American Football LEVELED BOOK • Q A Reading A–Z Level Q Leveled Book Word Count: 960 Connections Writing Do you think American football players should have to wear the football gear shown in the book? Why or why not? Write a persuasive essay using details from the book to support your answer. Social Studies Choose a football legend mentioned in the book. Research to learn more about him. Create a trading card for the football player that includes a picture American on the front and details about his life and football career on the back. Football Written by Louanne Silver Visit www.readinga-z.com for thousands of books and materials. www.readinga-z.com Words to Know American championship platoons defensive quarterback Football end zone spectacular kickoff wide receiver offensive line Front cover: Arizona Cardinals safety Pat Tillman (right) tackles San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice (left) in San Francisco in 2000. Back cover: The Indiana Colts during a game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana Page 3: Georgia running back Todd Gurley (right) dives into the end zone for a touchdown as Kentucky cornerback Jaleel Hytchye (left) defends in a game in Athens, Georgia. Photo Credits: Front cover: © Andy Kuno/Reuters/Corbis; back cover: © PCN/Corbis; title page, page 7 (bottom left): © Gizelka/iStock/Thinkstock; page 3: © John Bazemore/ AP Photo; page 4: © John Gaps III/AP Photo; page 5: © Brian Garfinkel/Icon SMI/Corbis; page 7 (top): © Everett Collection Inc/Alamy; page 7 (bottom right): © numb/Alamy; page 8: © Pongphan Ruengchai/iStock/Thinkstock; page 10: © Aspenphoto/Dreamstime.com; page 11: © Timothy L. Hale/Zuma Wire/Zumapress. com/Alamy Live News; page 12: © Frank Jansky/Zuma Wire/Alamy Live News; page 13: © Eugene_Onischenko/iStock/Thinkstock; page 14: © Greg Trott/AP Photo; page 15 (left): © Rachel Mummey/Zuma Press/Corbis; page 15 (right): © Cameron Spencer/Photodisc/Thinkstock Written by Louanne Silver www.readinga-z.com American Football Focus Question Spectacular Sports Correlation Level Q Leveled Book LEVEL Q © Learning A–Z What is American football, and how did Written by Louanne Silver Fountas & Pinnell N it become America’s favorite sport? All rights reserved. Reading Recovery 30 www.readinga-z.com DRA 30 “The Tackle” is one of the most dramatic moments in Super Bowl history. Six Seconds to Go The date is January 30, 2000. The Tennessee Titans and the St. Louis Rams are playing in Table of Contents the Super Bowl, American football’s greatest Six Seconds to Go ....................... 4 game. With the Rams ahead 23-16, the Titans are at the Rams’ 10-yard line. There are only America’s Favorite Sport ................. 5 six seconds left in the game. Titans quarterback Football in Other Countries .............. 6 Steve McNair passes the ball to wide receiver Kevin Dyson, whose outstretched arm comes A New Sport Is Born .................... 7 up just 1 yard (0.91 m) short of the end zone. Playing the Game ....................... 9 The crowd goes wild as the Rams win their first Super Bowl championship. Football Legends ....................... 14 With exciting game endings like this, it isn’t Many Kinds of Football ................. 15 hard to see why the spectacular sport of Glossary .............................. 16 American football is something to cheer about. American Football • Level Q 3 4 Nations of the International Federation of American Football America’s Favorite Sport American football is the most popular sport in the United States. More fans attend football NORTH EUROPE AMERICA ASIA games and watch football games on TV than ATLANTIC OCEAN any other sport. About seventy thousand fans AFRICA Equator attend each National Football League (NFL) PACIFIC SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN AMERICA OCEAN game. The NFL’s championship game—the AUSTRALIA Super Bowl—is one of the biggest sports events in the world. Football in Other Countries About seventy countries around the world have American football teams. The sport is not as popular as some other sports, but interest in the game is growing. Canada has had its own form of football for more than one hundred years. Canadian football is like American football. However, the field size, number of players, and some of the rules are different. Arena football, an indoor version of American football, has been around since the 1980s. Its fast games take place on a small The Philadelphia Eagles are entering the field to play against the St. Louis Rams at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. playing field. American Football • Level Q 5 6 American Football Field The goalpost is 18.5 feet (5.6 m) across and 10 feet (3 m) tall in college and pro football. Kicking the ball above A New Sport Is Born the bar and between the uprights is one way to score. In the late 1860s and early 1870s, students at several sideline The end zone is 10 yards (9.1 m) wide. The ball North American schools Walter Camp is the “Father must be carried into, of American Football.” started playing two games or passed and caught from England. Soccer, which in, this area to score a touchdown. is also called football in parts of the world, was 160 feet (48.8 m) mainly played with the feet. Rugby (short for 1-yard hash marks rugby football) was played with hands as well as feet. 5-yard line Yale, in Connecticut, was one of the schools that played rugby. Walter Camp, a Yale student 50-yard line: This line marks the middle of from 1876 to 1881, suggested changes to the the field. The number 360 feet (109.7 m)360 feet (109.7 indicates that it is game’s rules. Over time, modern American 50 yards (45.7 m) football was born. from either end zone. Pigskin Some people believe that early American footballs were probably rugby balls that were modern 10-yard line: The made of inflated pig bladders stuffed into pig rugby ball arrow points in the hide casings. The balls were oval but were difficult direction of the closest end zone. to throw. Over time, the bladder was eliminated goal line end line and more pointed footballs were developed. Today, we use leather footballs made of modern cowhide that some people refer American football gets its nickname— American to as pigskins. “gridiron”—from the pattern of yard football lines and hash marks on the field. American Football • Level Q 7 8 Playing Positions Offense Defense QB quarterback S S C center CB CB G guard LB LB LB T tackle DE DT DT DE TE tight end line of scrimmage WR wide receiver RB running back WR T G C G T TE Defense QB DT defensive tackle WR RB DE defensive end LB linebacker RB Offense CB cornerback S safety Playing the Game During a football game, two teams try to move the ball into the other team’s end zone to score points. Each team has two platoons of eleven players each. (Teams also have a third A West Virginia University quarterback is ready to pass the ball. He wears a towel to wipe off his hands so he can grip the ball well. platoon for kicking.) The offensive line, or platoon, tries to score, and the defensive platoon To move the ball toward the end zone, tries to stop the other team from scoring. The players can run with it or pass (throw) it to a two platoons take turns playing. When Team A teammate. The ball must be carried to the end has control of the ball, its offensive unit plays zone or caught there. If a teammate catches Team B’s defensive platoon. When Team B has the ball, the pass is completed. If a player on control of the ball, its offensive platoon plays the other team catches the ball, the pass is Team A’s defensive platoon. A quarterback is intercepted. If no one catches the ball and it the leader of each offensive platoon. falls to the ground, the pass is incomplete. American Football • Level Q 9 10 Teams can score in several ways. Let’s say Team A is playing offense. Team A can score six points with a touchdown by running or passing the ball into Team B’s end zone. Team A also tries to score extra points right after a touchdown by kicking the ball between the goalposts (one point) or running or passing the ball to get to the end zone (two points). Another way for Team A to score is a field goal (three points). To get a field goal, a player kicks the ball between the goalposts. Team B—the defense—can also try to take the ball from The offense (Northwestern Wildcats, left) is ready to try to move the ball Team A and score points. against the defense (Notre Dame Fighting Irish, right). The game begins with a kickoff to the offensive team. That team moves the ball toward the other team’s end zone and must gain at least 10 yards (9.1 m). The offensive team has four chances—called downs—to either gain those 10 yards or cross the goal line and score. As long as the team gains at least 10 yards within those four downs, it keeps the ball. Then it earns the chance to gain another 10 yards. But let’s say the offensive team can’t move the ball 10 yards within the four downs. A North Carolina State quarterback (number 12) dives for the end zone in a game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets. Then the other team gets the ball. American Football • Level Q 11 12 Teams have many special plays, or plans of action, for moving the ball down the field.