football and football

While I love soccer, I am also am a huge fan of many other sports including American football. With today's Super Bowl XLV and the great American holiday that is Super Bowl Sunday, I thought it would be a great time to take a look at just two of the games that take on the name, football.

Many non-Americans are perplexed at why America's most popular and profitable sport takes on the name football, while very little of the game has to do with feet. But the truth is there is a nice connection between the two, with many notable american football players having played soccer for much of their youth. Both games have several similarities, while it seems as if certain core athletic values differ between the two.

Differences

Many sports are based primarily on how an athlete is able to utilize his or her cardiovascular system to perform at high levels. Football is a game based on short bursts of speed and strength, which allow for a fascinating wide variety of athletes. You can be 350 pounds and be one of the best, most important forces on the field, say a defensive lineman. You can also be rather agile with long legs a la a cornerback or a wide receiver.

But no matter what, all the action happens in a matter of seconds. Lots of bodies go down and get back up again after catching their breath. And then the next play. One of the things I find funny is hearing football players turn on their televisions to watch maybe five minutes of a world cup match. When a player goes down in the 80th minute, what is the first thing you hear? "What's he doing?!" "Is he tired or something?" Meanwhile, most of them can't keep up a play for more than ten seconds. Soccer players are primarily more fit than football players. They may not run nonstop for ninety minutes. But they do keep moving, particularly if they play in the midfield. Now I'm not here to degrade the American game. Its' short bursts of energy are what make it so exciting. But, one cannot deny the skill that it takes to run back and forth for an hour and a half versus having breaks every few seconds.

Coaching, however takes considerably more skill in the American game as play-calls consistently decide who wins or loses the game, creating an interesting chess match, unseen in the international version of football. To counter this point, one could argue that soccer players have to make more decisions on the fly, without having the benefit of stopping between plays and pondering what to do. Football players, though, particularly quarterbacks have to make potentially game-altering decisions in a matter of seconds, such as who to throw to. I won't take sides in such arguments, just presenting the facts.

Similarities: 
Despite the fact that only punters and kickers use their feet as primary weapons, footwork plays an integral role in the success of every position. Quarterbacks need to use their feet to evade pressure, while those bringing the pressure must use their quickness in the legs to do so. Footwork is one of the main things looked at when watching how a lanky wide receiver gets away from the defense and when an offensive lineman moves his feet to stop defensive pressure.

I think it's pretty self-explanatory how feet are connected to the beautiful game.

Another thing that links these two sports is the fact that many Americans play the game growing up and that includes successful athletes in the NFL like defensive rookie of the year Ndamukong Suh (see video below)

Now, I should say as a disclaimer, that some NFL players do not share the same love of the world's game, such as when noted safety Troy Polamalu (who will be playing for the Steelers in tonight's game) made football out to be a tougher sport than soccer, talking about how the NFL fines players for big hits He said, "It's football, if people want to watch soccer, they should watch soccer." (Fox Sports)

Finally, something that anybody could connect to any sport stands especially true between these two and that is the neccessary role that fans play in the two games. College football and the NFL dominate not just sports discussion but general life discussion for six months out of the year in the United States. It also has an ever-growing presence around the world, although of course nothing compared to soccer.

It is highly appropriate to relate the gameday atmospheres of an English town with those of a college town or even some NFL towns. They immediately come to life eating, sleeping, and breathing football for the entire day. There is a massive amount of passion that goes into being a fan of either. While soccer  fans proclaim that they are the kings of the world and football fans say soccer players are wimps, there are those of us who can love and appreciate both games, knowing that deep down, they're both a wonderful game of football.