consists of 13-15 players, dependent on the play variety. Unlike
in American football there is less physical contact, so tackles. The goal of
the game is to achieve the most points in a season of 2x40 minutes by carrying
the ball past the opponent. A team at American football is composed of 22
players, an offense and a defense. A game lasts 4x15 minutes. The basic idea of
the game is to gain space and earn points therefore. Reahing the end zone is called
a touchdown and awarded 6 points. After a touchdown the other team attacks. To
score a touchdown, the offense has four attempts.
2.4.1. Scores
At
American football you can score 6 points by a touchdown, as already been said.
This is done either by directly carrying the ball to the end zone or a pass to
the own attacker, who carries the ball to the end zone. Decisive is the
possession of the ball behind the opponent’s touchdown line. In addition to the
touchdown, there are 4 other ways to score points.
After
reaching a touchdown the attacking team has the possibility to achieve an extra
point by kicking the ball through the two vertical bars of the H-shaped
goalpost. The play starts at the 3-yard line. This play is called extra point.
However, the ball is carried or fitted into the end zone at the extra point,
the team has achieved a conversion, which counts 2 points. On a field goal the
ball is shot over the horizontal crossbar between the two vertical rods from
the H-shaped goalpost. This option is mostly attempted when the ball is
within shooting distance of the goal posts, and because of the game situation a
touchdown does not seem as possible. Finally, there is a way to achieve points
even for the defending team. If the attacking team pushed back with the ball in
its own end zone where it is to fell, then that is a safety, which is awarded
with two points for the defenders.
At
rugby there are also 4 possibilities to score points. The try, the conversion,
the dropkick and the penalty kick. A try counts 4 points and is achieved if it
is possible to put down the ball in the opponents end zone on the ground. After
this was successful the team has the possibility to conduct a conversion. There
are no differences between American football conversion and the rugby
conversion. At a dropkick a player kicks the ball out of the running game
through the opponent H-shaped goalpost. The ball must have touched the ground
previously. A penalty kick is a kick through the H-shaped goal from a point at
where a heavier violation of the opposing team took place.
2.4.2. Plays
At
American football there are different moves that the quarterback calls to the
players and which are in the playbook. At rugby, there are the so-called rugby
plays. Below the tactics will be explained individually.
2.4.2.1.
American Football
There
are countless variations to the ball by running or carrying forward. Basically
you can distinguish between running plays and passing plays at American football.
Requirements for an attack starting are that at least seven players are on the
line of scrimmage. Then the quarterback gets the ball from the center. This is
called a snap. In a running play the ball is passed from a quarterback to a running
back. There are 5 basic superior running plays and 7 further that are not
explained here. The dive is the basic attack through the interior of the offense
line from a running back. The players of the offense line attempt to make this
gap as large as possible and to keep them open by run block. In a sweep this attack
proceeds along the sides. In doing so the fullback runs to the side line before
he turns in the direction of attack. Here, the players of the offense line move
to this side and so create a free track for the running back, which tries to
sprint forward. The counter, also called counter play, acts as a third turn. There
the ball carrier initially feints a wrong running direction, by running one or
two steps on the other side of the intended path.
Then
he turns around and runs into the original planned direction. This allows the running
back to gain time. At a draw the impression will be mediated that it is a passing
play by a recession of the entire offense of a few steps. Then the quarterback
passes the ball to the running back (or retains itself), so the ball carrier
can pass through the offense line. Last but not least there is the option, also
the option play. Here, the ball carrier, usually the quarterback, can run to
one side of the offense line, where he waits for an opportunity to run with the
ball. The running back follows him there and gives him the option maybe to
throw a pitch (pass backwards) before he gets tackled. The
Defense is therefore forced either to attack the quarterback, or to prevent the
pitch. With the passing plays, it is important that the wide receiver running the
pass routes belongs to the turn. Finally, the quarterback throws the ball
exactly where the receiver should arrive at the end of his sprint. Popular is
the play-action pass, as well as the fly, the post and the hitch, also called
hook. A play-action pass is a misdirection play used by the offense in which
the quarterback takes the snap and fakes the beginning of a running play before
actually executing a passing play. The running back will act as though they
have been handed the ball while the quarterback will hesitate for a moment
before looking for a receiver. The offense attempts to mislead the defense into
guarding against the run, hoping to get an open receiver and convert a pass
attempt. Offenses will use play-action passes to keep the defense off balance.
A good play-action will keep the defense from reacting quickly to the passing
play, allowing the offense precious seconds to get open. A team will generally
have a more effective play-action game if they are gaining yards on regular
running plays, since the defense is more likely to overreact to the run fake.
Play-actions are also very effective against overly aggressive defenses, since
they are more likely to pursue the fake running play immediately after the
snap. The offense also hopes that the defensive backs will hesitate on the
fake, allowing the receivers to get behind them for a long gain. At a fly the
receiver tries to run straight and deep in the field and to receive the pass
from quarterback. The fly is used for fast wide receiver if they have a speed
advantage towards the defender.
At
the post, the receiver will initially run straight for about 10-15 yards and
then turns inward (toward the goal posts) to catch the ball at full speed. “Depending
on the play, the initial distance or the angle at which one turns inward varies”
( .
Also very popular is the hitch, as the
offensive player can kidding the defenders thus. The receiver streaks down the
field as if he's going for a long pass, plants and makes a sharp turn either to
the inside or to the outside. The play will be for a set number of yards
(usually to the first down marker) and a designed timing route so when the
receiver makes his turn the ball should already be on its way to him.
2.4.2.2.
Rugby
In
rugby there are different kinds of passing, namely the hand play and the foot
play. The mainly pass is the most important pass of all, because the ball is
passed quickly and accurately. It should have a straight and short trajectory,
so that the receiver can catch the ball at chest height. At the spin pass the
ball is awarded a rotation about its longitudinal axis and can thus achieve a longer
throw distance. The stand pass is defined as a pass performed by the scrum half.
The contact pass is a typical forward action in which a tackle by the opponent
is provoked deliberately. During the player holds the ball in both hands he
runs on the opponent who is forced thus to keep the forward. The player who
comes to aid him gets the ball passed, so he can run the actual route. In
addition to the hand play, there is the foot play. Because both varieties are
allowed, this ingenious combination increases the tactical varieties.
Nevertheless, the foot play should be controlled in the game and occur in low
dimensions, because thus the control of the ball is lost momentarily.
2.3.4. Clock-Management
The
playing time in the U.S. is four times 15 minutes (quarter). The amateur teams
in Europe play only four times twelve minutes. The breaks between the quarters are
two minutes and the half-time up to 20 minutes. Clock management is relevant,
if only a little time left on the clock remains. Before half-time, but rather
still left in the game efficient and intelligent clock management is required.
The offense has to stop the clock in these situations four options: a timeout
(each team has three timeouts per half available), an out of bounds, a spike or
an incomplete pass. An out of bounds means that the ball is out of the playing
field. At Spike the quarterback throws the ball deliberately on the ground to
stop the clock.
2.4.4. Overtime
If
it is after regular full time result in a tie, then a 15-minute extension,
called Overtime, played according to the sudden death principle. First, the
coin toss takes place. The winning team must decide if they want to attack
first or defend. In the normal case it is decided to attack, because the
overtime has its own rules. Should be posted in the first attack, a touchdown
or a safety, the game is immediately over, without the other team again comes
into the attack right. If only one field goal scored, the other team can turn
to score a try. The game ends with a draw, should it still be tied after the 15
minutes. Exceptions are the playoffs as the Super Bowl or playoff encounters.
In these games will be played until a winner is decided.
2.4.5. Irregularities & Penalties
Irregularities
are generally punished in American football with loss of space (5, 10, 15
yards). That means that the ball will be moved at the appropriate number of
yards and the Down will be repeated from there. The referees show an irregularity
to the fact that they throw a yellow flag on the playing field. Then the move
is played to the end. The following are the basic irregularities: The
False Start will be punished by 5 yards. This is the premature moving an
offense player before the snap. Even with 5 yards the Offside is punished, but here the Defense player moves too early. If a player holds
another unjustified, that is an irregularity (holding) and will be penalized with
10 yards. If a player grabs in the helmet mesh of an opponent, the team gets 15 yards (intended) or 5 yards (unintentionally) punishment. At the pass interference there is a
player in an attempt to catch a pass, punished encountered or disabled and the
respective team with 10 yards. If a player has been attacked after the final
whistle of the turn, a personal foul is given with 15 yards penalty, as well as
the Unsportsmanlike Conduct. This is the unfair behavior without contact, such
as insults against the opponent or referee. If you block an opponent from
behind, without that he holds the ball, that's a penalty called clipping (15
yards). After a punt the kicker may not be tackled. If he gets tackled this is Roughing
the Kicker and the penalty is 15 yards. If this is done with the Quarterback,
so tackled him after he threw the ball, this is called Roughing the Passer and
the team gets 15 yards penalty. In particularly serious fouls a player will be
expelled and usually blocked for at least one game. At rugby there are time
penalties for fouls. For severe fouls there are time penalties of 10 minutes. For
example at high tackling. A player can also be sent off because of lighter error
if the referee had prompted the team before several times to pay attention to
his discipline. This often happens at scrum or when players are often caught
offside. In willful, dangerous game, a player can also be referenced throughout
the place. The result for this is often also a suspension for several weeks or
months.
2.4.6. Referees
Because
American football is a contact sport with an extensive set of rules, you need
several umpires. In the USA and in the top leagues there are seven, in the
lower classes usually five referees. All Officials wear white pants and black
and white striped shirts. An Official is a person who has responsibility in
enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game. The main conciliator
(Referee) is recognizable by his white cap, which is black in the other. Each
referee has a special area with a certain range of tasks. The Referee stands
behind the offense, so in the Offense Backfield and is responsible for all
decisions. He publishes them loud and by signals. The Umpire stands behind of
the line of scrimmage of the Defense. He is responsible for the accuracy of the
equipment and the actions on the line of scrimmage. The Head Linesman at the
lateral end of the line of scrimmage pays attention to the offside and is
responsible for the Chain Crew, and also for the game play in his scope of view.
As a Chain Crew you can denote the three assistant referees, which handle the
10-Yard chain and the down marker on one of the side line at an American
Football-Game. The Field Judge takes place in the backfield of Defense and pays
attention to Kicks, passing and Fumble - or interception situations. A Fumble
is when the attacker drops the ball. Which team got hold of the ball, gets the
right of attack. The Side Judge and the Back Judge are also available at the
Defense backfield, but mostly on the sidelines. Check if the players are
correctly positioned, who is playable and whether the moves run regularly meet.
Finally, the Line Judge is also responsible to the scan line and opposite the
Head Linesman for timekeeping, score, timeouts and irregular movements before
the snap. The above already mentioned Chain Crew act as referee
assistants.
At
Rugby a match is controlled by a single umpire, who acts as the timekeeper, who
blows the starting and the final whistle, who arranges the interruptions and
penalties required to the appropriate situations and he monitors the compliance
with the mandatory rules. In contrast to the judges at American football he
does not wear certain clothes of a referee, but rather only a conventional
rugby jersey and shorts in colors that clearly distinguish him from the two
teams. Before the start of the game the referee controls clothing and footwear
of the players. In addition to the referee, there are also two Lines Referee, that
signal with a flag when the ball or a player carrying the ball crosses over the
touchline. They also have the option to display a foul only noticed by them by
horizontal pivoting of the flag in the direction of the team that have to be
punished.
2.5. Players
Only
as a unit an American-football-team or a Rugby-team has a chance for success.
Each player has to perform his specific task. You can differentiate basically
between Offense, Defense and the Special Team. There is
an old sports wisdom, which says: "Offense wins games, Defense wins
Championships." I think that's true, because the Offense makes admittedly
the points, but the defense is more important for the entire game. In the
following section, the different groups will be presented.
2.5.1. Offense
At
American football there are seven players from the offense at the line of
scrimmage: the five players from the offense line and the two ends, the tight end
and split end, both at once pass receiver. The turn initiates the “Quarterback”
standing behind the Offense Line, the three other players in the backfield
assist him (Running Backs or Wide Receivers). Although playmaker (Quarterback),
ball carrier (Running Back) and pass receiver (Wide Receiver) reap the most compliments
are successful moves without a good offense line impossible. The Offense Line
consists of the Center, next to him per one Guard and out of the Tackles, who
stand outside.
Their
task is not only to create through their block gaps for the ball carriers, but rather
also to block the assailing defender to give the quarterback time to realize
moves. The quarterback announces the signals and instructions to the
forthcoming and introduces this after the snap itself. At the snap, he is
usually directly behind the center. He must be able to throw a precise pass,
has to keep the defense in view, to possibly quickly change the move by
acclamation. He can throw the ball to wide receiver, but also he can wear the
ball itself forward or distribute it by passing on to the running back. The running
backs are the ball carrier. They stand next to the quarterback in order to take
the ball from him and to run as fast as possible forward to the end zone. A
distinction is made between full backs (sturdy, strong) and half backs (agile,
quick off the mark). Even faster than this is the wide receiver. He must be
able to catch the wide passes from the quarterback. His main features are
speed, safety catch and agility. At last on offense there are two ends. They
are called so because they stand outside of the Offense line. The tight end plays
a special role, because he can act as a blocker, but also as a ball carrier or
pass receiver. The split end is, however, further away from the line players.
He is usually the pass receiver, so a wide receiver.
At
rugby the offense player are called forwards. The forwards have 3 rows. In the
first row there are 2 props and 1 hooker. The left prop, also called loose head
prop, has a fundamentally task. At the start he has to lift his right shoulder
against the opposing scrum and shield the catcher of the own team. The right prop
is also called tight head prop. About him proceeds the main thrust in the crush.
He grabs disturbing at the opponent's throw in the game and stands a little
lower than the positioned loose head prop. The props should be composed of sturdy,
strong but not too tall players who seek the duel and can be found there, where
the battle for the ball raging. They are characterized by physical play. Their
presence in the game is important for the morale of the team, as they should
radiate security and tranquility. A prop should not fear body contact.
Both
props support their own hooker. He is the boss in the crowd. His job is to win
the ball and pass it further. Thus he assumes the tasks of a playmaker. The hooker
should also not be overly tall in physique. Fast reactions and tenacity are
necessary for him. He owns a positive influence on the first five forwards, motivates
them and cheers possibly on them. The forwards in the second row are usually
tall. In order to be able to catch the ball they need the bounce of a
basketball player. From her skill, it depends on whether the balls are
conquered. The players should be very athletic and play with physical exertion.
The two players, also called locks are together particularly strong because
they know the other in detail and can deny effectively. Whether the ball can be
captured depends on the first 5 players. Only then it’s
the other players turn. The last 3 players form the third row. These are two
wingers (flanker, split in blindside-flanker and openside-flanker) and a third
row center forward (lock-forward, also “Number 8”). The flanker should be
responsive athletic and above all. They have no particular job field, so they are
the most flexible player. They need to be fast and strong and master the tackle
and the passing game. During the scrimmage, they protect their own scrum half in
front of the opposing. The lock forward should be like the flanker, so have to
be hard running. He should be able to detach
easily from the crowd, so he can be one of the first who can break into the
next group fight. After winning the scrum the ball lands usually at his feet.
In consultation with the scrum half he gives the ball free to attack, or takes
it on himself to run toward the opponent's end zone. He should have the best
view of the game.
2.5.2. Defense
The
Defense in American Football usually decides the game. If the defense succeeds
in doing stops the attack of the opponent's offense, the own offense has more
time for earn points. In addition to that, the Defense can earn points by
performing an interception, safety or a fumble recovery. At an interception the
opponent's ball is caught by a defender and can be wearing to the opponent's
end zone. Is the defense able to tackle the ball carrier in the end zone, the
defense gets 2 points. You can speak of a safety. The fumble recovery is called
to conquer the ball after a fumble. The main objective of defense is to prevent
the enemy from reaching points, to constantly put the attacker under pressure
and to ensure that their own offense comes quickly in the possession. One
advantage of the defense is to be allowed to move before the snap.
As
in the offense the defense takes over very specific tasks. Heavyweight actors
form the first row, the defense line. Behind them are the more agile defenders
(linebacker), which interfere the build-up, and in the backfield stand fast
players that should mainly prevent the passing play. The defense
line consists usually of three or four players: in the middle are the tackles,
which should not let any ball carrier through, next to them the defensive
ends. These secure the sides, so no gaps can arise for the running play.
They should also exert pressure on the opponent's quarterback. The linebackers
are lighter and thereby more mobile. They have diverse tasks, must recognize
the enemy's intentions and must close any gaps in the defense immediately. They
also need to stop the short passing play in the middle and must prevent the quarterback
on build-up. In the backfield arrange the fastest defenders. On the sides of
the cornerbacks that cover the enemy wide receiver. Depending on tactics, there
are one or two safeties, which are the last players from the position. They
need to identify gaps and quickly close it and must cover free receiver.
At
the rugby the defense is referred to as backs. The backs consist of 7 players,
which form certain rows and thus take on different tasks. The half-backs are
formed from the scrum-half and the fly-half. The scrum-half is almost a forward,
because his position among of the forwards. Nevertheless, he always plays
behind the scrum, as he shall inform, direct and motivate his forwards. He
receives the ball as the first in the game and plays it immediately to the fly-half.
The scrum-half should be nimble and quick-response. In many teams, he is the
smallest player. He must master a perfect handball, because only then the
fly-half can start the open play successfully. The fly-half is the connector
and the playmaker of a rugby team. He stands up to 20 meters behind the forwards.
From this position he can relatively calm decide what he does with the won ball.
His task is the tactical set, which he decides out of the situation, whether he
want to use his backs. The fly-half has the perfect technique in ball handling
and because of this he kicks the ball on penalty kicks. According to the half-
backs the three quarters follow. The players must be quick and must practice a
linear play. In the offense their task is to gain space by carrying the ball
forward. There are four three quarter positions. These include the two centers
and the wings. If the fly-half plays the ball to the three quarters, he must
either be borne fast forward by the centers or must be passed quickly to the
outside players (wings). The technique of passing and of catching the players
of the three quarter must control perfectly also out of the sprint. If the
enemy left a gap behind in his defensive, the center should use this error without
hesitation and break through the defense. Each player of the three quarter always
attacks the enemy, for who he is responsible in each case, whom he tries to
push away to the outside line. The center and the wings differ in their tasks
and in the demands placed on them. The wings have to win as much as possible
space with the ball. The center must, among other things trying to stop
attacking players.
Finally,
there is the full-back as the last man behind the main line of defense. Because
he is the last defender, he must possess good tackling skills and must
intercept the high and short shots called bomb kicks. After the interception,
he can either kick the ball back or he initiates an attack from far behind.
Tactics, marksmanship, attack strength and speed are among the basic
requirements of a full-back.
2.5.3. Special Teams
At
American football there is an extra team, called special teams. They are
responsible for certain standard situations such as punts, kick-offs and field
goals. At the punt the football will be kicked of the punter, also kicker to
the opposing team. Which team receives the ball, gets the right of attack. The
punt is usually performed when, after three attempts, it is foreseeable that
the room gain of ten yards in the last attempt is not reachable and the
distance for a field goal is too far. A punt play is one in which 8 men give the
punter time by blocking, so that the punter can kick the ball away. With a kick-off
the game starts each half and after each point gain of a team. At this the ball
stand in a small retainer made of ebonite (kicking-tee). From there, the ball
is kicked to the opposing team, which tries then to take the ball as far as
possible and carry it back into the opponent's field. At the point where the
returner, so the one who carries the ball back will be tackled, his team starts
with the first attack attempt. The main task of a kick-off-team is therefore to
stop the returner as soon as possible. A field goal is a goal in which the ball
from the kicker is shot from the field through the goal posts and above the
crossbar. For this action, there are three points and it is used as a fourth
attempt.
3. Negative Aspects of American Football
There
are many good aspects of American football, but sadly there are some bad parts
too. The biggest being concussions which cause, “Violent shaking causes the
brain cells to become depolarized and fire all their neurotransmitters at once
in an unhealthy cascade, flooding the brain with chemicals and deadening
certain receptors linked to learning and memory. The results often include
confusion, blurred vision, memory loss, nausea and, sometimes,
unconsciousness.”(Head Injuries in Football, NY Times) But other negative
things do occur. This game is one of the most time consuming sports that one
can play and from personal experience I know that it really can have an effect
on one’s grades. Most kids in American football would agree that it, in some
way shape or form, has affected their grades. It also causes physical
exhaustion and fatigue that hinders everyday life. The soreness that one feels
after a workout is sometimes almost debilitating. The last negative effect
would have to be self-esteem. Coaches constantly telling one that they aren’t
good enough, they’re too slow, fat, stupid, and not strong enough, won’t ever
be successful, and will never play really tears down one’s mind to where it is
hard to get back up. There are good reasons for and against playing but the
real decision is personal and for me the positives outweighed the negatives, so
I think American football is a great sport and is a great fun.
4. Why athletes earn so much?
American
football players earn an average of $ 1.1 million per year. But are they really
worthy of that sum? And must professional athletes generally get that kind of
money?
Since
American football is a game with very high risk of damage and physical play, the
players need to have a certain budget to compensate for this risk. But mostly
the health insurance pays for the accidents. Thus the players get so much money
just for playing. But that they only practice a sport in which they are under
physical stress, this sum is much too high. Generally professional athletes
should not receive as high salaries, since there are rackets that are much more
demanding and complicated, but there the workers don’t earn so much money.
Therefore, I would say that either normal employments should contribute as much
as sports or that the content of the athletes is lowered.
5. End part
Through
this term paper, I dealt thorough with the sports American football and rugby.
Thus I learned a lot about it again and so I can apply this knowledge in the
game. Personally, I find that American football is better than rugby, because
it needs more body contact and it toughens more the body. I also wanted to show
the reader with this work what a great sports American football and rugby are and
invite them to inform oneself of them or possibly try to test one of them. As a
summary comparison you can say that the point is that in both sport varieties the
players have to carry the ball in the end zone. In both there is massive body
contact and also a similar point system. With this the mainly similar points
are termed. But there are more differences than commonalities. Rugby is a fluently
ball game and the course is similar to soccer. American football is largely turn-based.
The players may pass and kick the ball in all directions, at rugby the forward
pass is prohibited. This is certainly the most essential difference. It results
from these difference completely different game situations that manifest
themselves by force in a different way.
6. Resources
Here the resources are listed for the
particular theme:
2.1. History & Development:
è
è
è
2.2. Varieties:
è
2.3. Field:
è
è
2.4. Basic rules:
2.4.1. Scores:
è The book
“Gewinnen beim American Football – Offense - Strategie und Technik”
è
è
2.4.2. Plays:
è The book
“Gewinnen beim American Football – Offense - Strategie und Technik”
è
è
2.4.3. Clock-Management:
è My coach
gave me an understanding of this topic
2.4.4. Overtime:
è My coach
gave me an understanding of this topic
è
2.4.5. Irregularities & Penalties:
è
è
è
2.4.6. Referees:
è The book
“American Football…vom Kick-off zum Touchdown”
è
2.5. Players:
è The book
“Gewinnen beim American Football – Offense - Strategie und Technik”
è The book
“Gewinnen beim American Football – Defense - Strategie und Technik”
è
è
3.
Negative Aspects of American Football:
è
è
7. Attachment
American
football – equipment Rugby – equipment
Rugby – pitch
American
football – pitch
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