131-635: The Los Angeles Dons were an American football team in the newly formed football league the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) from 1946 to 1949 , and played their home games in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum . The Dons were the first professional football team to play a regular season game in Los Angeles , California , two weeks before the first game of the rival Los Angeles Rams of
262-769: A PhD from that institution. He was the head coach of the NFL's Washington Redskins in 1944 and 1945 before jumping over to the rival AAFC for its debut 1946 season. The Dons shared the Coliseum with the Rams for home games. Although never filling the mammoth facility, the club made a show of offering vast numbers of tickets for sale at reasonable prices, including 40,000 reserved seats for each home contest priced at $ 2.50, 15,000 general admission seats costing $ 1.50, and 8,000 children's tickets priced at just sixty cents. The team played its first regular season home game in 1946 on against
393-776: A blacklist for five seasons. In 1948 the San Francisco Clippers of the Pacific Coast Professional Football League (PCPFL), a minor pro football league whose clubs had some affiliations with the NFL, offered him a position as a player and coach. After learning that the NFL had indeed blacklisted Radovich due to his play in the AAFC and would punish any club that did hire him, however, the Clippers withdrew their offer. Radovich had to take jobs outside of professional football. One
524-693: A guard with the Detroit Lions . He chose to sign with them because they were the only team in the league that guaranteed players an off-season job. After four seasons, during which he made sportswriters' All-Pro lists, he left to serve in the Navy during World War II. He returned to the Lions after the war ended, in 1945 . The next year, he asked to be traded to the Los Angeles Rams , or be better paid, as his father, who lived near that city,
655-403: A halftime period, and the first and third quarters are followed by a short break. Before the game starts, the referee and each team's captain meet at midfield for a coin toss . The visiting team can call either "heads" or "tails"; the winner of the toss chooses whether to receive or kick off the ball or which goal they wish to defend. They can defer their choice until the second half. Unless
786-655: A $ 1,000 weekly maximum for practice players. This time, the NFL won, as the justices ruled 8-1 that groups of employers, as well as single employers, could implement a contract provision they had offered in good faith during an impasse . Two other significant actions have been brought against the NFL on antitrust grounds. The first was from the North American Soccer League (NASL), which challenged an NFL policy, never formally adopted, barring owners from having interests in other professional team sports. Rozelle had pushed for its inclusion as an amendment to
917-401: A 10-yard-long chain between them, are used to measure for a first down. The chain crew stays on the sidelines during the game, but if requested by the officials they will briefly bring the chains on to the field to measure. A typical chain crew will have at least three people—two members of the chain crew will hold either of the two sticks, while a third will hold the down marker. The down marker,
1048-525: A PAT attempt or successful field goal, the scoring team must kick the ball off to the other team. A safety is scored when the ball carrier is tackled in the carrier's own end zone. Safeties are worth two points, which are awarded to the defense. In addition, the team that conceded the safety must kick the ball to the scoring team via a free kick . Football games are played on a rectangular field that measures 120 yards (110 m) long and 53 + 1 ⁄ 3 yards (48.8 m) wide. Lines marked along
1179-453: A field goal instead. A group of officials, the chain crew, keeps track of both the downs and the distance measurements. On television, a yellow line is electronically superimposed on the field to show the first down line to the viewing audience. There are two categories of kicks in football: scrimmage kicks, which can be executed by the offensive team on any down from behind or on the line of scrimmage, and free kicks. The free kicks are
1310-457: A group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they could now hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, in a game between Yale and Princeton, both teams used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records. Each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0–0 tie. This "block game" proved extremely unpopular with both teams' spectators and fans. A rule change
1441-473: A judge to forgo his own convictions promptly after his brethren have rejected them", he concluded. Harlan, who had been part of the majority in Toolson and International Boxing , also saw the majority as purely arbitrary in his short dissent. "I am unable to distinguish football from baseball under the rationale of Federal Baseball and Toolson ", he wrote, "and can find no basis for attributing to Congress
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#17327761643631572-533: A large stick with a dial on it, is flipped after each play to indicate the current down and is typically moved to the approximate spot of the ball. The chain crew system has been used for over 100 years and is considered an accurate measure of distance, rarely subject to criticism from either side. Football is a full-contact sport, and injuries are relatively common. Most injuries occur during training sessions, particularly ones that involve contact between players. To try to prevent injuries, players are required to wear
1703-408: A long circumference of 28 to 28 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (71 to 72 cm), and a short circumference of 21 to 21 + 1 ⁄ 4 inches (53 to 54 cm). In college and high school play the ball has a long axis of 10 + 7 ⁄ 8 to 11 + 7 ⁄ 16 inches (27.6 to 29.1 cm), a long circumference of 27 + 3 ⁄ 4 to 28 + 1 ⁄ 2 inches (70 to 72 cm), and
1834-420: A minimum of 10 feet (3.0 m) on high school fields. Goal posts are padded at the base, and orange ribbons are normally placed at the tip of each upright as indicators of wind strength and direction. The football itself is a prolate spheroid leather ball, similar to the balls used in rugby or Australian rules football . To contain the compressed air within it, a pig's bladder was commonly used before
1965-510: A modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association , although Yale did not join until 1879. Yale player Walter Camp , now regarded as the "Father of American Football", secured rule changes in 1880 that reduced the size of each team from 15 to 11 players and instituted the snap to replace the chaotic and inconsistent scrum . While the game between Rutgers and Princeton
2096-475: A number of competing leagues and lawsuits it would not otherwise be subject to. The AFL had been formed by Lamar Hunt two years after Radovich was decided, and played for six seasons. The NFL could not use the same tactics it had against the AAFC, and the two leagues merged in 1966 to become the modern NFL. When the Dallas Cowboys were created to compete for the same market as Hunt's Dallas Texans ,
2227-428: A pass hits the ground without a player having caught it. A forward pass can be legally attempted only if the passer is behind the line of scrimmage; only one forward pass can be attempted per down. As in rugby, players can also pass the ball backwards at any point during a play. In the NFL, a down also ends immediately if the runner's helmet comes off. The offense is given a series of four plays, known as downs . If
2358-583: A player being paid to participate in a game of American football , although many athletic clubs in the 1880s offered indirect benefits, such as helping players attain employment, giving out trophies or watches that players could pawn for money, or paying double in expense money. Despite these extra benefits, the game had a strict sense of amateurism at the time, and direct payment to players was frowned upon, if not prohibited outright. Over time, professional play became increasingly common, and with it came rising salaries and unpredictable player movement, as well as
2489-524: A purpose to put baseball in a class by itself". He accused the majority of using "discriminatory fiat" to make "untenable distinctions" between the two sports. With the case remanded for trial in the District Court, Maxwell Keith continued his representation who settled with the league for $ 42,500. Radovich said years later he believed Keith, who wanted him to drop the suit, "double-crossed" him. The settlement came after lengthy arguments between
2620-427: A quarter ends, play continues until the down is completed. If certain fouls are committed during play while time has expired, the quarter may be extended through an untimed down . Games last longer than their defined length due to play stoppages—the average NFL game lasts slightly over three hours. Time in a football game is measured by the game clock. An operator is responsible for starting, stopping and operating
2751-536: A respectable product on the field but was shut out in its efforts to secure the paying television contract that was required to make the league's finances viable, and amid massive financial losses it played its last games in 2012, by which point the league was unable to draw fans or pay its players. The owners recognized the National Football League Players Association (NFLPA) because some congressmen and senators pointed to
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#17327761643632882-511: A round ball. An 1875 Harvard–Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two Princeton athletes who were impressed by it. They introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to "selling refrigerators to Eskimos ". Princeton, Harvard, Yale, and Columbia then agreed to intercollegiate play using a form of rugby union rules with
3013-436: A secondary signal. Women can serve as officials; Sarah Thomas became the NFL's first female official in 2015. The seven officials (of a standard seven-man crew; lower levels of play up to the college level use fewer officials) on the field are each tasked with a different set of responsibilities: Another set of officials, the chain crew , are responsible for moving the chains. The chains, consisting of two large sticks with
3144-403: A separate sport from rugby, and the resulting five-yard lines added to the field to measure distances made it resemble a gridiron in appearance. Other major rule changes included a reduction of the field size to 110 by 53 + 1 ⁄ 3 yards (100.6 m × 48.8 m) and the adoption of a scoring system that awarded four points for a touchdown, two for a safety and a goal following
3275-605: A set of equipment. At a minimum players must wear a football helmet and a set of shoulder pads , but individual leagues may require additional padding such as thigh pads and guards, knee pads, chest protectors, and mouthguards . Most injuries occur in the lower extremities, particularly in the knee, but a significant number also affect the upper extremities. The most common types of injuries are strains , sprains , bruises , fractures , dislocations , and concussions . Radovich v. National Football League Radovich v. National Football League (NFL), 352 U.S. 445 (1957),
3406-410: A short circumference of 20 + 3 ⁄ 4 to 21 + 1 ⁄ 4 inches (53 to 54 cm). Football games last for a total of 60 minutes in professional and college play and are divided into two halves of 30 minutes and four quarters of 15 minutes. High school football games are 48 minutes in length with two halves of 24 minutes and four quarters of 12 minutes. The two halves are separated by
3537-544: A television package more appealing) and only awarded a token $ 3 judgment in the USFL's favor. The failure to secure either objective in the lawsuit, coupled with mounting debts, prompted the USFL to cease operations. There have been two prominent efforts to establish a major professional football league outside the NFL's auspices since the USFL's lawsuit, neither of which has resulted in lawsuits or antitrust challenges. In 2001, NBC , shut out of its TV contract with pro football for
3668-610: A tie before a rough spell; they finished in third place in the AAFC's Western Division with a record of 7–5–2, out of the playoffs. For most of their existence, the Dons compiled an average record, and never qualified for the AAFC playoffs. This was mainly because they were in the same division as the league's two most powerful teams, the Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers . Unlike the Browns, 49ers, and Baltimore Colts ,
3799-416: A touchdown , and five for a goal from the field . Additionally, tackling below the waist was legalized, and a static line of scrimmage was instituted. Despite these new rules, football remained a violent sport. Dangerous mass-formations like the flying wedge resulted in serious injuries and deaths. A 1905 peak of 19 fatalities nationwide resulted in a threat by President Theodore Roosevelt to abolish
3930-488: A unanimous court that Major League Baseball was not covered by the Sherman Antitrust Act because it was not interstate commerce . Travel by teams across state line was "an incident" to the business of staging baseball games, which he described as "purely state affairs". Three decades later Toolson v. New York Yankees upheld that precedent due to congressional inaction to change it, despite changes in
4061-611: Is a U.S. Supreme Court decision ruling that professional football , unlike professional baseball , was subject to antitrust laws. It was the third of three such cases heard by the Court in the 1950s involving the antitrust status of professional sports. Three justices dissented, finding the majority arbitrary and inconsistent in refusing football the exemption it had upheld five years previously in Toolson v. New York Yankees ( 346 U.S. 356 (1952)). The majority admitted that
Los Angeles Dons - Misplaced Pages Continue
4192-460: Is a sport in which two competing teams vie for control of a ball, which can be kicked through a set of goalposts or run into the opponent's goal area to score points. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6, 1869 , between Rutgers and Princeton , two college teams. They consisted of 25 players per team and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with
4323-425: Is called on the offense. There are two main ways the offense can advance the ball: running and passing . In a typical play, the center passes the ball backwards and between their legs to the quarterback in a process known as the snap . The quarterback then either hands the ball off to a running back, throws the ball, or runs with it. The play ends when the player with the ball is tackled or goes out-of-bounds or
4454-437: Is caught or recovered behind the line of scrimmage. If it is touched or recovered by the kicking team beyond this line, it becomes dead at the spot where it was touched. The kicking team is prohibited from interfering with the receiver's opportunity to catch the ball. The receiving team has the option of signaling for a fair catch , which prohibits the defense from blocking into or tackling the receiver. The play ends as soon as
4585-579: Is commonly considered the first American football game, several years prior in 1862, the Oneida Football Club formed as the oldest known football club in the United States. The team consisted of graduates of Boston's elite preparatory schools and played from 1862 to 1865. The introduction of the snap resulted in an unexpected consequence. Before the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position. However,
4716-403: Is known as a two-point conversion . In general, the extra point is almost always successful, while the two-point conversion is a much riskier play with a higher probability of failure; accordingly, extra point attempts are far more common than two-point conversion attempts. A field goal (FG), worth three points, is scored when the ball is place kicked or drop kicked through the uprights and over
4847-407: Is responsible for all kicking plays. The special teams unit of the team in control of the ball tries to execute field goal (FG) attempts, punts , and kickoffs , while the opposing team's unit will aim to block or return them. Three positions are specific to the field goal and PAT (point-after-touchdown) unit: the placekicker (K or PK), holder (H), and long snapper (LS). The long snapper's job
4978-422: Is therefore more likely to protect the industry and the public alike. The whole scope of congressional action would be known long in advance and effective dates for the legislation could be set in the future without the injustices of retroactivity and surprise which might follow court action. He also found that Radovich had adequately stated a cause of action , dismissing claims of frivolity and vagueness raised by
5109-421: Is to block members of the defensive line from tackling the ball carrier on running plays or sacking the quarterback on passing plays. The leader of the offensive line is the center, who is responsible for snapping the ball to the quarterback, blocking, and for making sure that the other linemen do their jobs during the play. On either side of the center are the guards (G), while tackles (T) line up outside
5240-437: Is to snap the football to the holder, who will catch and position it for the placekicker. There is not usually a holder on kickoffs, because the ball is kicked off a tee; however, a holder may be used in certain situations, such as if wind is preventing the ball from remaining upright on the tee. The player on the receiving team who catches the ball is known as the kickoff returner (KR). The positions specific to punt plays are
5371-776: The Bowl Championship Series (BCS) in 1997. The BCS arrangement proved to be controversial , and was replaced in 2014 by the College Football Playoff (CFP). A football game is played between two teams of 11 players each. Playing with more on the field is punishable by a penalty. Teams may substitute any number of their players between downs; this "platoon" system replaced the original system, which featured limited substitution rules, and has resulted in teams utilizing specialized offensive, defensive and special teams units. The number of players allowed on an active roster varies by league;
Los Angeles Dons - Misplaced Pages Continue
5502-474: The Brooklyn Dodgers on September 13 in before a Friday night crowd of 18,955 — the first time professional football had ever been played in the Coliseum. The Dons took a first quarter lead on a 55-yard pass from quarterback "Chuckin' Charlie" O'Rourke to Bernie Nygren and never looked back, triumphing 20–14 over the visitors from New York. The Dons opened the inaugural season with three wins and
5633-669: The Dallas Tornado , and owned part of the NBA Chicago Bulls for a while. Robbie's wife owned the Fort Lauderdale Strikers , and Robbie himself warned that the policy was "an open invitation for a lawsuit under the Sherman Act". The NASL brought suit against the NFL, arguing that its restrictions on cross-ownership were an unfair trade practice to deny other sports and leagues full access to
5764-598: The NCAA and the NAIA . The National Football League (NFL) has the highest average attendance of any professional sports league in the world . Its championship game, the Super Bowl , ranks among the most-watched club sporting events globally. In 2022, the league had an annual revenue of around $ 18.6 billion, making it the most valuable sports league in the world. Other professional and amateur leagues exist worldwide, but
5895-701: The National Football League , who had moved from Cleveland . In 1946 , a new professional football league was launched to do battle with the long-established National Football League (NFL). This new league, the All-America Football Conference (AAFC), included eight teams—an Eastern Division with three teams based in the state of New York and another in Miami , and a Western Division with teams in Cleveland , Chicago , San Francisco , and Los Angeles. The AAFC's southern California franchise, which
6026-487: The United States Football League (USFL), which played its season in the spring instead of autumn. After three seasons of play during which it never had the same number of teams and many franchises moved, it also filed an antitrust suit it had brought against the NFL. Seeking hundreds of millions of dollars and damages, USFL v. NFL centered around the NFL's television contracts, and in addition to
6157-412: The center (C), are allowed to line up in or cross the neutral zone until the ball is snapped. Interior offensive linemen are not allowed to move until the snap of the ball. The main backfield positions are the quarterback (QB), halfback/tailback (HB/TB), and fullback (FB). The quarterback is the leader of the offense. Either the quarterback or a coach calls the plays. Quarterbacks typically inform
6288-409: The commissioner . NCAA and NFHS teams are "strongly advised" to number their offensive players according to a league-suggested numbering scheme. Although the sport is played almost exclusively by men, women are eligible to play in high school, college, and professional football. No woman has ever played in the NFL, but women have played in high school and college football games. In 2018, 1,100 of
6419-555: The forward pass , created the neutral zone , and specified the size and shape of the football. The sport is closely related to Canadian football , which evolved in parallel with and at the same time as the American game, although its rules were developed independently from those of Camp. Most of the features that distinguish American football from rugby and soccer are also present in Canadian football. The two sports are considered
6550-411: The kickoff , which starts the first and third quarters and overtime and follows a try attempt or a successful field goal; the safety kick follows a safety. On a kickoff, the ball is placed at the 35-yard line of the kicking team in professional and college play and at the 40-yard line in high school play. The ball may be drop kicked or place kicked. If a place kick is chosen, the ball can be placed on
6681-407: The neutral zone was created along the width of the football before the snap. Scoring was also adjusted: points awarded for field goals were reduced to three in 1909 and points for touchdowns were raised to six in 1912. Also in 1912, the field was shortened to 100 yards (91 m) long, two 10-yard-long (9.1 m) end zones were created, and teams were given four downs instead of three to advance
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#17327761643636812-407: The punter (P), long snapper, upback , and gunner . The long snapper snaps the football directly to the punter, who then drops and kicks it before it hits the ground. Gunners line up split outside the line and race down the field, aiming to tackle the punt returner (PR)—the player who catches the punt. Upbacks line up a short distance behind the line of scrimmage, providing additional protection to
6943-413: The 1966 season. Once the merger was completed, it was no longer a championship game between two leagues and reverted to the NFL championship game, which came to be known as the Super Bowl . College football maintained a tradition of postseason bowl games . Each bowl game was associated with a particular conference and earning a spot in a bowl game was the reward for winning a conference. This arrangement
7074-567: The 225,000 players in Pop Warner Little Scholars youth football were girls, and around 11% of the 5.5 million Americans who report playing tackle football are female according to the Sports and Fitness Industry Association. The role of the offensive unit is to advance the football down the field with the ultimate goal of scoring a touchdown . The offensive team must line up in a legal formation before they can snap
7205-486: The AAFC and sought $ 35,000 in damages. The defendants, primarily the NFL, argued in a pretrial motion that the antitrust exemption for baseball should apply equally to football, barring the lawsuit, and that even if it did not, it should be dismissed for failure to state a cause of action . The district court accepted those arguments, as did the Ninth Circuit . The latter distinguished football from boxing, which
7336-603: The AFL brought a suit that eventually led to the merger. Today the AFL is considered the NFL's most successful competitor. To secure the antitrust exemptions that made the merger possible, Rozelle promised Louisiana congressman Hale Boggs the NFL would expand into New Orleans , and the Saints and Cincinnati Bengals were added to the league shortly thereafter. In the 1970s the World Football League (WFL) took on
7467-544: The Court on behalf of Radovich. He made the oral argument along with Rankin. Marshall Leahy and Bernard Nordlinger argued for the NFL. Justice Tom C. Clark wrote for the majority; there were no concurring opinions by the other justices. On the other side, Felix Frankfurter wrote an opinion reiterating his dissent in International Boxing Club , and John Marshall Harlan II was joined by new justice William Brennan in another. Clark reiterated that
7598-529: The Court's existing jurisprudence on the issue – Federal Baseball , Toolson and International Boxing – was explicit and clear that the exemption applied to baseball only. "As long as the Congress continues to acquiesce we should adhere to – but not extend – the interpretation of the Act made in those cases", he said. But "the volume of interstate business involved in organized professional football places it within
7729-471: The Dons were not one of the AAFC teams that remained intact when the AAFC merged with the NFL in 1950 : they merged with the crosstown Rams of the older league after the 1949 season. One Dons player, William Radovich , formerly of the NFL's Detroit Lions , filed a lawsuit against the NFL after being blacklisted from playing or working in it afterwards. It led to the Supreme Court ruling, in
7860-516: The NFL had established itself as America's premier professional football league. The dominant form of football at the time was played at the collegiate level . The upstart NFL received a boost to its legitimacy in 1925, however, when an NFL team, the Pottsville Maroons , defeated a team of Notre Dame all-stars in an exhibition game . A greater emphasis on the passing game helped professional football to distinguish itself further from
7991-570: The NFL has a 53-man roster, while NCAA Division I allows teams to have 63 scholarship players in the FCS and 85 scholarship players in the FBS, respectively. Individual players in a football game must be designated with a uniform number between 1 and 99, though some teams may "retire" certain numbers , making them unavailable to players. NFL teams are required to number their players by a league-approved numbering system, and any exceptions must be approved by
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#17327761643638122-507: The NFL in its own lawsuit, Mid-South Grizzlies v. National Football League . It took several years for the case to work its way through the federal court system; the Grizzlies ultimately lost their case. The Grizzlies case centered around the league's rejection of the Grizzlies' application making it impossible to maintain operations, which the courts claimed would instead open up opportunities for competing leagues. The next decade brought
8253-479: The NFL. An apparently auspicious start, during a short players' strike, turned sour when it was discovered teams gave away many tickets, and soon the teams and their league were experiencing serious financial problems. After a season and a half it folded. The only two teams to have remained solvent applied to join the NFL as expansion teams but were rejected. One of the teams, the Memphis Grizzlies , sued
8384-409: The NFL. Broadcasting revenues were likely, if proven, to be enough of the defendants' business alone to come under the terms of the Sherman Antitrust Act . "This Court should not add requirements to burden the private litigant beyond what is specifically set forth by Congress", he concluded. "We think that Radovich is entitled to an opportunity to prove his charges." "The most conscientious probing of
8515-465: The Supreme Court had already denied the exemption, by noting that it and baseball were both team sports , unlike boxing. The federal government, interested in not further restricting the jurisdiction of the Sherman Act, filed an amicus curiae brief on behalf of Radovich, drafted by Solicitor General J. Lee Rankin . Maxwell Keith wrote the petition for certiorari and the briefs before
8646-460: The advent of artificial rubber inside the leather outer shell to sustain crushing forces . At all levels of play, the football is inflated to 12 + 1 ⁄ 2 to 13 + 1 ⁄ 2 psi (86 to 93 kPa), or just under one atmosphere, and weighs 14 to 15 ounces (400 to 430 g); beyond that, the exact dimensions vary slightly. In professional play the ball has a long axis of 11 to 11 + 1 ⁄ 4 inches (28 to 29 cm),
8777-572: The ball 10 yards (9.1 m). The roughing the passer penalty was implemented in 1914, and eligible players were first allowed to catch the ball anywhere on the field in 1918. On November 12, 1892, Pudge Heffelfinger was paid $ 500 (equivalent to $ 16,956 in 2023) to play a game for the Allegheny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club . This is the first recorded instance of
8908-435: The ball is caught, and the ball may not be advanced. Officials are responsible for enforcing game rules and monitoring the clock. All officials carry a whistle and wear black-and-white striped shirts and black hats except for the referee, whose hat is white. Each carries a weighted yellow flag that is thrown to the ground to signal that a foul has been called. An official who spots multiple fouls will throw their hat as
9039-430: The ball. An offensive formation is considered illegal if there are more than four players in the backfield or fewer than five players numbered 50–79 on the offensive line. Players can line up temporarily in a position whose eligibility is different from what their number permits as long as they report the change immediately to the referee, who then informs the defensive team of the change. Neither team's players, except
9170-456: The business of baseball outside the scope of the Act. No other business claiming the coverage of those cases has such an adjudication. We, therefore, conclude that the orderly way to eliminate error or discrimination, if any there be, is by legislation and not by court decision. Congressional processes are more accommodative, affording the whole industry hearings and an opportunity to assist in the formulation of new legislation. The resulting product
9301-417: The business such as broadcasting deals that made the interstate aspect a much greater part of the commerce. Toolson' s short, per curiam majority opinion concluded that the antitrust exemption applied to baseball only. In United States v. International Boxing Club of New York ( 348 U.S. 236 (1955)), the Court denied a motion by the appellee to extend it to professional boxing despite
9432-413: The case of Radovich v. National Football League , that professional football, unlike baseball, was subject to antitrust laws. American football American football , referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football , is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense ,
9563-591: The college game during the late 1930s. Football, in general, became increasingly popular following the 1958 NFL Championship game between the Baltimore Colts and the New York Giants , still referred to as the "Greatest Game Ever Played". The game, a 23–17 overtime victory by the Colts, was seen by millions of television viewers and had a major influence on the popularity of the sport. This, along with
9694-529: The commercial similarities between it and baseball. Radovich and Alioto brought suit under the Clayton Act , which allows private parties to seek damages from unfair business practices , against the NFL, all its member franchises , commissioner Bert Bell , the PCPFL (by then defunct) and its commissioner at the time, J. Rufus Klawans. He alleged he had been the victim of a group boycott intended to ruin
9825-533: The commissioner. His legal victory gave the players free agency, which their baseball counterparts had been denied by the Supreme Court , but the NFLPA bargained it away in return for compensation to current and former players affected by the Rozelle Rule. After the 1987 strike , the players won it back, but only after New York Jets running back Freeman McNeil filed a successful lawsuit that challenged
9956-552: The conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. After playing McGill University using both American (known as "the Boston game ") for the first game and Canadian (rugby) rules for the second one, the Harvard players preferred the Canadian style of having only 11 men on the field, running the ball without having to be chased by an opponent, the forward pass, tackling, and using an oblong instead of
10087-502: The conservative NFL to expand to Dallas and Minnesota in an attempt to destroy the new league. Meanwhile, the AFL introduced many new features to professional football in the United States: official time was kept on a scoreboard clock rather than on a watch in the referee's pocket, as the NFL did; optional two-point conversions by pass or run after touchdowns; names on the jerseys of players; and several others, including expansion of
10218-413: The crossbars of the defense's goalposts. In practice, almost all field goal attempts are done via place kick. While drop kicks were common in the early days of the sport, the shape of modern footballs makes it difficult to reliably drop kick the ball. The last successful scoring play by drop kick in the NFL was accomplished in 2006; prior to that, the last successful drop kick had been made in 1941. After
10349-552: The decision, and had almost succeeded before he died. His successor, Pete Rozelle , continued the effort, but was only able to get limited exemptions to allow sharing of television revenues (the Sports Broadcasting Act of 1961) and, later, the merger with the American Football League (AFL). Since the Court's ruling means professional football is covered under antitrust law, the NFL has faced
10480-399: The defense is to prevent the offense from scoring by tackling the ball carrier or by forcing turnovers . Turnovers include interceptions (a defender catching a forward pass intended for the offense) and forced fumbles (taking possession of the ball from the ball-carrier). The defensive line (DL) consists of defensive ends (DE) and defensive tackles (DT). Defensive ends line up on
10611-400: The defense, but if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs to continue the drive . Points are scored primarily by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponent's goalposts for a field goal . The team with the most points at the end of the game wins. American football evolved in the United States, originating from
10742-430: The defensive backfield. They are divided into two types: middle linebackers (MLB) and outside linebackers (OLB). Linebackers tend to serve as the defensive leaders and call the defensive plays, given their vantage point of the offensive backfield. Their roles include defending the run, pressuring the quarterback, and tackling backs, wide receivers, and tight ends in the passing game. The defensive backfield , often called
10873-580: The dominance of the Cleveland Browns , who won all four of its championships, and financial problems and instability at some of its weaker franchises. In December 1949 the two leagues merged. The Browns, Baltimore Colts (not related to the team now known as the Indianapolis Colts ) and San Francisco 49ers joined the NFL; other teams folded or merged with an existing team. In Federal Baseball Club v. National League ( 259 U.S. 200 (1922)), Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. had written for
11004-472: The ends and sides of the field are known as the end lines and sidelines . Goal lines are marked 10 yards (9.1 m) inward from each end line. Weighted pylons are placed the sidelines on the inside corner of the intersections with the goal lines and end lines. White markings on the field identify the distance from the end zone. Inbound lines, or hash marks , are short parallel lines that mark off 1-yard (0.91 m) increments. Yard lines , which can run
11135-404: The ends of the line, while defensive tackles line up inside, between the defensive ends. The primary responsibilities of defensive ends and defensive tackles are to stop running plays on the outside and inside, respectively, to pressure the quarterback on passing plays, and to occupy the line so that the linebackers can break through. Linebackers line up behind the defensive line but in front of
11266-499: The feet, hands, head, or sides, with the objective being to advance it into the opponent's goal. Rutgers won the game 6–4. Collegiate play continued for several years with games played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia , Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19, 1873, to create a standard set of rules for use by all schools. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet (122 m × 76 m) were specified. Harvard abstained from
11397-469: The financial damages, it also sought to invalidate the league's contracts with at least one of the Big Three television networks that dominated U.S. TV at the time. The jury concluded that the NFL was indeed violating antitrust laws but refused to tear up the broadcast contracts (noting that a last-ditch effort to move the league's season to autumn forced out numerous major market teams that would have made
11528-654: The first of several franchise moves made possible by the invalidation of the NFL's ability to prevent them. The NFL's antitrust-related legal entanglements as a result of Radovich have led to suggestions that antitrust law cannot be applied to professional sports leagues in the same way they are applied to other businesses. In 1981, while testifying before the House Judiciary Committees in support of another exemption bill , Rozelle complained that "[L]eagues are regularly damned in antitrust if they do and damned in antitrust if they don't." He noted that at
11659-645: The first time since the 1960s, formed the XFL as a joint venture with the World Wrestling Federation . The league played one short season, during the winter, and emphasized entertainment value over top-flight competition. Amid rapidly declining interest and viewer disappointment in the product, the XFL shut down. The United Football League sought to create a parallel pro league in 2009; the UFL managed to put
11790-497: The free agency provisions under the Sherman Act. Eventually the players got the current free agency system in return for a salary cap . The 1987 strike led to another antitrust action before the Supreme Court, Brown v. Pro Football, Inc. ( 518 U.S. 231 (1996)). Anthony Brown, a practice squad player for the Washington Redskins during the strike, challenged the teams' decision to unilaterally impose
11921-419: The game clock based on the direction of the appropriate official . A separate play clock is used to show the amount of time within which the offense must initiate a play. The play clock is set to 25 seconds after certain administrative stoppages in play and to 40 seconds when play is proceeding without such stoppages. If the offense fails to start a play before the play clock reads "00", a delay of game foul
12052-655: The game unless major changes were made. In response, 62 colleges and universities met in New York City to discuss rule changes on December 28, 1905. These proceedings resulted in the formation of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, later renamed the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The legal forward pass was introduced in 1906, although its effect
12183-443: The ground or a tee; a holder may be used in either case. On a safety kick, the kicking team kicks the ball from their own 20-yard line. They can punt, drop kick or place kick the ball, but a tee may not be used in professional play. Any member of the receiving team may catch or advance the ball. The ball may be recovered by the kicking team once it has gone at least ten yards and has touched the ground or has been touched by any member of
12314-434: The guards. The principal receivers are the wide receivers (WR) and the tight ends (TE). Wide receivers line up on or near the line of scrimmage, split outside the line. The main goal of the wide receiver is to catch passes thrown by the quarterback, but they may also function as decoys or as blockers during running plays. Tight ends line up outside the tackles and function both as receivers and as blockers. The role of
12445-555: The illegal payment of college players who were still in school. The National Football League (NFL), a group of professional teams that was originally established in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, aimed to solve these problems. This new league's stated goals included an end to bidding wars over players, prevention of the use of college players, and abolition of the practice of paying players to leave another team. By 1922,
12576-451: The innovations introduced by the new American Football League (AFL) in the early 1960s, helped football to become the most popular sport in the United States by the mid-1960s. The rival AFL arose in 1960 and challenged the NFL's dominance. The AFL began in relative obscurity but eventually thrived, with an initial television contract with the ABC television network. The AFL's existence forced
12707-543: The league constitution, believing that owners must be focused on football and could be in a conflict of interest with the NFL if they owned franchises in other sports, since the other sports competed for disposable income with the NFL. Opposing them were Hunt, Miami Dolphins ' owner Joe Robbie and Edward Bennett Williams , who at the time owned the Baltimore Orioles as well as the Redskins. Hunt had founded
12838-640: The league over its provision requiring unanimous approval from other owners for franchise moves, which had otherwise hindered its efforts to conclude a lease with the Raiders , then playing in Oakland , where owner Al Davis was unhappy with the condition of Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum . Davis had also been incensed that the league had allowed the LA Coliseum's previous NFL team, the Los Angeles Rams , to move to Anaheim Stadium despite his abstention from
12969-453: The nonunion status of the league to deny support for exemptions. The NFLPA and the league clashed in court over labor issues and antitrust law. First there was Kapp's lawsuit, which the league eventually won when it was reheard by a jury. Then Baltimore Colts tight end John Mackey sued to block enforcement of the "Rozelle Rule", by which teams that signed another team's free agents were compensated with players or draft picks determined by
13100-429: The offense advances ten or more yards in the four downs, they are awarded a new set of four downs. If they fail to advance ten yards, possession of the football is turned over to the defense. In most situations, if the offense reaches their fourth down they will punt the ball to the other team, which forces them to begin their drive from farther down the field; if they are in field goal range , they might attempt to score
13231-445: The plane of the two end lines. The crossbar of these posts is 10 feet (3.0 m) above the ground, with vertical uprights at the end of the crossbar 18 feet 6 inches (5.64 m) apart for professional and collegiate play, and 23 feet 4 inches (7.11 m) apart for high school play. The uprights extend vertically 35 feet (11 m) on professional fields, a minimum of 10 yards (9.1 m) on college fields, and
13362-451: The point(s)-after-touchdown (PAT) or conversion, which is a single scoring opportunity. This is generally attempted from the two- or three-yard line, depending on the level of play. If the PAT is scored by a place kick or drop kick through the goal posts, it is worth one point, typically called the extra point. If the PAT is scored by what would normally be a touchdown, it is worth two points; this
13493-401: The pool of experienced franchise owners. After losing in district court, it won on appeal but by then was in desperate straits, and folded two years later. The NFL's ownership policies were slightly modified; Rozelle never got the full limitations he wanted. During that time, the most significant suit in modern NFL history was brought. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission (LAMCC) sued
13624-556: The primary proponents of the rugby-style game, compromised and did not request the name of the sport be changed to "rugby". The terms " gridiron " or "American football" are favored in English-speaking countries where other types of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, and Australia. American football evolved from the sports of rugby and soccer . Rugby, like American football,
13755-429: The primary variants of gridiron football . American football is the most popular sport in the United States in terms of broadcast viewership audience. The most popular forms of the game are professional and college football , with the other major levels being high-school and youth football. As of 2022 , nearly 1.04 million high-school athletes play the sport in the U.S., with another 81,000 college athletes in
13886-455: The provisions of the Act." He admitted that this was at odds with the reality, but defended the reliance on a congressional remedy as a better process than a judicial one: If this ruling is unrealistic, inconsistent, or illogical, it is sufficient to answer, aside from the distinctions between the businesses, that were we considering the question of baseball for the first time upon a clean slate we would have no doubts. But Federal Baseball held
14017-422: The punter. In football, the winner is the team that has scored more points at the end of the game. There are multiple ways to score in a football game. The touchdown (TD), worth six points, is the most valuable scoring play in American football. A touchdown is scored when a live ball is advanced into, caught, or recovered in the opposing team's end zone. The scoring team then attempts a try, more commonly known as
14148-401: The receiving team. The three types of scrimmage kicks are place kicks, drop kicks, and punts. Only place kicks and drop kicks can score points. The place kick is the standard method used to score points, because the pointy shape of the football makes it difficult to reliably drop kick. Once the ball has been kicked from a scrimmage kick, it can be advanced by the kicking team only if it
14279-631: The rest of the offense of the play in the huddle before the team lines up. The quarterback lines up behind the center to take the snap and then hands the ball off, throws it, or runs with it. The primary role of the halfback, also known as the running back or tailback, is to carry the ball on running plays. Halfbacks may also serve as receivers. Fullbacks tend to be larger than halfbacks and function primarily as blockers, but they are sometimes used as runners in short-yardage or goal-line situations. They are seldom used as receivers. The offensive line (OL) consists of several players whose primary function
14410-507: The role of minority players, actively recruited by the league in contrast to the NFL. The AFL also signed several star college players who had also been drafted by NFL teams. Competition for players heated up in 1965, when the AFL New York Jets signed rookie Joe Namath to a then-record $ 437,000 contract (equivalent to $ 4.23 million in 2023). A five-year, $ 40 million NBC television contract followed, which helped to sustain
14541-503: The secondary, consists of cornerbacks (CB) and safeties (S). Safeties are themselves divided into free safeties (FS) and strong safeties (SS). Cornerbacks line up outside the defensive formation, typically opposite a receiver to be able to cover them. Safeties line up between the cornerbacks but farther back in the secondary. Safeties tend to be viewed as "the last line of defense" and are responsible for stopping deep passing plays as well as breakout running plays. The special teams unit
14672-411: The similarity between the two sports from a legal standpoint would probably have denied baseball the exemption as well were it sought afresh, but existing case law had tied their hands in the absence of any congressional action. While the NFL has secured some limited antitrust exemptions since through the legislative process, the lack of a blanket exemption due to this decision has had a major impact on
14803-539: The sport does not have the international popularity of other American sports like baseball or basketball ; the sport maintains a growing following in the rest of North America, Europe, Brazil, and Japan. In the United States, American football is referred to as "football". The term "football" was officially established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season , when the sport first shifted from soccer-style rules to rugby-style rules. Although it could easily have been called "rugby" at this point, Harvard, one of
14934-439: The sports of soccer and rugby . The first American football game was played on November 6, 1869 , between two college teams, Rutgers and Princeton , using rules based on the rules of soccer at the time. A set of rule changes drawn up from 1880 onward by Walter Camp , the "Father of American Football", established the snap , the line of scrimmage , eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs. Later rule changes legalized
15065-508: The subsequent history of football . Unlike Major League Baseball , the NFL has faced several competing leagues since then (one of which merged with it ) and seen five of its franchises move to new cities. Many of these actions have been accompanied by lawsuits brought against the NFL (often successfully) by competing leagues, public stadium-management authorities and its own owners. In 1938 undrafted University of Southern California graduate William "Bill" Radovich began his NFL career as
15196-408: The team with possession of the oval-shaped football , attempts to advance down the field by running with the ball or throwing it , while the defense , the team without possession of the ball, aims to stop the offense's advance and to take control of the ball for themselves. The offense must advance the ball at least ten yards in four downs or plays; if they fail, they turn over the football to
15327-605: The text and the interstices of the Sherman Law", wrote Frankfurter, "fails to disclose that Congress, whose will we are enforcing, excluded baseball – the conditions under which that sport is carried on – from the scope of the Sherman Law but included football." He was more concerned, however, with what he felt was undue respect for the doctrine of stare decisis , a concern he had voiced in International Boxing . "Full respect for stare decisis does not require
15458-634: The time, the city of Oakland was planning to sue the NFL if it allowed the Raiders to move to Los Angeles, and the LAMCC was suing it for not allowing the move. Rozelle's complaint received some support in the 1990s when sports-law expert Gary Roberts testified to Congress that sports-related antitrust decisions, including many of those above, had been "inconsistent, often unjustifiable, and generally counterproductive". In Brown , Justice Stephen Breyer 's majority opinion acknowledged that "clubs that make up
15589-557: The two men over whether to proceed with the trial. Afterwards he says he learned Keith had been pressured to settle by the league. "What I did opened doors", he said. "It's the first time that any professional sport was ever taken to court and beaten." He never worked in football again and died in 2002. Alioto was later elected mayor of San Francisco for two terms. He and the NFL would meet again in antitrust court, most notably as adversaries when he successfully represented Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Commission in its suit that cleared
15720-433: The vote. His team began play in the LA Coliseum in 1982. The LAMCC's suit was the NFL's most notable use of the "single entity" defense: that despite being composed of more than two dozen separate member teams it was one business for purposes of the Sherman Act. It failed both at trial and then in appeals court, and ultimately the Supreme Court denied certiorari in 1984. Shortly afterwards the Colts moved to Indianapolis ,
15851-490: The way for the Oakland Raiders ' move to that city . But he also successfully defended it against a suit brought by disgruntled Boston Patriots ' quarterback Joe Kapp , and represented Philadelphia Eagles ' owner Leonard Tose in an unsuccessful action against the bankers he alleged had conspired to try to force him to sell the team in the late 1970s. Bell lobbied Congress to pass an antitrust exemption after
15982-411: The width of the field, are marked every 5 yards (4.6 m). A one-yard-wide line is placed at each end of the field; this line is marked at the center of the two-yard line in professional play and at the three-yard line in college play. Numerals that display the distance from the closest goal line in yards are placed on both sides of the field every ten yards. Goalposts are located at the center of
16113-408: The winning team decides to defer, the losing team chooses the option the winning team did not select—to receive, kick, or select a goal to defend to begin the second half. Most teams choose to receive or defer, because choosing to kick the ball to start the game allows the other team to choose which goal to defend. Teams switch goals following the first and third quarters. If a down is in progress when
16244-408: The young league. The bidding war for players ended in 1966 when NFL owners approached the AFL regarding a merger, and the two leagues agreed on one that took full effect in 1970. This agreement provided for a common draft that would take place each year, and it instituted an annual World Championship game to be played between the champions of each league. This championship game began play at the end of
16375-471: Was waiting tables at Los Angeles's Brown Derby restaurant. There he met Joseph Alioto , a former antitrust litigator with the Justice Department . In conversation, he told Alioto how he had come to this, and Alioto responded by sketching out a legal brief on the back of a cocktail napkin . The AAFC was an eight-team league that played from 1946–49. Since it emerged at a time when the NFL
16506-418: Was initially minimal due to the restrictions placed on its use. The idea of a 40-yard-wider field was opposed by Harvard due to the size of the new Harvard Stadium . Other rule changes introduced that year included the reduction of playing time from 70 to 60 minutes and an increase of the distance required for a first down from 5 to 10 yards (4.6 to 9.1 m). To reduce infighting and dirty play between teams,
16637-416: Was just beginning to recover from the war years (when some teams temporarily merged), was national in scope and had owners wealthier than most of their NFL counterparts, it posed a serious competitive threat to the older league. The NFL took many steps to prevent the AAFC from making headway, blacklisting media who had covered the league as well as players who jumped to it. Ultimately the AAFC collapsed due to
16768-440: Was necessary to prevent this strategy from taking hold, and a reversion to the scrum was considered. However, Camp successfully proposed a rule in 1882 that limited each team to three downs , or tackles, to advance the ball 5 yards (4.6 m). Failure to advance the ball the required distance within those three downs would result in control of the ball being forfeited to the other team. This change effectively made American football
16899-556: Was profitable, but it tended to prevent the two top-ranked teams from meeting in a true national championship game, as they would normally be committed to the bowl games of their respective conferences. Several systems have been used since 1992 to determine a national champion of college football. The first was the Bowl Coalition , in place from 1992 to 1994. This was replaced in 1995 by the Bowl Alliance , which gave way to
17030-533: Was seriously ill and he wanted to be able to spend more time with him. Lions' owner Fred L. Mandel Jr. refused, saying (according to Radovich) "I'd either play in Detroit or I wouldn't play anywhere". Since his contract had expired, he instead signed with the Los Angeles Dons of the rival All-America Football Conference (AAFC) and played with them for two seasons, despite Mandel's promise to put him on
17161-548: Was to compete directly with the newly-relocated Rams of the NFL, was known as the Los Angeles Dons. The leader of the ownership group was Benjamin Lindheimer , a California businessman and longtime football fan. Other owners included Hollywood notables Louis B. Mayer , Bob Hope , Bing Crosby , and actor Don Ameche . The Dons' head coach was "Dud" DeGroot , a Stanford football player who had gone on to earn
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