# How would you explain American football to an adult who isn’t familiar with it? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** football-nfl\ **Created:** [July 25, 2022, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-explain-american-football-to-an-adult-who-isn-t-familiar-with-it/968544 "2022-07-25T19:38:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-explain-american-football-to-an-adult-who-isn-t-familiar-with-it/968544/21 "2023-02-18T17:47:20Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > ● If they can keep moving the ball down the field and into the end zone, they get a touchdown worth 6 points. They also get one more play to get an extra point, or an extra two points — the team chooses which method to try for, either 1 or 2 points. I’d also mention here that the 1-extra-point method is very easy (for football players, at least) and almost always chosen, so in practice, a touchdown can usually be thought of as being worth 7 points. But yeah, that’s a pretty good starter explanation, overall. More details would surely emerge during the game, like the different ways to move the ball. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-explain-american-football-to-an-adult-who-isn-t-familiar-with-it/968544/22 "2023-02-18T17:54:08Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > But the chess analogy helps a lot: move, respond, assess field position, make a decision; move, respond, assess field position again, make a decision, and so on. I once said, “Hockey is blitzkrieg, Football is trench warfare.” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-explain-american-football-to-an-adult-who-isn-t-familiar-with-it/968544/23 "2023-02-18T18:14:28Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > I once said, “Hockey is blitzkrieg, Football is trench warfare.” [Yes, you did.](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-explain-american-football-to-an-adult-who-isn-t-familiar-with-it/968544/7) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2023, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-explain-american-football-to-an-adult-who-isn-t-familiar-with-it/968544/24 "2023-02-18T21:40:35Z")
Hey, memory problems run in my family! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Hook](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@Hook](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hook)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-explain-american-football-to-an-adult-who-isn-t-familiar-with-it/968544/25 "2023-02-19T17:13:44Z")
Just as an aside, an explanation i recently heard of the difference between American football and Soccer: American football is a game for coaches, soccer is a game for players. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2023, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-explain-american-football-to-an-adult-who-isn-t-familiar-with-it/968544/26 "2023-02-19T17:21:11Z")
Any person from a country that enjoy a rugby style game should of course be directed to first think of rugby, which is a cousin of football. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-would-you-explain-american-football-to-an-adult-who-isn-t-familiar-with-it/968544.md?page=1)