American football

American football, referred to as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron,^{[nb 1]} is a team sport. It is played by two teams with 11 players on each side. American football is played with a ball with pointed ends. Points are scored in many ways, usually by one team getting the ball into the end zone of the other team. The game started in the late 19th century as college football, an American version of rugby football.

The main leagues that play American football are the professional National Football League (NFL), and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which plays college football. In the National Football League, players can be paid millions of dollars. In the National Collegiate Athletic Association, players simply play for the pride of their school, scholarships, or for the chance to join a national team. Over a million boys (and a number of girls) play high school football. There is also a closely related sport called Canadian football (CFL).

1. ↑ "Gridiron" Archived November 7, 2017, at the Wayback Machine, MacMillan Dictionary
2. ↑ "gridiron football (sport)". Britannica Online Encyclopedia. britannica.com. Archived from the original on June 14, 2010. Retrieved July 13, 2010.