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American football positions have slowly evolved over the history of the sport.From its origins in early rugby football to the modern game, the names and roles of various positions have changed greatly, some positions no longer exist, and others have been created to fill new roles.
In American football, the specific role that a player takes on the field is referred to as their "position". Under the modern rules of American football, both teams are allowed 11 players [1] on the field at one time and have "unlimited free substitutions", meaning that they may change any number of players during any "dead ball" situation.
The history of American football can be traced to early versions of rugby football and association football.Both games have their origin in multiple varieties of football played in the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century, in which a football is kicked at a goal or kicked over a line, which in turn were based on the varieties of English public school football games descending from medieval ...
Rugby, like American football, 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. [11] What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6, 1869, between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams ...
This category is designed to hold historical material about the sport of American football, which forms part of the wider study of sports history. There is a great deal of historical material in general American football articles which are not included here, such as articles about individual teams and competitions.
The early history of American football can be traced to early versions of rugby football and association football.Both games have their origin in varieties of football played in Britain in the mid–19th century, in which a football is kicked at a goal or run over a line, which in turn were based on the varieties of English public school football games.
The American Football League (AFL) was a major professional American football league that operated for ten seasons from 1960 until 1970, when it merged with the older National Football League (NFL), and became the American Football Conference. The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence.
In the related sport of Canadian football, halfback is usually a defensive, rather than offensive, position since the 1980s. It is also used to refer to an offensive position similar to a slotback that could line up off the tight end or behind the quarterback. Older systems require the halfback be proficient at throwing the ball downfield as well.