Football is commercially stronger than ever, yet it faces serious questions about player health and about who will play the game in the future. How the sport handles them will shape the next decades. Head injuries and long-term health Research on concussions and on chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease found in many … Read more
American football can look chaotic at first: 22 players, frequent stops, flags on the field. Once you understand downs, scoring and the clock, the game becomes a strategic contest you can follow play by play. The field and the teams Each team has 11 players on the field. The field is 100 yards long between … Read more
The game is recognizably the same from a Friday night high school matchup to the Super Bowl, but almost everything else changes: the speed, the complexity, the rules and the time demands. High school High school football is where most players learn the fundamentals. Teams range widely in size and resources. Games usually have 12-minute … Read more
Before replay, a missed call stayed missed. Today, cameras from many angles let officials check scoring plays, turnovers and key decisions. Replay has made officiating more accurate, but it has also changed the rhythm of the game and sparked new debates. A short history The NFL first used instant replay in 1986, dropped it after … Read more
American football began as a college game in the late 19th century and grew into the most-watched sport in the United States. Its rise is closely tied to television and to constant changes in the rules. College roots The game grew out of rugby and soccer-style games played at American colleges in the 1800s. Walter … Read more
Performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) raise difficult questions in a sport that rewards size, strength and speed, and where careers are short and contracts uncertain. The debate involves fairness, health and the responsibilities of leagues, teams and players. What counts as a PED The term covers substances that improve performance beyond what training and nutrition can produce: … Read more
The first Native American person to be honored on a United States postage stamp was Pocahontas. Her portrait appeared on a 5-cent stamp issued in 1907 for the Jamestown Exposition, which marked the 300th anniversary of the founding of Jamestown, Virginia. The 1907 Jamestown issue The Jamestown Exposition series had three stamps: The portrait of … Read more
