I’ve been an American Football fan for 11 years and I’ve never understood the meaning of some of the position names like quarterback, halfback (tailback), fullback and etc. Does anyone know the origin of these names and if these positions changed in function (for instance, I know fullbacks used to be much more involved in the offense)? I would assume they have some basis in rugby or whatever sport American Football evolved from but I don’t really know.
Thanks.
Has to do with Scottish rugby, I believe. It designated how far back the backs were behind the forwards - quarterback, halfback, fullback.
Tailback comes from the Single Wing formation. It’s basically another name for the left halfback (the right halfback became the wingback). Tailback was the main running dude in the backfield, the wingback was stationed near the right end and was mostly a blocker. The fullback split duties between the hard running and blocking.
After a while, running back became a generic term for any of the backs who could run the ball.
Ok, starting on the offensive side of the ball:
Center: Seems rather obvious; he is in the center of the line. When the Single Wing formation was abandoned in the late 1940s, the center’s role changed; he gave up some initial blocking but took up snapping the ball. All NFL centers weigh between 280 and 310 lbs, and they’re usually a bit over six feet tall.
Quarterback: He was a quarter of the way back from the snapper to the back of the formation. Initially he was a blocker; however, as soon as professional football started, coaches began to realize that he could pass the ball as well. Over the past 70 years, quarterbacks have evolved into a specialized, finicky, high-strung breed incapable of throwing a block if their lives depended on it. A variant of this is the scrambling quarterback, who can run the ball if the receivers are all covered - Steve Young, Randall Cunningham, Mike Vick, Daunte Culpepper. The new-style quarterback is best represented now by Peyton Manning. Older-style quarterbacks are rare in the NFL and I think Ryan Leaf will have been the last of them. Quarterbacks come in all weights but almost all of them are well over 6’ tall.
Halfback: He was halfway from the snapper to the back of the formation initially. Until the 1970s, the halfback was a fast player who was placed in front of the fullback in order to block a safety or cornerback. O. J. Simpson and Walter Payton changed the role of the halfback; previously, coaches thought that smaller guys were more likely to fumble and get injured than the larger, more powerful fullbacks, but 2000 yards in a season later… Halfbacks now line up behind the fullback. Clinton Portis and LaDainian Tomlinson are probably the best examples of fast halfbacks in the current NFL. Current running backs are between 5’8 and 6’, and weigh between 180 lbs and 240 lbs.
Fullback: Until the 1970s, the team’s primary runner. Powerful and violent, he could force a pile of men forward for extra yards at the end of the play. Jim Brown is the absolute best example of this. Now, they’re simply blockers; heavy objects placed in the way of a linebacker to prevent him from getting to the running back. On passing plays, the fullback often drops back behind the quarterback to prevent sneak attacks. Fullbacks are usually a little over six feet tall and about 240 lbs.
Guard, Tackle: Guards initially protected the passer. Tackles initially attempted to throw opposing linemen to the ground. Coaches later realized that the quarterback was more vulnerable from farther out and the roles were reversed. They are as big as athletes typically come. I’d imagine a sumo wrestler would do well at right tackle. Many are well over 300 lbs, some up near 370.
Tight End: Lines up on the end of the main-line formation, typically tight up against the right tackle. He throws a quick block and races forward a few yards in order to present a passing target. They’re all over 6’2" tall and weigh between 200 and 280 lbs.
Split End: Appears slightly split off the end of the line, his job is to receive a pass thrown on a short route and perhaps block a pass-rusher coming in from that side. Typically either a large wide receiver or small tight end, 6’ 2", 210 is about right.
Wide Receiver: Lines up at the edge of the field and receives a pass. Until that bastard Art Monk came around, Wide Recievers could get away with being under 5’8" and 160 lbs. They’re now closer to 6’, 200. The main attribute of a wide receiver is pure, unadulterated speed. If you can run 40 yards in under 4.5 seconds, you’re fast enough.
I recommend Madden NFL 2005 to get a feel for what each player does. Try substituting a bad player in at each position in order, and see what weaknesses you get.
PS: The only runners faster than NFL wide receivers and cornerbacks are track stars. Bullet Bob Hayes, WR for the Dallas Cowboys, was the 1964 Olympic 100 meter gold medalist. The sub-4 40 is as much a goal as the sub-4 mile used to be.
Thanks for info, it is appreciated.
These days a lot of positions exist only in specific formations I’ve noticed. Like nickelbacks for example.
Funny, I see a nickelback in a lot of formations. $0.30 to $0.34 is the most common, I find. 
Seriously, this is very interesting and reinforces my thoughts about football being too complicated to get into this late in my life.
Nah, I taught my SO starting last year, now she’s mostly up to speed. Nickelback is a play on words, it just means a fifth defender in the backfield. Normal lineup would have 4 lineman, 3 linebackers (or vice versa) leaving two cornerbacks and two safeties to patrol the backfield. In a nickelback formation, a fifth defender is pulled off the line and into the backfield to assist with passing defense. Fifth defender equals nickel, see? These formations are called nickel formations. Dime formations is when another defender is pulled into the backfield, making six. So you have two nickelbacks, with the second one called a dimeback, because two nickels make a dime.
Not so hard, right? 
Thanks for all that, I’m just confused about something.
What’s an older-style quarterback? What characteristics define them?
And when you say new-style quarterback, how new do you mean? Peyton Manning is a stay-at-home passer, the man never leaves the pocket. He averages 5.5 yards/game rushing. Isn’t that the definition of an old-style quarterback? And Vick et al. is the definition of the new-style?
Admittedly this veers away from the OP.
I realize that there’s a lot I don’t know about baseball strategy, but I get the basics (simplified more than I really need here): one guy throws the ball, one guy catches, four guys are arranged around where the other team’s guys are going to be running, and three guys stand way out to bring the ball back in to the area around the other six.
American football is, as best I can tell from what I see in those annoying gaps between Super Bowl commercials, a chaotic morass of bodies. The players are given position names, but they’re packed too close together to make heads or tails of it and they aren’t even in the same position all the time. Then there’s really two of these messes to figure out, because there’s essentially a whole different team (with different position names and different configurations) for attack and defense.
I’ll stick with the commercials and making time with the football widows, thanks.
chaparralv8, excellent descriptions of the positions, thanks for that. However, I agree with Kid_A over the old/new QB descriptions unless we now have 3 leagues of quarterbacks: Ryan Leaf’s style being the originals, Manning being the old and Vick being the new. I’ve also heard some of the commentators on CBS refer to Manning as old school.
Personally, Manning is great and I love the way he can read a defense from 50 paces! I’ve been following him and the Colts since Tony Dungy took over as head coach. (I’m also very proud owner of a signed Manning ball).
Back to the OP. CHAPARRALv8, any chance you can sum up the defensive positions - this is where I come unstuck on Madden 2005.
Mathochist - My sister introduced me to NFL a few years back explaining the game thus:
‘The offense have 4 attempts to move the ball 10 yds up field. If they succeed they get another 4 attempts to go another 10 yds. Aim - to score a touchdown by crossing the goal line or score a field goal by kicking between the goal posts. The Defense’s aim is to stop the offense achieving the above’
The rest of the game rules etc can be picked up by watching - The refs always explain all penalties.
This explanation has caused me an my 4 closest friends to become hooked on the game!
I don’t really watch the defensive formations as closely as I should in real games, but Madden 2005 seems to like to use a quarter quite a lot. Is that 3 men on the line, 1 linebacker, and 7 DBs or 4 men on the line, no linebackers, and 7 DBs?
Oh, I get the high-level view easily enough. I’m talking about the next pass: the basic idea of what each player is there for.
Are you referring to the responsibilities of the offensive or defensive players.
Offensive players responsibilities are circumscribed by where they are on the field. Only certain players on offense can run the ball or catch passes. Only the two players at the end of the line and the four players in the backfield are eligible receivers.
But the defense can line up pretty much anyway it wants. They could line up 11 linemen or 11 defensive backs if they wanted. It just depends upon what the defense thinks the offense is more likely to run.
Defensive linemen are reponsible for creating a surge in the line and pushing the blockers back. If they can get to the quarterback, that’s great. If they can keep the running back from getting to the outside, that’s great.
Linebackers have to be able to do just about anything. They need to be able to cover receivers and rush the quarterback. A linebacker is usually the captain of the defense and sets the defense before the play in conjunction with the call from the sideline.
Defensive backs fall into two types: corners and safeties.
Corners are usually very fast because they have to cover wide receivers, often one on on. Corners tend to be the shortest players on the field (except for kickers)
Safeties are the last line of defense. They help the corners with pass coverage. Frequently they are the hardest hitters on the field because they are both strong and fast.
This line here – and your whole post in general – illustrate my point beautifully. Any child can point to the first, second, and third baseman, but who can point to a football configuration and identify what the hell is going on without studying seasons’ worth of games? Oh, listening to the commentator counts as cheating, by the way.
You can use the numbers of the players as a guide.
For defense 20-49 are defensive backs. Linebackers are 50-59 or 90-99 (more frequently in the 50s). Linemen are 70-99.
Or you can use relative sizes:
Defensive linemen - big fat guys
Linebackers - big guys, but no gut
Cornerbacks - little guys with big legs who are really fast
Safeties - big guys who are pretty fast
I can take a shot at Defense.
First of all there are the formations. 4-3 means four guys standing right on the line of scrimage and 4 guys standing a yard or two back. 3-4 means three on the line one four standing a yard or two off. In both cases there are 4 guys in the secondary, the guys who cover wide recievers. The secondary is cornerbacks and safetys.
postions:
Defensive tackle/nose guard/interior lineman. On a 3-4 there was on one and he was typically called the nose guard, because he was over the nose of the ball. He is right on the line and in the middle of the play over the center. in a 4-3 there are two, and they play right across from the offensive tackles, hence the name defensive tackles. Sometimes skilled and quick pass rushers, they are now mostly mass and muscle. Their job is to stop the offensive line from moving forward, so it is too clogged to run through the center of the field. They are some of the biggest guys on the field(and the planet for that matter), currently several are decently over 400 pounds.
Defensive end/interior lineman. Right on the line outside the def tackles. Main job is to crash to the middle on a run through the center to clog it up some more. If a run around the outside they are to string it out(keep the running back running sideways rather than forward). On a pass they are usually good pass rushers. smaller than the interior guys, they should be big guys(280-360) who have amazing speed for their size. Lately there are a few(Jason taylor, Dwight Freeney) who are much lighter, but fast as hell. They can run around blockers instead of trying to push through.
Inside/middle linebackers. Perhaps the key position in defensive football. Typically smart, fast, and strong, and usually the defensive captain. In modern offenses they are designed to tackle the runner most of the time. After the linemen occupy the blockers, they are supposed to be free to get the ball carrier. 240 or so pounds usually. Often cover the tight end, or running back on routes, and get burned a lot doing it. There in one in a 3-4 and two in a 4-3
Outside linebackers: More emphasis on speed than inside linebackers. They have to be able to cover all the way to the sideline. Often rush the quaterback on blitzes.
cornerback. Cover wide recievers. Speed is their main attribute. Often under 6-0, and 200 pounds they are at a huge disadvantage against the current 6-3 plus wide recievers. Can stand right at the line infront of the reciever, or back off the line upto 10 yards or so.
Strong safety: secondary player who almost always stands at least 7-12 yards back. Back up to the middle linebackers if they miss the tackle. Should be strong enough to tackle a 260 pound fullback, but fast enough to cover a reciever. If the team is really afraid of the offense running they will sometimes move up next to the line backers to be the ‘eighth man in the box’ before the snap.
free safety. usually a bit smaller and faster than the strong safety. Called free because he does a lot of roaming around the backfield to where the biggest weakness in the pass defense is on that play.
nickleback. As covered already an extra cornerback brought in when the offense is expected to pass. usually replaces a linebacker. a dimeback is a sixth secondary defender.
schemes and terms.
Blitz. A defensive player who is not a lineman rushing the quarterback. Hoping that the offenisve line blockers arn’t prepared to stop him from getting to the quarterback.
man-to-man. When a cornerback is assigned to cover a wide reciever by himself.
Bump-and-run. The cornerback should try to shove the reciever as soon as the ball is snapped. Hopefully slowing him down enough that he won’t make it to where the was supposed to go on his route.
Zone coverage. When the pass defense doesn’t cover specific recievers, but instead is assigned an area of the field to defend.
dammit I figured I’d get beaten to the ball during the half-hour it took to type that.
[hijack]
I’m a hockey player, and that’s all I know. I remember seeing a year or two ago a pretty hefty guy pick up a fumble in the Super Bowl, and run it into the end zone for a touchdown with a lot of blockers. The guy looked big enough and ran slow enough to be a center, but he made it anyway IIRC.
Thus being it was a fumble, there’s this thing I remember hearing of an “eligible reciever”. If, hypothetically, a center was able to break free without letting defense slip through to tackle the QB, is he an “eligible reciever”?
And on re-reading my question, let me simplify things and ask: just what defines/what is an ‘eligible reciever’?
Tripler
Goalies are always eligible recievers. And so are the red pipes.