by Tom Parry-Jones
As the old saying goes, American football is a game of inches played on a field measured in yards. Teams fight for every last bit of territory they can grab, because games can be decided by a margin no bigger than the tip of the ball making it far enough to get a first down or even a touchdown.
The field is a rectangle exactly 100 yards long and 53 ⅓ yards wide, with an area 10 yards deep at either end, unsurprisingly known as the ‘end zone’.
To help officials and fans alike with measurements, the field is marked with lines from sideline to sideline every five yards, and smaller lines (known as ‘hash marks’) on each sideline and in the middle of the field marking every yard. Every 10 yards, large numbers are painted on the field showing the distance to the nearest end zone.
The end zone is where the magic happens in an NFL game: it’s where all the points are scored, either through touchdowns or field goals, so everything on an NFL field happens in the context of the end zone.
The hash marks in the middle of the field are in line with the goalposts, 18 ½ feet apart, and every play starts in between those marks. When a play ends outside the hash marks, the ball is moved infield so the next play starts at the nearest hash.
There are a few other important lines in the context of each play. First, there’s the line of scrimmage; this is the line where the ball is placed at the start of each play, and that neither team can cross until the ball is snapped. If you’ve watched the NFL on TV, then you’ve probably seen the line of scrimmage rendered in blue using computer graphics.
Another computer-generated line is the first down line, usually shown in yellow. This is the line that each team has four attempts (or ‘downs’) to reach before they have to give up possession.
But as they like to tell you in broadcasts, the lines you see on TV aren’t official. Instead, the referees (and players) rely on a pair of orange lollipops about 8 feet tall linked by a metal chain exactly 10 yards long. When the refs aren’t sure if the offense quite managed to make it 10 yards, the chain crew will run out onto the field to take a physical measurement.
Oh, and you don’t have to get the whole of the ball past the line for it to count. All you need is for the nose of the ball to break the vertical plane of the front edge of the line for them to award you a first down, or even a touchdown.