Learn about football rules with expert tips and advice on NFL football in this free video clip on decoy routes & blocking.

Defensive holding or illegal use of hands: No defensive football player is allowed to hold or push an offensive receiver or back on a passing play past the initial five yard chuck-zone. The first five yards past the line of scrimmage, the defense may jam, hold up, the receiver to keep them from getting by, but after that a penalty is awarded to the offense. Special Notes: Automatic first down awarded to offense.

Delay of game: This penalty can be called on either offense or defense, but the foul is most commonly committed by the offense. The penalty occurs on offense when they allow the play clock to run down to zero without snapping the ball. The penalty can be called on the defense if the referees feel that the defense did not allow the offense to get the play off in time for any reason. A similar foul is delay on kickoff. 

Encroachment: When the defense comes across the line of scrimmage and actually touches an offensive football player before the snap, encroachment is called.

Excessive time outs: A team can not call more than three time outs a half. If this occurs, a five yard penalty is assessed on the offense and the clock is restarted.

Facemask:  Similar to the above, if the facemask is deemed to be unintentional and non-flagrant by the referees, then only a five yard penalty is assessed. 

False Start: A false start occurs when an offensive football player moves before the ball is snapped. This penalty is not called if a player is in motion, but that player must either be moving parallel to the line of scrimmage ( a receiver in motion ) or set before the snap to not be in violation. Motion is a common tool used by coaches to try to free up a receiver, or confuse a defense and is simply a player changing their position on the field before the snap. Only receivers, running backs, and the quarterback may be in motion. 

Forward pass: Thrown from beyond the line of scrimmage. A football player can not throw the ball forward once passed the line of scrimmage, break behind the line, and then throw the ball forward.

Illegal return: A player that signals a fair catch may not try to return the ball. 

Illegal formation: The offense must have seven players on the line of scrimmage or they are guilty of illegal formation.

Illegal shift: A football player can not make a motion as if they play were live if they are simply changing their position. Once a player shifts his position he must not make a movement for at least a second before the ball is snapped. More than one player may be shifting at once as long as all get set.

Illegal motion: Similar to illegal shift except the football player does not come to a stop. Also, only one player is allowed in motion and the motion must be parallel to the line of scrimmage.

Illegal substitution: A player may only enter the field of play while the ball is dead. They must also only leave crossing their own sideline. Substitutes entering the game must enter the field passed the numerals. Finally, except for the last two minutes of the half, the offense must not rush to the line and hurry up a snap if they are substituting. 

Invalid fair catch signal: The football player receiving a kick must make a noticeable wave of his hand above his head for it to be a legal fair catch signal.

Illegal return: A player that signals a fair catch may not try to return the ball.

Too many men on the field: Each football team may only have eleven men on the field while the play is live.

Offside: Each team must be lined up on their line of scrimmage and can not be lined up in the neutral zone when the ball is snapped. The neutral zone is the area between the front and back of the ball.

Pass touched by a receiver after being out of bounds: Once a football player goes out of bounds he is not allowed to touch the ball on that play.

Player out of bounds at snap: All eligible players must be on the field of play at the snap of the ball.

Running into the kicker: If a player hits the kicker and does not touch the ball, but the hit is not flagrant, only the five yard penalty is called.

Second forward pass behind the line: A football player may not make more than one forward pass from behind the line of scrimmage.  

Cornerbacks cover potential receivers in either a zone coverage or man-to-man coverage.

Legendary football player cornerback, Darrell Green, was a 4-time winner of the NFL's Fastest Man competition.

Turnovers: While trying to advance the football play to the end zone, the football team's offense may accidentally turn the ball over to the defense in one of two ways:

• The Fumble: When the ball carrier or passer drops the ball, that's a fumble. Any football player on the field can recover the ball by diving on it or he can run with it. The football team that recovers a fumble either gets-or retains-possession of the ball.

• The Interception: An aggressive defense can regain possession of the ball by catching (intercepting) passes meant for football players on the other team. Both fumble recoveries and interceptions can be run back into the end zone for touchdowns.

The Two Sides of the Ball

The Offense: Whichever football team has possession of the ball is the offense. While only the quarterback, the wide receivers and tight ends, and the running backs can legally handle the ball, it is the quarterback who is the leader of the team and the playmaker. In fact, he's a man of many talents. He not only throws the ball, he outlines each fooball play to his team. 

The Offensive Players 

• The quarterback ("QB") passes or hands off the ball.
• The center snaps the ball to the QB and blocks the defense.
• 2 guards and 2 tackles keep the defense at bay.
• 2/4 wide receivers catch the ball thrown by the QB.
• 1 or 2 running backs take the ball and run with it.
• 1 or 2 tight ends block the defense and can also catches passes.

The Defense: The job of the defense is to stop the offense. The 11 men on the defensive team all work together to keep the offense from advancing toward the defense's end zone. 

The Defensive Players

• Linebackers defend against the pass, and push forward to stop the run or tackle the QB.
• The defensive line (ends and tackles) battles head-to-head against the offensive line.
• Cornerbacks and safeties defend against the pass from the QB to the wide receiver and help to stop the run.

4 ways to score points in football play: 

Touchdown = 6 Points: A touchdown is the biggest single score in a football game. To score a touchdown, the ball must be carried across the goal line into the end zone, caught in the end zone, or a fumble recovered in the end zone, or an untouched kickoff recovered in the end zone by the football team kicking.

Extra  Point and the Two-Point Conversion = 1 or 2 Points: Immediately following a touchdown, the ball is placed at the opponent's two-yard line, where the offense has two options. Usually the offense will kick an extra point, also called the point after touchdown, conversion, or PAT. If the offensive football team successfully kicks the ball through the goal posts, it earns one point. The offense can also score two points by running or throwing the ball into the end zone in the same way as a touchdown is made. Since going for two points is more difficult than kicking an extra point, the offense generally chooses to kick the extra point. 

Field Goal = 3 Points: If the offensive football team cannot score a touchdown, it may try to kick a field goal. Field goals are worth three points and often are the deciding plays in the last seconds of close games. They can be attempted from anywhere on the field on any down, but generally are kicked from inside the defense's 45-yard line on fourth down. For a field goal to be "good", the placekicker (or field goal kicker) must kick the ball through the goal-post uprights and over the crossbar. The defense tries to block the kick and stop the ball from reaching the goal post. 

The Football Players: Each football team has 3 separate units: the offense, those players who are on the field when the team has possession of the ball; the defense, players who line up to stop the other team's offense; and special teams that only come in on kicking situations (punts, field goals, and kickoffs). Only 11 football players are on the field from one team at any one time.  

The Kickoff: A football game starts with the kickoff. The ball is placed on a kicking tee at the defense's 30-yard line, and a special kicker (a "placekicker") kicks the ball to the offense. A kick return man from the offense will try to catch the ball and advance it by running. Where he is stopped is the point from which the offense will begin its drive, or series of offensive plays. When a kickoff is caught in the offense's own end zone, the kick returner can either run the ball out of the end zone, or kneel in the end zone to signal a touchback - a sign to stop the play. The ball is then placed on the 20-yard line, where the offense begins play.

First Down: All progress in a football game is measured in yards. The offensive team tries to get as much "yardage", as it can, to try and move closer to the opponent's end zone. Each time the offense gets the ball, it has four downs, or chances, in which to gain 10 yards. If the offensive team successfully moves the ball 10 or more yards, it earns a first down, and another set of four downs. If the offense fails to gain 10 yards, it loses possession of the ball. The defense tries to prevent the offense not only from scoring, but also from gaining the 10 yards needed for a first down. If the offense reaches fourth down, it usually punts the ball (kicks it away). This forces the other team to begin its drive further down the field.

Moving the Football: A football play begins with the snap. At the line of scrimmage (the position on the field where the play begins), the quarterback loudly calls out a play in code and the football player in front of him, the center, passes, or snaps the ball under his legs to the quarterback. From there, the quarterback can either throw the ball, hand it off, or run with it.

The Run: There are two main ways for the offense to advance the ball. The first is called a run. This occurs when the quarterback hands the ball off to a running back, who then tries to gain as many yards as possible by eluding defensive players. The quarterback is also allowed to run with the ball. 

The Pass: The other alternative to running the ball is to throw it. Or as they say in football, pass it! Usually, the quarterback does the passing, though there are times when another football player may pass the ball to confuse the defense. Actually, anyone on the offensive team is allowed to pass the ball as long as the pass is thrown from behind the line of scrimmage. A pass is complete if the ball is caught by another offensive player, usually the "wide receiver" or "tight end." If the ball hits the ground before someone catches it, it is called an incomplete pass.

The Tackle: The defense prevents the offense from advancing the ball by bringing the ball carrier to the ground. A player is tackled when one or both of his knees touch the ground. The play is then over. A football play also ends when a player runs out of bounds.

One 11-man team has possession of the football and is called the offense and it tries to advance the ball down the field-by running with the ball or throwing it to score points by crossing the goal line and getting into an area called the end zone.

The other team (also with 11 players) is called the defense. It tries to stop the offensive team and make it give up possession of the ball. If the football  team with the ball does score or is forced to give up possession, the offensive and defensive teams switch roles (the offensive team goes on defense and the defensive team goes on offense). And so on, back and forth, until all four quarters of the game have been played.

The Field

The football field is 100 yards long and 53 yards wide. Little white markings on the field called yard markers help the players, officials, and the fans keep track of the ball. Probably the most important part of the field is the end zone. It's an additional 10 yards on each end of the field. This is where the points add up! When the offense the team with possession of the ball-gets the ball into the opponent's end zone, they score a touchdown and six points.

Timing

Games are divided into four 15-minute quarters, separated by a 12-minute break at halftime. There are also 2-minute breaks at the end of the first and third quarters as the football teams change ends of the field after every 15 minutes of play. At the end of the first and third quarters, the team with the ball keeps the football heading into the following quarter. After halftime, the second half starts with a kickoff in the same way as the game began in the first quarter.

Each offensive football team has 40 seconds from the end of a given play until they must snap off the football for the start of the next play, elswise they will get a penalty.

The clock stops at the end of incomplete passing plays, when a football  player goes out of bounds, or when a penalty is called. The clock starts again when the ball is re-spotted by an official.

If a football game is tied at the end of the game timewise, a 15-minute overtime period will be played. In the NFL, this is sudden death and the first team to score wins. Possession is determined before the period begins by a coin toss.

The Kick-off

A flip of the coin decides who will start on defense, who kicks off, which endzones each tem will defend.

Every touchdown or fieldgoal begins with the kickoff.

The ball is placed on a one-inch plastic tee 30 yards from the defense's endzone (35 yards in college football). The "placekicker,” a specialized football player makes a short dash to the tee and kicks the ball.  The ball is aimed to wherever would be the worst place for  the offense. Whomever catches the ball on that side is designated the kick returner and will try to advance the ball forward by running.

This is enough to digest for now.

Former NFL football running back, Ronnie Bull recalls the time Chicago Bears legend Dick Butkus needed to get one last hit in on the opposing NFL football team's center.

This is a hilarious old video of a stand-up comic (unidentified) making fun of NFL football players.

The Philadelphia Eagles in NFL history.

The Philadelphia Eagles are based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are current members of the NFC East of the National Football Conference (NFC). The Eagles have won three NFL titles and made two Super Bowl appearances (1980 and 2004). Many Eagles players have made the NFL Hall of Fame including Chuck Bednarik, Bob Brown, Reggie White, Steve Van Buren, Tommy McDonald, Earle "Greasy" Neale, Pete Pihos, Sonny Jurgensen and Norm Van Brocklin. Owner and NFL Commisioner Bert Bell was also inducted.

The best and worst moments of NFL football teams' 2007.

All the best NFL football tight ends of 2008.

The Redskins didn't look like they were capable of pulling off a win aganst the Saints yesterday, but something changed in the fourth quarter and they pulled out a win over the Saints, 29-24.  Hopefully the new Redskins coach will make the difference!

NFL football players getting in shape and training.

Eli Manning seemed to come out of nowhere, so to speak.  Before last season’s Super Bowl he would not have ranked among the NFL’s top quarterbacks.  This season he is listed just below Tom Brady and his brother Peyton for the league’s elite.

Eli Manning is fulfilling the great expectations of his draft position and his background-the first family of quarterbacks and first overall pick in the NFL draft.

Proud of the family’s consecutive Super Bowl titles and consecutive MVPs, Peyton is proud that they have been on the cover of the 2007 and 2008 NFL media guides.

Peyton is proud of the family's consecutive Super Bowl titles and consecutive MVPs, which has put the Manning brothers on the cover of the 2007 (Peyton) and 2008 (Eli) NFL media guides. He does not like the continuous comparison however.

The major difference between the two has been their path to stardom.  Peyton Manning became part of the league’s elite in his 2^nd season playing indoors with receivers like Marvin Harrison and with an offense designed by Tom Moore.  His struggle has been in the playoffs, particularly outdoors against a new England team that found a way to make him look bad.

Peyton made the league's elite in his second season, playing indoors with receivers like Marvin Harrison in an offense designed by Tom Moore, the only offensive coordinator he's ever had. His only burden: he struggled in the playoffs, especially outdoors against a New England team that always seemed to find a way to make him look bad.

Eli Manning has taken most of his career to develop his run-oriented offense.  He went from an object of ridicule to stardom in the last 5 games of the season. Last season, his former teammate, Tiki Barber said on NBC that Eli’s attempts to lead the Giant’s offense were “comical.” Even though Eli has yet to put together a consistent season, there is little doubt that he is the man now.