American football is a contact sport played by teams of 11 players on a 360 by 160 foot field. It involves strategy and physical plays to advance the ball down the field or tackle opponents. The Super Bowl, played in early February, is the championship game between the winners of the American Football Conference and National Football Conference playoffs. Super Bowl XLIII saw the Pittsburgh Steelers defeat the Arizona Cardinals for their 6th championship title.

1. American Football, Superbowl XLIII
Inspired by my son’s 3rd grade school project
Date: Feb 01, 2009
Source:
www.yahoo.com
www.nfl.com
www.wikipedia.com

2. Dude, give me some tips about the game
Strategy plays a major role in football
American football is a contact or collision sport
Playing by the rules, a defensive player makes physical contact
to bring the ball carrier to the ground
Tacklers cannot kick or punch the runner
They also cannot grab the face mask of the runner's helmet or
lead into a tackle with their own helmet
Players must wear special protective equipment, such as a
padded plastic helmets, shoulder pads, hip pads and knee pads
American football is played on a field 360 by 160 feet. The
longer boundary lines are sidelines, while the shorter boundary
lines are end lines
A season typically begins in mid-to-late August and playoffs
runs through January
The Superbowl is often played in the first week of February

3. When was Football first played?
November 6th, 1869 (Rutgers vs. Princeton)

4. What’s the National Football League about?
NFL is the largest football league in the US
It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American
Professional Football Association
Changed it’s name in 1922 to the NFL
Currently 32 teams from American cities and regions
make up the league
The league is divided evenly into 2 conferences i.e.
American Football Conference and National Football
Conference
Each conference has four divisions that have 4 teams
each

5. What's the duration of the game?
A standard football game consists of four 15-minute
quarters, with a half-time break after the second quarter
The clock stops after certain plays; therefore, a game
can last much longer
If a game is tied after four quarters, the teams play an
additional period lasting up to 15 minutes

6. How does the game start?
A coin toss determines who will kick off to begin the
games and which goal each team will defend
Each half begins with a kickoff
Teams also kick off after scoring touchdowns and field
goals
Using a kicking tee the ball is kicked from the team's
own 30-yard line

7. How do you score?
Touchdown, is worth 6 Field goal, is worth 3
points. It is scored when a points, and it is scored by
player runs the ball into or kicking the ball over the
catches a pass in his crossbar and through the
opponent's end zone goal posts. Field goals may
be placekicked or drop-
kicked
Point after touchdown, is a
point scored after a
touchdown, when the Safety, is worth 2 points,
scoring team attempts a and is scored by the
try. The team can attempt opposing team when the
to kick it over the crossbar team in possession at the
and through the goal posts end of a down is
in the manner of a field goal responsible for the ball
for 1 point or run or pass it becoming dead behind its
into the end zone in the own goal line
manner of a touchdown for
2 points

8. What’s the size of the teams?
Each team has 11
members at a time
Offense: 5 offensive line
payers, 1 quarter back,
2 running backs, 2 wide
receivers, and 1 tight
ends player
Defense: 4 defensive
line players, 2 corner
backs, 3 line backers, 1
strong safety player,
and 1 free safety player

9. Superbowl XLIII
Pittsburgh Steelers beat Baltimore Ravens and are AFC
champions
Arizona Cardinals beat Philadelphia Eagles and are NFC
champions
Tampa, Florida Feb 01, 2009 Pittsburgh Steelers play
Arizona Cardinals for the 43rd Superbowl championship
Pittsburgh Steelers make NFL history and win the
Superbowl championship for the 6th time !!!!!!!

10. I enjoyed these exciting moments
The run by James Harrison in the 2nd Qrt to
score a touchdown for the Steelers
The touchdown by Cardinal’s Larry Fitzgerald
towards the end of the 4th Qrt
The unchallenged dash with 2.30 minutes on
the clock by Larry Fitzgerald to score a
touchdown
The receive by Santonio Holmes's received in
the end zone with his toes on the ground
making a touch down for the Steelers

11. What did I learn?
Having a strategy or plan is
important
Teamwork can make us all
champions
Winning comes with
dedication, hard-work and
practice