Have you ever thought about why is American football called football, knowing the fact that it is played with the hands? Well, they may not use feet to play the ball, yet there are valid reasons behind it that you will learn as you proceed reading further.
SO WHY IS AMERICAN FOOTBALL CALLED FOOTBALL
By looking it from a layman’s point of view, you might as why is American football called football even though it’s played with hands. But some reasons make sense to call American football a football sport.
If you confer to its origin, you will notice that American football is inspired by rugby football the way Soccer does. Now rugby football starts with a kick-off, and players carry the ball to the opponent’s goal post holding it in their hand.
When you look at American football, you can see that it’s not called football for the reason that players play with the ball using their feet (which they don’t except a kick-off); on the contrary, it’s called football because of its origin that is rugby football. Furthermore, the game has greatly evolved since its beginning, and you will see how in the next section.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL HAS SIGNIFICANTLY EVOLVED
Now that you have learned why is American football called football, let’s dive deeper and learn about the evolution of American football.
Soccer is a European game that allows players to use their feet only to play the game and was originally called “association football.” some news publishers found this name lengthy, so they cut it short to “soc”. For some unknown reasons, it became another jargon, i.e., Soccer.
Similar to Soccer, rugby is also a European game where they used to play with feet until a player named William Webb Ellis changed the game’s history. Ellis used his hands during a match and placed the goal in the opponent team’s end zone. At that time, there were no such rules to call it a foul and everyone was confused about this move.
After thorough consideration, they found it a good idea and changed the game rules, which are still followed in professional games across the globe.
When are these two games in American sports? Well, as both of these sports entered America, they blended both into one sport, now called American football. By now, hopefully, you have a thorough understanding of why is American football called football.
OTHER REASONS WHY IS AMERICAN FOOTBALL CALLED FOOTBALL
If you thoroughly analyze the word “football”, you will see that it combines two words, i.e., foot and ball, and it doesn’t say that the ball is played with the foot. But with time, people, associations and news agencies used this word continuously for a soccer game. That’s why the first thing that comes to our mind upon hearing the word “football” is a game played only with the foot only. For further clarification, why is American football called football if they are playing it with hands? Read the below-mentioned reasons.
- THE FIRST REASON
One of the main reasons behind this philosophy is that Americans want to differentiate their games and traditions from Europeans as the latter call it association football and the former call it simply football.
- THE SECOND REASON
American football is called football because it means measurement of the ball while using “foot.” Since the ball lengths one foot, they call it football (a ball that is one foot lengthy) despite the fact that the ball is oval, unlike a soccer ball that is rounded.
So the second reason why is American football called football is because of the measurements of the ball, not to copy the European name that is “football.”
Hopefully, this article answered your query. You are strongly welcome to ask in the comment section for further clarification.
Thank you for reading!
IF THEY DON’T USE FEET, THEN WHY IS AMERICAN FOOTBALL CALLED FOOTBALL
Have you ever thought about why is American football called football, knowing the fact that it is played with the hands? Well, they may not use feet to play the ball, yet there are valid reasons behind it that you will learn as you proceed reading further.
SO WHY IS AMERICAN FOOTBALL CALLED FOOTBALL
By looking it from a layman’s point of view, you might as why is American football called football even though it’s played with hands. But some reasons make sense to call American football a football sport.
If you confer to its origin, you will notice that American football is inspired by rugby football the way Soccer does. Now rugby football starts with a kick-off, and players carry the ball to the opponent’s goal post holding it in their hand.
When you look at American football, you can see that it’s not called football for the reason that players play with the ball using their feet (which they don’t except a kick-off); on the contrary, it’s called football because of its origin that is rugby football. Furthermore, the game has greatly evolved since its beginning, and you will see how in the next section.
AMERICAN FOOTBALL HAS SIGNIFICANTLY EVOLVED
Now that you have learned why is American football called football, let’s dive deeper and learn about the evolution of American football.
Soccer is a European game that allows players to use their feet only to play the game and was originally called “association football.” some news publishers found this name lengthy, so they cut it short to “soc”. For some unknown reasons, it became another jargon, i.e., Soccer.
Similar to Soccer, rugby is also a European game where they used to play with feet until a player named William Webb Ellis changed the game’s history. Ellis used his hands during a match and placed the goal in the opponent team’s end zone. At that time, there were no such rules to call it a foul and everyone was confused about this move.
After thorough consideration, they found it a good idea and changed the game rules, which are still followed in professional games across the globe.
When are these two games in American sports? Well, as both of these sports entered America, they blended both into one sport, now called American football. By now, hopefully, you have a thorough understanding of why is American football called football.
OTHER REASONS WHY IS AMERICAN FOOTBALL CALLED FOOTBALL
If you thoroughly analyze the word “football”, you will see that it combines two words, i.e., foot and ball, and it doesn’t say that the ball is played with the foot. But with time, people, associations and news agencies used this word continuously for a soccer game. That’s why the first thing that comes to our mind upon hearing the word “football” is a game played only with the foot only. For further clarification, why is American football called football if they are playing it with hands? Read the below-mentioned reasons.
- THE FIRST REASON
One of the main reasons behind this philosophy is that Americans want to differentiate their games and traditions from Europeans as the latter call it association football and the former call it simply football.
- THE SECOND REASON
American football is called football because it means measurement of the ball while using “foot.” Since the ball lengths one foot, they call it football (a ball that is one foot lengthy) despite the fact that the ball is oval, unlike a soccer ball that is rounded.
So the second reason why is American football called football is because of the measurements of the ball, not to copy the European name that is “football.”
Hopefully, this article answered your query. You are strongly welcome to ask in the comment section for further clarification.
Thank you for reading!