Professional football becomes part of our life as soon as winters arrive. The bars and living rooms across the country get filled with fans, cheering for their favourite teams. While you must be aware of all the excitement that surrounds the Pro football, here are some interesting things that you might not be aware of.
1. Over one-third of replay reviews are overturned
Now you know why most of the times coaches challenge the official calls and demand an instant replay. On a good day, there is a one in three chance that the decision will be overturned.
2. A game has been played every day of the week
While we all are aware that Sunday is the flagship day for pro football and Monday and Thursday nights remain action-packed, interestingly a handful of pro games are also played on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays usually due to weather delay.
3. Quarterbacks are allowed to use radios
Frowned upon as the cheating devices, today quarterback helmets have built-in radios. This has nothing to do with football betting or any other sinister plan but these radios help quarterbacks to stay in touch with coaching staff during plays. This is just the common stuff and, in the future, these helmets are expected to get smarter and include sensors that can measure the impact of the strike so that player can leave the game to avoid further injury.
4. Cows are important to the game
Any football player knows that the balls are referred to as pigskin, but not many are aware that they are not made of pig leather anymore. To ensure easily gripped footballs are in high supply, equipment makers turned to cows. Roughly, 10 footballs can be made from one cowhide.
5. Actual pro football matches are pretty short
While television coverage of games can last for hours, but in a real match, the ball can be in play for as little as 11 minutes in a given football game.
6. Baseball stadiums were early home for the game
Before football rose to prominence in the States, baseball was the premier sport in the country. During those days, several pro teams were without home stadiums and had no other option than playing in major baseball venues. Times have turned, today only one pro team shares a stadium with a baseball squad.
7. Huddle was invented out of necessity
It might look like a cultural thing for the players to gather in a tight circle to discuss the next play. However, in reality, a huddle was first used as an aid for a college player who was legally deaf and needed his team to pack in close so he can hear them.
8. Not always jerseys had names
In the early days of football, it was very difficult to identify players. Although numbers have always been used, it was not until the 1960s that jerseys with the last name of the wearer were produced for the game.
9. The home team has a ball quota
While playing at the home stadium comes with several perks, there are some responsibilities involved as well. Home teams are expected to have 24 game balls on hand.
10. Special balls for kicking
The conventional game ball is not used when a punter tees up a ball for a kick. Also known as “K-Balls”, these balls are a little slicker as they are brand-new, to ensure no modifications are made to them by kickers, this step is taken.
Apparently, some enterprising players used to microwave the footballs to soften the leather.