I have never understood football or anything about it, but one of my main characters I’m writing is a football player and I need to write about the progression of a game. What’s some general football info I should know about the rules and scoring systems and such of the game?
The obvious part is that you have two teams trying to get the ball into the other team's goal, called an endzone. Usually, the team has four chances to try and get the ball into the endzone, those chances being called downs. The teams line up into position and try to make a play, a generally agreed-upon strategy (or a team special, as long as it adheres to the rules) and line up their guys according to that strategy. The most famous position, made famous by guys like Tom Brady and Joe Montana, is the guy at the back of the formation that throws the ball, the quarterback. The QB is the only guy that throws the ball, and the person that catches, the receiver has to run the ball to the endzone. Everybody else is supposed to protect the QB and the receiver so they can "do their jobs."
That's a basic-ass rundown from a guy that doesn't like sportsball, so I'd recommend watching football games. Watching games can give you a good idea of how it's played.
Yeah, you're gonna have to watch a couple of games to get a good understanding of it. I can help you with some scoring though. So basically, if they get a touchdown (meaning they run the ball into the endzone) thats 6 points. After they score a touchdown, they have a chance to score another point, by kicking it into those giant fork looking thingies that i can't remember the name of right now lmao. They have a kicker, and the kicker has to well… kick the ball into the goal post thingy to score an extra point. So bam, thats seven points. If they miss the kick, then they only get the 6 points.
But yeah, I agree with Yamatsu, it would be good to check out a couple of football games to get a better understanding.
Gotta ask: are we talking about American football or "soccer" football?
Which one's generally viewed as more confusing?