# Stripped down football for sports morons? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [September 22, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458 "2013-09-22T19:09:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/21 "2013-09-23T18:05:38Z")
> [@davidw](#): > > To answer your last question, teams have home uniforms and away uniforms. The home team chooses to wear either the dark or the white uniform, and the visitor has to wear the opposite. Sometimes there are alternate or throwback uniforms as well. And in general, the home team usually chooses to wear their dark uniform. The Cowboys always choose the white uniform becuase they think the blue uniform is unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/22 "2013-09-23T18:41:39Z")
Okay… so now do you guys have any links to any spectacular passes or touchdowns or plays? (frankly, aside from passes and touchdowns, I am completely amazed that anyone can FOLLOW what the hell is happening on the field as its happening…I have a new respect for football announcers? color commentators? commentators? the guys who are following and telling and all while it happens… and speaking of which, I know FNL was based on a book that was non-fiction…is the representation of a guy commenting while the game is going on true to life? For HIGH SCHOOL? Or is that just a Texas thing?) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/23 "2013-09-23T18:47:07Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > If you succeed in throwing or holding and carrying the ball into your touchdown area, you may try to jam Past a line of bodies only a few feet outside the endzone area to get an extra two points, sort of like a mini running touchdown, or a field goal. > > Since until recently I always believed that a touchdown was worth seven points, I am assuming that it is virtually automatic to go for the field goal and it’s almost always good, correct? If you kick the ball through the goal posts after a touchdown it’s an extra point or point after not a field goal. A field goal is when you kick the ball between the goalposts as part of a regular play. The difference is a field goal is worth three points. > [@Stoid](#): > > Okay now, about turns: if you fail to get your 10 yards the other team gets the ball. But from what you say I assume they don’t start at their 50 yard line, they start as far back as wherever you got to? So if the offensive team manages to move the ball to within 5 yards of their end zone but fail to move it over into the end zone, the other team has to start 95 yards away from their end zone? If you play all four downs and don’t move ten yards forward, you have to hand the ball over at the point where you were stopped. So usually what happens is a team on its fourth down will punt - they kick the ball down the field so the other team has to start farther back. If a team scores there’s a kickoff - that’s another time when the team gets to kick the ball down the field to start the other team as far back as possible\*. Each half of the game also starts with a kickoff - one for each team. There’s a coin flip at the start of the game - the team that wins the coin flip decides if it wants to kickoff the ball in the first half or the second half. \*There is a special play called an onside kick. The team that just scored has to kick the ball to the other team. But they can try to run down the field and catch the ball before the other team gets it. If they manage it they get to keep the ball. But it’s a pretty difficult play and most onside kicks don’t succeed so teams usually only try them when they’re desperate. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/24 "2013-09-23T18:51:05Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > is the representation of a guy commenting while the game is going on true to life? For HIGH SCHOOL? Or is that just a Texas thing? Football is a big thing in Texas. A comparison I’ve made is that in Texas, high school football gets treated the way college football is treated everywhere else; college football gets treated the way professional football is treated everywhere else; and professional football gets treated the way religion is treated everywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/25 "2013-09-23T19:04:41Z")
> [@](#): > > Also: do the uniforms always change colors for some reason? i got very confused when the team was blue one week and white the next??? I haven’t seen anyone address your uniform question. Generally, teams have home uniforms and away uniforms. Thus, the [Seahawks](http://seattlesportscentral.com/seattle-seahawks-new-uniforms/) wear dark blue at home and white while away. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/26 "2013-09-23T20:22:15Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > I am assuming that it is virtually automatic to go for the field goal and it’s almost always good, correct? Kicking the extra point succeeds at over a 95% rate in the NFL. Last season, NFL teams succeeded at 99.5% of their extra-point kicks. The two-point conversion, where the offense attempts to run or pass the ball into the end zone for two points, has a much lower success rate; in the NFL, it’s typically just under 50%. [/QUOTE] So, most teams nearly always go for the single point via the kick. There are very specific times when a team will go for the two-point conversion. For example, if they just scored a touchdown which brings their score to 5 points less than their opponent, they may go for the two points, as, if they’re successful, it means they can then tie the game with a subsequent field goal. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/27 "2013-09-23T20:27:16Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > So, most teams nearly always go for the single point via the kick. There are very specific times when a team will go for the two-point conversion. For example, if they just scored a touchdown which brings their score to 5 points less than their opponent, they may go for the two points, as, if they’re successful, it means they can then tie the game with a subsequent field goal. Or, after a touchdown they’re two points behind with 4 seconds to go. A PAT won’t do them any good in a situation like that. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/28 "2013-09-23T20:27:33Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I haven’t seen anyone address your uniform question. Generally, teams have home uniforms and away uniforms. Thus, the [Seahawks](http://seattlesportscentral.com/seattle-seahawks-new-uniforms/) wear dark blue at home and white while away. To build on this a bit: all teams have to have two uniforms: one with a white jersey, and one with a non-white jersey (and that’s almost always a darker color). As noted earlier, this is to make it easier for both the players and the fans to tell the difference between the players on the field. In the NFL, the home team gets to choose which jersey they will be wearing (white vs. dark), and the visiting team has to take the other option. Most teams prefer wearing their dark jerseys at home, but there are exceptions. As already noted, the Dallas Cowboys nearly always wear white at home, as there’s been a little bit of a mythology built up around their white uniforms (i.e., that the team allegedly plays poorly when they have to wear the dark uniforms) – this has gone to the extent that some of their rivals (such as the Washington Redskins) will choose to wear white when they’re hosting the Cowboys, to force the Cowboys into the dark jerseys. Some teams that play in hot climates (such as the Miami Dolphins) elect to wear white at home early in the season, since a white jersey might be a little cooler-feeling when it’s 90 degrees and sunny. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/29 "2013-09-23T20:29:29Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Or, after a touchdown they’re two points behind with 4 seconds to go. A PAT won’t do them any good in a situation like that. That, of course, is the most obvious reason why you’d go for two. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/30 "2013-09-23T20:48:13Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > If you succeed in throwing or holding and carrying the ball into your touchdown area, you may try to jam Past a line of bodies only a few feet outside the endzone area to get an extra two points, sort of like a mini running touchdown, or a field goal. After a TD, the ball is spotted on the three yard line for the scoring team to attempt the extra point(s). If you go for 2, you can just as easily try a pass play as a running play, or even (very rare) fake the kick and go for 2. In the NFL, all conversions were one point, regardless of method, until a couple of decades ago – I am not sure exactly when and for how long that was, but college football, IIUC, has always had the two-point conversion. > [@Stoid](#): > > Amazing how complicated it gets… When you get into subtle rules like lineman not being able to hold onto defenders or defenders having to give pass receivers a chance to run their routes and try to catch the ball, that stuff makes sense enough. Then you get into “intentional grounding” or the NFL’s 4th down fumble rule (that changes slightly late in the game), and your head starts to hurt a little. One thing to note is “down by contact”. In college football (unless they changed it recently), the ball carrier’s progress always ends whenever some part of his body other than a foot (or hand?) touches the ground, but in the NFL, he can fall down flat and get back up to run some more if he has not been touched by a defender. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/31 "2013-09-23T20:48:44Z")
Another uniform issue is you’ll see a lot of teams nowadays wearing “throwback” uniforms. These are replicas of uniforms the team wore in past seasons. The supposed reason for this is pay homage to the traditions of the sport - but the real reason is to sell merchandise. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/32 "2013-09-23T21:09:14Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Okay… so now do you guys have any links to any spectacular passes or touchdowns or plays? > **[NFL.com | Official Site of the National Football League](https://www.nfl.com/videos/)** > > The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/33 "2013-09-23T21:09:45Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > On passes, there are two kinds of pass, the forward pass and the lateral. In a forward pass, the ball ends up further down the field than where it was thrown from. You can only make one forward pass per play, and it has to start from behind the line of scrimmage (the place where the ball officially was at the start of play). In a lateral, the ball moves backwards relative to where it was thrown from (though usually only slightly; it’s mostly sideways, hence the name). Anyone with the ball can make a lateral pass at any time, though it’s not an often-used tactic. The biggest difference between a forward pass and a lateral is that if a forward pass hits the ground before it’s caught, the ball is dead, the play is over, and the offense starts the next play from the same point they started the previous one. But if a lateral hits the ground, it’s still a live ball, and anyone, offense or defense, can fall on it or pick it up and run. Which is why you almost never see a lateral besides the occasional pitch from a quarterback to a running back - it’s far too risky to do if defensive players are anywhere nearby. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/34 "2013-09-23T21:29:45Z")
I remember watching a college game a few years back where the QB passed the ball almost halfway across the the field, the receiver dropped it, and the play was whistled dead on an incomplete pass, but it was clear from the replay that the receiver was upfield from the QB, so it should have counted as a fumble, but the refs, um, dropped the ball on that one. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/35 "2013-09-23T22:18:25Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > Someone very briefly mentioned it in another post but I wanted to reiterate, one way of scoring is by way of a safety. > > There are two types of safeties. One of them is essentially never going to happen (although they have happened in college football, one as recently as a couple years ago), which is worth one point. How does the one-point safety work? ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/36 "2013-09-23T22:28:32Z")
> [@Fleetwood](#): > > How does the one-point safety work? Team A is attempting a PAT or 2-Pt conversion. Team B blocks the PAT and recovers it or causes a turnover. Team B returns the ball out of the endzone and tries to advance it, but in the course of doing so reverses field and goes back into their own end zone and is tackled. 1-pt safety for Team A. Essentially Team B is being rewarded for tackling the returner in their own end zone, but aren’t given the full 2 points because then they’d be getting _more_ points than they were entitled had they made the PAT. This is only valid in the NCAA, defenses can’t advance blocked PATs in the NFL. Not sure what happens on this play in the NFL if there’s a turn over on a 2-pt try and this occurs. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/37 "2013-09-23T22:29:43Z")
The one-point play in college is a blocked PAT or a turnover on a two-point conversion returned to the end zone. This, of course, is not the same as the rouge in Canadian football. ---
**Author:** ![Fleetwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fleetwood/32/271_2.png) [@Fleetwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fleetwood)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/38 "2013-09-23T22:53:35Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > Team A is attempting a PAT or 2-Pt conversion. Team B blocks the PAT and recovers it or causes a turnover. Team B returns the ball out of the endzone and tries to advance it, but in the course of doing so reverses field and goes back into their own end zone and is tackled. 1-pt safety for Team A. > > Essentially Team B is being rewarded for tackling the returner in their own end zone, but aren’t given the full 2 points because then they’d be getting _more_ points than they were entitled had they made the PAT. > > This is only valid in the NCAA, defenses can’t advance blocked PATs in the NFL. Not sure what happens on this play in the NFL if there’s a turn over on a 2-pt try and this occurs. > [@asterion](#): > > The one-point play in college is a blocked PAT or a turnover on a two-point conversion returned to the end zone. This, of course, is not the same as the rouge in Canadian football. Thanks. I guess I read the post as inferring that it was legal in the NFL but would not probably happen. Couldn’t figure out how. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/39 "2013-09-23T23:03:16Z")
> [@For You](#): > > I remember watching a college game a few years back where the QB passed the ball almost halfway across the the field, the receiver dropped it, and the play was whistled dead on an incomplete pass, but it was clear from the replay that the receiver was upfield from the QB, so it should have counted as a fumble, but the refs, um, dropped the ball on that one. This doesn’t make any sense. What you described is an incomplete pass, not a fumble. It only makes sense if by “upfield” you mean “behind the quarterback”, which is a strange definition of “upfield.” ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2013, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458/40 "2013-09-23T23:13:54Z")
Now that I know THIS much, I find myself wanting to watch- EXCEPT… I’d still probably be lost as hell since the commenters comment in a manner that assumes the viewer has a clue. What I need is Televised Football for Dummies… or hey, wait… closed captioning explaining what the fuck the commenter just said… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stripped-down-football-for-sports-morons/669458.md?page=3)