Talk:Glossary of American football terms

Glossary entries as articles
Not every entry in the glossary needs it's own article. Some can be explained by a single sentence or less. Bluelion 00:30 Mar 3, 2003 (UTC)

Bolding
Is there any significance to the fact that some terms are in bold, and others are not? - Molinari 08:06 12 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * No, just sloppy styling. It's a lot better now.

Laterals
The entry for backward pass says that it's different than a lateral, but the entry for lateral just points back to backward pass. I'd fix this, but I'm not familiar with the terms. 157.127.155.214 (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 00:24, 23 December 2010 (UTC).
 * Technically speaking, according to the rules, there are only forward passes and backward passes, the later including those passes thrown exactly parallel to the line of scrimmage. Wschart (talk) 04:58, 27 December 2012 (UTC)

True or false??
True or false: this is a list of dictionary definitions. 66.245.124.71 23:38, 21 Aug 2004 (UTC)


 * That's why I deleted some excess material under "neutral zone", which material was also describing the wrong thing. Some entries are linked to articles.  You probably COULD have an article for just about every entry, but no more than defining info should be in the glossary itself.
 * The X, Y, and Z entries should be reconsidered, as the jargon is far from universal. Y.A. Tittle's booklet "How to Watch Pro Football on TV" that I read 35+ years ago said that in the huddle, those letters would describe the primary, secondary, and tertiary pass receivers, respectively, the signal caller pointing to them as the letters were given.
 * robgood@bestweb.net 12/13/04


 * That's actually what you do, or these days (7+ years later!) it will just be a list of WP:DICDEFs, will be transwikied to Wiktionary]], and deleted. Encyclopedic glossaries have to have in-depth, encyclopedic information. See MOS:GLOSS for guidance, and Glossary of cue sports terms for a well-developed, well-sourced example. — SMcCandlish    Talk⇒〈°⌊°〉 Contribs. 19:52, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Link suggestions
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The box/pocket
What exactly is "the box" or "the pocket"? Ground 01:40, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)
 * I added them, but don't think it's my best work. Gentgeen 05:20, 18 Jan 2005 (UTC)

"Bye" entry isn't football-specific
Do we really need this entry for "bye"? That's a general sports/games term not specific to football. Unless someone posts an objection by, say, 4/15/05, I'll delete it. - robgood@bestweb.net

46 defense
The 46 defense has 4 linemen and 4 linebackers, not 4 linemen and 6 linebackers.

Nope, the 46 defense has 4 linemen and 3 linebackers plus a strong safety lined up where one might mistake him for a 4th linebacker. Adembroski 11:40, 10 December 2006 (UTC)

Orphan page
Amazingly, this page isn't link to from any of the other AF articles, which seems quite an omission. Are the terms glossed not much used on those articles, or are they just not link? I noticed that, say, the term "blocking" was badly linked on one page, and could possibly link here (though a short consolidated section or article on blocking techniques might be a preferable target, if one exists). If all else fails, perhaps this should be linked to in the main article on a "see also" basis... Alai
 * Actually, lots of other pages link to the glossary. Please go back to the Article tab and then click on "What links here" to see a list.  If you tried it from this page you would get the idea it is an orphan, because no other pages link to the Talk page. Johntex\talk 02:47, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Technical vs. Layman terms
There are a few technical inaccuracies that perhaps a layman football fan would not quite understand. The generalities as applied by the media and fans are accurate, but a coach or player knows the difference.

For example, from a technical, play calling, perspective, a "blitz" occurs when a defensive back rushes the quarterback. The same action by a linebacker is not a blitz; it is a "dog" or a "dogging" linebacker.

Play Action is a combination of two separate types of passes: Play Passes, and Action Passes. A Play Pass occurs when the offense attempts to convince the defense that a run is occurring. An Action Pass occurs when the quarterback moves out of the pocket, either on a roll out, sprint out, or waggle. Play Action, technically, applies to plays in which both of those occur, and has come to be used by the media to refer only to Play Passes. Adembroski 04:05 October 23, 2005

2007-02-1 Automated pywikipediabot message
--CopyToWiktionaryBot 14:05, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Leg-whipping?
The explanation of crackback block mentions leg-whipping, but that term isn't defined elsewhere. Can someone who knows what it is please add it? China wants to know! ;-) 218.25.32.210 (talk) 06:27, 1 September 2009 (UTC)

Template-structured glossary
I converted the list from an unstructured glossary to a structured glossary. It should help people who had accessibility issues with the unstructured list. See MOS:Glossaries. If consensus is to change it back, I can deal. TheTito  Discuss  01:29, 15 November 2009 (UTC)
 * Note that if you link the term, e.g. to an external article, you have to repeat the term without the linking in the second parameter, or incoming links will fail:
 * Same goes for if you do wikimarkup or add anchors:
 * — SMcCandlish   Talk⇒〈°⌊°〉 Contribs. 19:43, 14 February 2012 (UTC)
 * Same goes for if you do wikimarkup or add anchors:
 * — SMcCandlish   Talk⇒〈°⌊°〉 Contribs. 19:43, 14 February 2012 (UTC)
 * — SMcCandlish   Talk⇒〈°⌊°〉 Contribs. 19:43, 14 February 2012 (UTC)
 * — SMcCandlish   Talk⇒〈°⌊°〉 Contribs. 19:43, 14 February 2012 (UTC)
 * — SMcCandlish   Talk⇒〈°⌊°〉 Contribs. 19:43, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Spike
This item needs to better explained. Spiking the ball is said to be "Technically an incomplete pass, it stops the clock." However, a little farther in the paragraph, a description of a play says "the spike would run the clock out". I don't understand. Doesn't spiking STOP the clock? So then how could the clock run out???

Reply: I put in the item about "the spike would run the clock out". Thanks for pointing out the apparent inconsistency; yes, the spike STOPS the clock, but it takes time to line up to get that play started, and that's where the situation can happen that there is so little time left (say, 1 second?) that the clock would run out before the ball can be spiked. In the case of Ryan Leaf in the Rose Bowl, his team got a 1st down and (under college rules) the clock stopped (2 seconds left on it) while the chains were moved, and then he tried to spike the ball, and the ruling was that time ran out before that play was finished. The clock stopped all right, but there was no time left on it so there could be no next play. Do you understand what I am saying? Maybe we need to consider rewording that comment about "would run the clock out". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.63.16.82 (talk) 15:59, 2 September 2011 (UTC)

Oct. 11, 2011: Last Sunday's NFL game where Oakland defeated Houston, 25-20, is an example of late-game spike. Looking in nfl.com play-by-play, we see that the Houston quarterback completed a pass; his team then hurried to line up (the clock was still running) and with 0:08 left he started a spike play, leaving 0:06 on the clock. The next play was the last play; that quarterback threw a pass that was intercepted in the end zone. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.63.16.82 (talk) 21:18, 11 October 2011 (UTC)

Terms to add
I thought it might be helpful to have a section for people to suggest a term to add since I've seen a few sections started for certain terms. HotshotCleaner (talk) 01:37, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Chop block
Might it be possible for someone to add a definition for chopping or a chop block? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.80.167.99 (talk) 01:56 Dec 23, 2006

Go in motion
How 'bout "go in motion"? Mauvila 07:15, 4 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Stuff
Does anyone know what the "stuff" statistic on defense is? I've seen it recorded on espn.com, yahoo.com and more sites.

Hand count
What is the "hard count"? How does it work and who uses it often in the nfl? 69.127.1.115 (talk) 01:51, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

Quarterback rating and rushing average
Shouldn't terms like quarterback rating (with link to main article) and rushing average be part of this glossary? --ChaChaFut 02:31, 31 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Sounds great, please add them. Johntex\talk 02:45, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Horse collar
I didn't see horse-collar on the list and thought that it could be added. Thoughts? HotshotCleaner (talk) 01:37, 17 October 2011 (UTC)

Scrimmage kick
The term "scrimmage kick" is used three times in the glossary, and was redlinked. No such article, no entry here. — SMcCandlish   Talk⇒〈°⌊°〉 Contribs. 19:41, 14 February 2012 (UTC)

Clutch
I came to this page hoping to get a definition of clutch. Please add. Thanks, Richard. 50.47.243.206 (talk) 11:55, 24 November 2013 (UTC)

please clarify the intentional-grounding definition
I found this (we are not here considering the foul occurring in the end zone):

"This foul costs the offense a loss of down and 10 yards. If it occurs 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage, then the 10 yards is taken from the spot of the foul."

I'm not sure what this means. Perhaps it should say "If it occurs 10 or more yards behind the line of scrimmage", but I don't know enough to be confident in changing this myself. I did, however, check the NFL rules digest; if the spot of the foul is more than 10 yards behind line of scrimmage, the ball is placed there (and there is still loss of down). I don't know how this gets shortened when the offending team is near its own goal line.

out of bounds and out of the end zone
Has anyone considered defining those terms? Out of bounds means across the sidelines between the goal lines. The sidelines continue along the end zones, but crossing the sideline from the end zone, as well as crossing the end line at back of end zone, is referred to as going out of the end zone.

I did, however, hear "out of bounds" when I saw a video of Dan Orlovsky's "you are an idiot" safety. He stepped across the end line, not sufficiently aware of where of he was. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.63.16.82 (talk) 20:25, 5 March 2012 (UTC)

Quarterback Controversy
'Quarterback Controversy' is linked as a glossary term on some pages and leads here but there is no entry. Examples: KC Quarterbacks,  Rich Gannon -- It would seem the term needs to be re-added or the links need to be removed. - zeroality (talk) 03:41, 24 January 2013 (UTC)

Spring football game
I just came across the term "spring football game" at the Jack Hoffman article and had trouble figuring out what it means. As I understand it is an annual intersquad football training game played by many university teams, correct? Is this a common enough term to add it here and link to? I'm guessing most non-North-Americans don't know what that is. :) Amalthea  14:13, 9 June 2014 (UTC)

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