Comments on: The 7 Major Differences Between NFL and College Football

By: Adi

Adi — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:00:31 +0000

nice compilation for someone trying to understand college football (or NFL, if the case may be)…

i dont agree with your conclusion of the hash marks though… NFL is actually giving more room for offensive play by bringing the ball nearer to the center line on more occasions…

Football is an acquired sport for me (because I grew up following cricket and starting watching foorball since last year only), so I may be wrong, but that’s how I think…

like your blog… don’t see a lot of women dedicated to sports…

By: Tristan Ohmacht

Tristan Ohmacht — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 17:44:22 +0000

I don’t want to sound argumentative, but you have the concept of a “more open field” backwards.

In the early 1970s, the NFL wanted to increase passing and scoring to make the game “more exciting.” One of the rules changes the league decided upon to encourage that was the narrower hash marks.

Think about it. With the hash marks more narrow, at the end of each play the ball is placed more in the middle of the field, opening up more room on both sides of the field for the offense to work with, giving them far more plays to run, particularly in the passing game.

That made the field more difficult for defenses to defend and…voila! More scoring.

Thus the concept “more open.” A field providing more offensive play options makes for a more “open” game.

But don’t take my word for it. See the “Complete Idiot’s Guide to Understanding Football”:

http://books.google.com/books?id=Z1SG10xaATwC&pg=PT52&dq=football+hash+mark&hl=en&ei=FA1-TprXMNCWtweKvYVW&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CFQQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=football%20hash%20mark&f=false

By: Stiletto Jen

Stiletto Jen — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 13:43:06 +0000

Actually no, the college games are more open than the NFL games. The NFL’s field of play (in the hash marks) is only 18.6 feet. College has about 40 feet of play in the hash marks. I had to go back and reread it a couple times. Hash marks are one of those things I never 100% understood but the big difference between college and NFL is that college has more room than the NFL.

By: Tristan Ohmacht

Tristan Ohmacht — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:31:11 +0000

Great writeup, except that you contradict yourself here:

“Since the college lines are closer to the sidelines, their field of play is actually 20 feet larger than the NFL’s…”

You mean 20 feet smaller. The closer the hash marks are to the sideline, the *less* field you have to play with.

Thus the NFL field and game are more “open.”

By: Byron Brown

Byron Brown — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 09:31:35 +0000

Very informative post. Now I can discern the difference between NFL and College Football. Now, I am confident to say that I know!

By: Stiletto Jen

Stiletto Jen — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 17:01:36 +0000

Thank you for taking the time to comment. And to show me once again why I work so hard on this site. It’s guys (I’m assuming you are male from the name Wade and your derogatory comment) like you that made me start this site. Ones who have no patience to help others learn the intricacies of a complicated sport.
Fact it, football is complicated. Confusing. And downright boring to learn. But once you get to know it, it’s amazing and awesome to watch.
I’m lucky to have great guys in my life who are patient and understanding and took the time to explain things to me.
I also have a lot of female friends who did the same. And I thought it would be nice to share my knowledge and ability to teach others in from a fun POV (and not boring) because I know there are a lot of people out there who are not as lucky as I am and who have friends who are, well, frankly, like you.

And really? You deduced that a “bunch of girls wrote it” because football is not as confusing as I claim it to be? You didn’t get a clue from all the talk of hot male athletes, references to Legally Blonde’s ‘Bend and Snap,” my clothing line specifically for women only or the Stiletto Sports tag of “sports. pink. sparkly. high heeled?”

By: Wade

Wade — Tue, 16 Nov 2010 15:08:20 +0000

I can tell a bunch of girls wrote these comments and article because football is not that confusing.

By: Stiletto Jen

Stiletto Jen — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 02:26:22 +0000

Aw glad you liked it! Hope I was able to help! Football is so ridiculously & unessesarily complicated to explain! I swear they go out of their way to be confusing and contradicting!

By: Betty

Betty — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:38:04 +0000

I love the name of your website. Your article was very informative and I read and re-read just as you asked. I've been learning the rules of NFL football from a book my huband gave me called "A Sportscaster's Guide to Watching Football" by author Mark Oristano. It's an enjoyably funny and easy book to read at the sametime explaining the rules of football.

By: Stiletto Jen

Stiletto Jen — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 02:34:49 +0000

I actually just learned another differnce too. In college, the clock stops any time there is a first down. Which of course, is super important in close games!