NFL talk? Questions about American football?

Can anybody explain this Manti Teo situation simply? It's a complex tale and I'm not interested enough to go looking for info and start to piece it together!

Reply 5064

Wattsy

Original post by Authority_Song

Can anybody explain this Manti Teo situation simply? It's a complex tale and I'm not interested enough to go looking for info and start to piece it together!

It can't really be explained simply. It's an absolute car crash.

Reply 5065

Scott129

13

Original post by Authority_Song

Can anybody explain this Manti Teo situation simply? It's a complex tale and I'm not interested enough to go looking for info and start to piece it together!

During his time at Notre Dame, we all believed that his grandmother and girlfriend died within 6 hours of each other (girlfriend was supposedly in a car crash and then got leukemia(I think?)) and he played a game very soon after. It gained massive media attention (featured on Sports Illustrated I believe) and generally made him a very well liked guy. We now know that this girlfriend never existed. There's no record of her graduating where he said she graduated from, no obituaries and all of the photos the media claimed were her, were someone else who was later contacted and knew nothing of this.

Te'o now claims that he never actually met his girlfriend (it was online and through phone calls) despite implying that he had before all this came out. He claims he's been the victim of a cruel hoax (a la Catfish - look it up) whereas many people think he fabricated this story with a long time friend of his (who knew the girl whose pictures were used) for publicity and to build up this soulful, big-hearted image. Notre Dame are now helping Te'o with an investigation and it could all get very messy indeed. There's talk of his draft stock falling because of this but I still think he's a first round certainty.

Edit - And now, after looking back a page on this thread, it seems an Arizona Cardinals fullback claims to have met her in person. The plot thickens :holmes:

(edited 11 years ago)

Reply 5066

emobambam

14

everybody ready for the big games this weekend?

Reply 5067

Original post by emobambam

everybody ready for the big games this weekend?

Not really I'm freaking nervous about the Ravens - Patriots game would like to be the team who finally ends the Lewis media circle jerk fest though.

Reply 5068

..DT..

11

NFL gameday morning style bold predictions anyone? Anyone who gets a good one right gets...... a virtual pat on the back?

Reply 5069

Original post by ..DT..

NFL gameday morning style bold predictions anyone? Anyone who gets a good one right gets...... a virtual pat on the back?

Patriots to win by 3 points with the last kick of the game. Falcons to come out of their shell and prove critics wrong by edging past a 49ers team. Matty Ice drives down the field again!

Reply 5070

emobambam

14

Original post by Malevolent

Not really I'm freaking nervous about the Ravens - Patriots game would like to be the team who finally ends the Lewis media circle jerk fest though.

the Patriots are gonna win the game.by a big score.

Reply 5071

Original post by emobambam

the Patriots are gonna win the game.by a big score.

Hope so man, run this Ravens defense to the ground. Attack the middle their linebackers are so slow that Hernandez needs to have a big game. Protect Brady and he will pick apart the defense. Hopefully the Ravens are freaking tired from that epic 6 quarter game at mile high.

Reply 5072

..DT..

11

Yawnnnn, you guys suck.

Imma work in multiples of 2 for my first one.

SF Defence has 2TDs, 4 turnovers and 6 sacks.

and for the Pats game I'll go with:

Brady 300 yards n 3TDs, Ridley 200 all purpose yards and 2TDs and Welker 100 yards recieving with 1 TD.

#bold.

Reply 5073

Original post by Scott129

During his time at Notre Dame, we all believed that his grandmother and girlfriend died within 6 hours of each other (girlfriend was supposedly in a car crash and then got leukemia(I think?)) and he played a game very soon after. It gained massive media attention (featured on Sports Illustrated I believe) and generally made him a very well liked guy. We now know that this girlfriend never existed. There's no record of her graduating where he said she graduated from, no obituaries and all of the photos the media claimed were her, were someone else who was later contacted and knew nothing of this.

Te'o now claims that he never actually met his girlfriend (it was online and through phone calls) despite implying that he had before all this came out. He claims he's been the victim of a cruel hoax (a la Catfish - look it up) whereas many people think he fabricated this story with a long time friend of his (who knew the girl whose pictures were used) for publicity and to build up this soulful, big-hearted image. Notre Dame are now helping Te'o with an investigation and it could all get very messy indeed. There's talk of his draft stock falling because of this but I still think he's a first round certainty.

Edit - And now, after looking back a page on this thread, it seems an Arizona Cardinals fullback claims to have met her in person. The plot thickens :holmes:

Thanks

Reply 5074

Original post by ..DT..

Yawnnnn, you guys suck.

Imma work in multiples of 2 for my first one.

SF Defence has 2TDs, 4 turnovers and 6 sacks.

and for the Pats game I'll go with:

Brady 300 yards n 3TDs, Ridley 200 all purpose yards and 2TDs and Welker 100 yards recieving with 1 TD.

#bold.

I think the Ravens have the Run defense to keep Ridley under 100, and he won't have 100 receiving because Brady will rely on Welker/Hernandez in a tight game.

Reply 5075

GreenOut

16

I was watching some NFL highlights on tv the other day and was confused as ****. It looks like a good sport but I don't understand what the hell is going on. So would someone mind running me by the basics, e.g: How many players in a team? How does the scoring system work? After a touchdown why do they always get like a penalty or something :s-smilie:

? and other stuff a newbie might do well to know. Thanks in advance.

Reply 5076

Original post by tr12

I was watching some NFL highlights on tv the other day and was confused as ****. It looks like a good sport but I don't understand what the hell is going on. So would someone mind running me by the basics, e.g: How many players in a team? How does the scoring system work? After a touchdown why do they always get like a penalty or something :s-smilie:

? and other stuff a newbie might do well to know. Thanks in advance.

6 points for a touchdown when the ball crosses the end zone. After you score the touchdown you take a PAT kick which is like a conversion really hard to screw it up and you get 1 point for it. Therefore you get 7 points and its the other teams turn to try score. However if your down by 16 or so you can take attempt to score again after the touchdown and if you did you would get 2 points so in total 8, downside is its much riskier and harder to do so most teams take the obvious 7 points. Field goals are worth 3 points.

There are 53 players on a roster but you can only take 45 i think to game days. 3 squads the offensive squad pretty explanatory the ones who try score. Defensive squad the ones who try stop the offense from scoring and the Special teams squad who deal with kickoffs and punts. Usually you can have offensive and defensive players in the Special teams to fill out numbers but usually the special teams squad are some of the 3rd string players or 2nd string.

The offense has 4 tries to get the ball to advance 10 yards other wise on the 4th attempt they usually punt the ball or kick the field goal if close enough. If their like a yard or less from another down then they may go for it depending on the situation.

Ie a sequence of plays. 1st and 10- they advance the ball 3 yards. Its not 2nd and 7 and the quarter back is sacked 5 yards behind the line of scrimmage. Now its 3rd and 12, Quarterback throws and receiver only gets 7 more yards. Therefore its 4th and 5 so they will usually punt the ball. If it was say 4th down and 1 yards they might go for it.

4 quarters consisting of 15 minutes each so 60 minutes total unless its a tie at the end and they go to overtime.

Reply 5077

Positions:

Quarterback - The guy who throws the balls and tells the players what plays they are going to run. (Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Peyton Manning)

Running Back - Guy who runs with the ball after a handoff from a quarterback who does a lot of short yard running. (Adrian Peterson, Maurice Jones Drew, Marshawn Lynch, Doug Martin)

Full back- Not as common anymore in the NFL only usually in teams who like to run a lot, usually will block players for his running back and may occasionally catch a couple of passes. (Vonta Leach)

Wide Receiver- Their jobs get open and catch balls and run their routes. ( Calvin Johnson, Wes Welker, Brandon Marshall) They run short routes, intermediate routes and deep routes. A whole mix really...

Tight Ends- Becoming more and more important in the NFL used to be just blockers but now they are used as receivers as well. The best ones block and catch. (Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Vernon Davis, Tony Gonzalez)

Offensive Line- These guys are the guys who do all the blocking to protect the quarterback and try give the running back something to run at creating open lanes. You have the Center the one who snaps the ball to the QB. Left and Right guard and the Left and Right tackles. Ie: LT,LG,C,RG,RT

11 players on the field. You could have many different sets. 3 receivers,1 Tight end and a Running back or 2 receivers, 2 tight ends and a running back or just a flat out 4 WR and 1 RB.

Reply 5078

Original post by tr12

I was watching some NFL highlights on tv the other day and was confused as ****. It looks like a good sport but I don't understand what the hell is going on.

I understand. It is a complex game with no similar sports to reference from so getting a grasp can be difficult at first. The key thing to remember is its like Chess with people. Very technical, lots of special roles/abilities that all amalgamate into a larger, (hopefully) cohesive unit.

The aim is to score as many points as possible. You do that by your offense getting into the other teams endzone with possession of the ball, and your defense preventing the other team from scoring.

The game is split into phases to allow for planning. You have 4 attempts (called downs) to go 10 yards before you are tackled. You can do this by either giving it to one of your players to run with the ball, or throwing it to someone and hoping they catch it. If you manage to go for 10 yards or more during those 4 downs, you get a new set of downs (4 more chances to go another 10 yards). If you fail to go ten yards within those 4 tries you give up the ball. Usually on the 4th attempt, unless you are losing late in a game, you send out your special teams and either punt it away (just boot it), or kick a field goal if you are close enough.

The defense is expected to tackle people who have the ball, or stop the other team catching it by knocking it out of the air, or even catching it themselves if they can. If a pass isn't caught it is called incomplete and that down is over. If the defense catches it (interception), or causes the offense to drop it once they have already caught it (a fumble) then the defense can attempt to grab the ball and run with it to the other endzone. Defenses don't usually score, but they can on interception and fumble returns and a few other select, rare plays.

Original post by tr12

How many players in a team?

A team has 53 players, broken down into 3 sub teams: Offense, Defense, Special Teams.

11 players on each team on the field at any one time, so that's 33 "starters" and 20 substitutes.

When your offense is on the field, the opponents defense is on and vice versa. You only have one of these units on at a time. Special teams play against opponents special teams for a few specific situations; kick-offs to start each half of the game, and to restart the game after a score.

Original post by tr12

How does the scoring system work?

(Special teams score) Field Goal - Like a drop kick in rugby. The Kicker kicks the ball over the posts from as far away (most people can't manage more than 55 yards) or as close as you want for 3 points.

If your team gets into the opposing teams end-zone with possession of the ball (like a try-zone in rugby) you score 6 points (they then kick a short field goal afterwards for 1 'extra-point' which they almost never miss, so we generally assume a touchdown is 7 points). Here is a running touchdown, and here is a receiving touchdown.

On running touchdowns you only have to get part of the ball to cross the first part of the white endzone line (you don't need to touch it down like in rugby - the word touchdown is misleading).

Receiving touchdowns are slightly more complicated. In the catch above, he is in the endzone when he tries to catch it, so he has to catch it and get both feet inside the endzone while holding onto the ball. If you catch it outside the endzone like this, the rules are the same as running.

Original post by tr12

After a touchdown why do they always get like a penalty or something :s-smilie:

?

They don't always. Must just have been the one you were watching. Long story short, the game is complex, so it has complex rules to govern it. A few basics are - you can't hit another player with your head. You can't hold onto another players jersey/pads to stop them tackling someone. You can't push an offensive player over or out of the way before they've touched the ball. You can't tackle an opponent by their facemask.

Original post by tr12

and other stuff a newbie might do well to know. Thanks in advance.

The best thing you can do is to ask specific questions (I don't mind answering, and there's a lot of knowledgeable people in this thread), or watch a game.

Reply 5079