The football team
American football is the most popular and the most lucrative sport in the United States. Every state has dozens of football teams which play in the NFL’s championship, college football, youth football or high school championships. The Super Bowl is the most prestigious American Football event that takes place annually between the winners of the Eastern and the Western conference.
I have been to the USA for two years now and I have enjoyed every bit of it. It’s a great country with wonderful people who have great passion in what they are involved in their daily life, be it academics, sports, careers or raising a family. Everyone here is committed towards achieving something in life. I learn new things every single day and I yearn to even learn more.
One thing I have never understood clearly was American football. From my background before I came to America, I knew football (soccer) which is played by two teams with eleven players each chasing a ball and trying to score a goal on the opponent goal post. This game is simple, since all a player needs in the field is some good passing skills and how to maneuver the pitch with a ball, pass the opposing player and score a goal. The only rules which a player need to know are the offside rule, offensive tackling and maintaining the ball in the field.
However, American football is much different from any other sport I have come across. At first I thought it was rugby but when I followed it closely, I realized it was not. The only resemblance it has with the normal football (soccer) is that each team has eleven players. However, some of the terms associated with American Football like ‘touchdown’, and ‘quarter back’ completely puzzled me.
This made me curious and gave me the urge to know more about this game which is loved by many Americans especially the students in our university. The game and the players also fit well with my research and analysis of a discourse community and I wanted to find out more about the influence of language and communications on the game. These people have goals which drive them to work hard every day to achieve something. They have a distinct way of communicating using numbers and signs which can only be understood by players. The teams are driven by different genres and purpose in the game. The teams also have experienced players who have been in the game for long and inexperienced players and fun that have joined the game recently.
Our university has a football team and plays in the college league and hence, it was easy to collect data and to do my analysis on our football team as well to investigate more on how the players communicate and relate to each other.
The team practices every weekday from 5pm to 7pm and play against other teams on weekends. Therefore, I went to the football pitch on weekdays during practices and weekends to witness the real game for a whole month. I did my general observations and took notes without asking anyone questions where I didn’t understand what was happening in the field. After observing the game for the whole month, I did an interview with the team captain to get answers to my questions and to get addition information about the game, players and the fans in general.
The game
The game is played by two teams each having eleven players. The pitch measures 120 by 53.33 yards. The pitch has two goals post at each end where field goals are scored when an opponent player kicks a ball through the gall post of the opposing team.
The teams try to outdo each other by denying the opponent team the ball while the opponent team try to get the ball by tackling the player of the other team just like rugby except for the rules (like forward passing which is prohibited in rugby but allowed in football) and the mode of dressing on the players.
The opponent team tries to get the ball from their end to the other end by passing between players while running. The other team attempts to stop the opponent team from advancing to its end by tackling the player with the ball or try to intercept the passes. Points are scored when one team successfully reaches the opponent end zone (referred to as a touchdown) or kicking the ball through the goal post. The defense team also gets points when the carrier of the ball at end zone is tackling and losing the ball. The team with the most points wins the match.
The goal and purpose
Many of the football teams and fans have one goal in mind, which is winning the championship in their level by acquiring many scores than any other team in history and advancing to the next level. The teams invest in the players and practice hard so that they can beat their opponents and win as many matches as possible. There are however some who play for fun because it is their passion and they have a talent in it. Some fans don’t have a particular team but they enjoy watching the match just to unwind from stressful week. The teams which keep on losing and who don’t win any trophy in their level are considered failures. These teams are sometimes are forced to lower levels championships which are considered to be less competitive.
Communication
During the competition/march, the leader who in most occasions is the quarterback, or the person who has the ball will shout some numbers or letters to his/her teammate. These numbers or letter are meant to give instructions on the team defense and the attacking players on how they should arrange themselves as well as the directions which all the players must move while passing the ball. These letters and numbers are meant to deceive the opponent and hide the true meaning of the communication being passed on by the leader or the player with the ball. The spectators encourage their terms to win by singing the team’s official song. The fans also show their displeasure of their team perforce by booing and showing charts which are written negative words. The coach also communicates with his/her players through gestures and signs which can only be understood by the players themselves.
The signs and the number language which is used by the team to communicate, is known only by the team members and it remain a secret between the players. This is meant to make sure that the team movement in the field is not predicted by the opponent. These numbers keep changing so that the opposing team and fans cannot master them
Since the social media has taken over the communication by storm, the players and fans interact freely with each other mostly through Facebook and Twitter. Here the fans give their opinion freely to players by either congratulating them for playing good and encouraging them to do better or criticizing them for poor performance which has for instance resulted in a loss. The players and the team management use the social media to encourage fans to attend marches in big numbers. The players also email, text and call each other via phone for updates on the team or just to keep in touch.
Genre
The genre which is used by the teams to connect and win games is sign language. This is the driving force which makes the team united so that it can compete well. These signs are unique and are only understood well by all the team members hence giving the team a competitive edge. Texting also make players to feel connected with other players and the general public. This makes the players not to think much about the sport.
Lexis
The main word which is know and it’s in everybody lips is ‘touchdown’ instead of score or goal. This word makes fans to go insane when players manage to score. Touchdown is the climax of the game. It is also common to hear ‘2-4-5 defense or 3-3-5 defense or 3-4 defense’. This is the formation of team players established so as to protect the ball. The first number is for linemen, the second for linebackers and the third is defensive back.
Participation and perfection
The players who want to perfect their playing skills are encouraged to attend more practices and to play more matches. A new player can be known by the numbers of mistakes he/she makes while playing. A good supporter who has supported the team for long can be sported wearing the jersey of the team and how he knows the players and the rules of the game.
The interview with the captain
Me, Why do you play this game and for long have you play this game
Captain, I play the game because I like it and its gives me a sense of fulfillment. I started playing the game since high school.
Me, How do you communicate with others?
Captain, We communicate through mass texting and in social media but when in the field we use sign language which is more appropriate and suitable hence giving us an edge over the opponent.
Me, How do you perfect your game?
Captain, By practicing more often with other players, eating healthy, listening to my coach advice and doing a lot of exercise
Me, What is your goal in this game?
Captain: to win more trophies and to advance to the NFLs after college.
Works Cited
Bamford, Julia, and Marina Bondi. Dialogue Within Discourse Communities: Metadiscursive Perspectives on Academic Genres. Tübingen: Niemeyer, 2005. Print.
Brown, Gillian, and George Yule. Discourse Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. Print.
Gee, J. P. "An Introduction to Discourse Analysis: theory and method." 22.33 (1999): 76-81. Print.
LeVine, Philip, and Ronald Scollon. Discourse and Technology: Multimodal Discourse Analysis. Washington, D.C: Georgetown University Press, 2004. Print.
Widdowson, H G. Discourse Analysis. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Print.
