Football 101 and Metaphors

While baseball may be America’s favorite pastime, I quickly discovered that Football is called America’s passion for a reason. This blog post attempts to introduce some basic 101 Football concepts and metaphors related to Football that I have encountered in my social and work life.

Football Metaphors in Politics

Politicians such as Condoleezza Rice and Dick Cheney have encountered language barriers when they have used Football’s metaphors to describe political events to other countries. Football has been used in political campaigns such as when Obama attacked Romney. Sensitive issues such as healthcare , nuclear energy and abortion might seem to become political football at times when they become partisan.

A Work Conversation Sprinkled with Football Metaphors

Although a bit exaggerated, the following fictional example of a work related conversation with a sprinkling of football metaphors gives a great example of how common the usage is in daily life.

The project team is good at basic blocking and tackling but rather than be an armchair quarterback, I’m going to run interference in all the working sessions of the project to make sure the team stays on track. I might do end arounds bureaucratic procedures. I just hope the team won’t be stopped at the one yardline as what happened in the last project. Going on a blitz in the last two weeks to push the project over the goal

Hey can you help me find resources for this project that I’m getting ready to kickoff? Please don’t punt and redirect me to Jane Doe. This is a very important project for me and I’ve been asked to carry the ball. We have a general game plan but no solid playbook for implementation. On top of that, I feel like my sponsors are constantly moving the goalposts. I really don’t want to fumble this project and drop the ball . I’ve got to tackle the situation else I’m going to be sidelined in this company.

If I have to make a hail mary effort to push this project through when it’s in the red zone, I am going to do it. Because if we fail, then all the Monday morning quarterbacks in office will be giving me advice on how I could have done a better job managing the project.

The above examples brings home how embedded sports jargon is in popular speech . As a new immigrant in this country, I would have a deer in headlights look when exposed to these cliches , idioms and jargon. Of course, I had heard of football, but it was what America calls soccer and most other countries call football.

Football 101

At first, I was curious about the origins of American football and wanted to know if it was a form of rugby. As I watched my first super bowl , primarily for the commercials, there were many terms that I didn’t understand – fumble, intercept, sack, line of scrimmage, the snap and safety to name a few. Once I figured out that each team had to move the ball 10 yards in four downs to continue to retain possession of it, things got clearer.

The next super bowl wasn’t as difficult to comprehend. By then I had gathered that each team’s quarterback is kind of like the general. There were two teams with 11 players each on the field. A touchdown was worth 6 points and a field goal was 3 points. Understanding the different football positions such as Wide Receivers, Running Back, Linebacker, Cornerback took me a few more years.

Football Traditions

I’ve come a long way since those early years when I didn’t understand the NFL draft or the concept of playoffs . I’ve come to appreciate American football traditions such as wearing eye black, tailgating and watching football on Thanksgiving. I haven’t joined a fantasy football league yet, though.

Controversial Aspects of Football

Media coverage on controversial aspects of football such as Colin Kopernisky kneeling during the national anthem have intrigued me. Concussions and their impact on the mental health of football players still shakes me. I am thankful that children now have the option of playing flag football along with tackle football.

Hopefully, my introduction to the gridiron game will help others come up to speed faster than it did for me when I was new to the sport and this country.