Q&A for How to Play American Football

Yes. Try your best!

You can play! Don't worry about what other people think.

Ignore them. Keep practicing and prove them wrong! If you really like football, then don't let other people keep you from playing.

Work on your agility, weight train, practice passes and catches, build your speed and endurance. Make sure you can take a hit or two as well.

If you want to, go for it. Hopefully you've practiced a lot on your own and have the basics of the game down pat.

Remember, everyone on the team is learning, so nobody will be perfect. Everyone else will have struggles of their own, so just focus on improving yourself and let the rest fade away.

You just need a ball and at least 4 people. Use things like trees or sidewalks for boundaries and goal lines, and play 2-hand-touch instead of tackle.

Go for it! Just make sure you're in shape and know the rules and positions of the game.

Yes, and your size has no bearing on it. The beauty of football is there is a role for anybody dedicated enough to being part of the team.

That's determined by a coin flip before the game.

Of course you do. However, keep in mind that football at the high school level is considerably more physical than it is in middle school.

Weight isnt that important. You need strong arms, strong legs, and, most importantly, fast hands.

Yes, especially if you're talking about touch football or flag football. In the case of tackle football, most coaches are reluctant to let a girl play on their team, because that's a very rough sport. Occasionally a girl will join a team, however, often as a placekicker or a punter.

Catch with "soft" hands -- that is, non-rigid hands that "give" a little when the ball arrives. Use your chest to "back up" your hands. Hold the ball tightly as soon as you catch it.

That's simply an incomplete pass. As with any other incomplete pass, the play ends immediately, and the teams re-group for the next play.

The running back, an offensive player, runs with the ball, sometimes catches passes and will occasionally be asked to block for the quarterback during a pass play. A running back must have quick feet and fast legs to be able to dodge defenders.

If he is calling out random words and numbers, he's using code to tell his teammates what the play is and where to go. If he yells "hut" or "hike" then the ball has been snapped (usually) and the play has begun.

Defensive end would probably work best, but you could also play offensive tackle.

This is not a common term. It may refer to a "backup" quarterback, one who plays only when the regular quarterback is injured or otherwise unavailable.

The kicker and punter are members of the special team. Very generally, the kicker is the member of the special team tasked with kicking the ball in an extra point or field goal situation. The punter is tasked with placing the ball as far into the opposing endzone as possible via "punting" it, punters usually come into action when the offensive team reaches 4th down and doesn't risk trying to get a first down.

No, that is a problem and you should get a bigger helmet.

Each league has its own rules regarding who can play on their teams. It is unusual -- but not unheard of -- for a girl to play organized football.

Start in school. Most schools above elementary level will have a football program you can enroll in.

Each team gets three timeouts per half. The timeouts cannot be transferred to the next half if they have not been used. Official timeouts, which are called by the referees, usually happen when a player gets hurt. These do not count against the number of timeouts the teams have.

There is "association football" (known as "football" in some parts of the world and "soccer" in other parts); American football; Canadian football; Australian football; Gaelic football; and rugby football.

After a team scores a touchdown, it will try for a one- or two-point conversion, and then it kicks off to the other team.

Yes, girls can absolutely play football. Some cities or schools may have separate leagues, but others allow them to play with boys.

One extremely rare event occurs when a ball carrier gets spun around and in confusion runs toward the wrong end zone.

Do sprints, lift weights, etc. You do this to be faster and stronger when you do have a chance to play. Practicing with others is almost always better, though.

There is no actual term. Most quarterbacks say "hike" or "hut" to begin the play.