This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the American football article. This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.
Important note: This is an introductory article to American football. It exists to give a basic understanding of the game and important topics relating to it. Information that does not fall under that description should go in any of the many specific articles associated with this topic.
This article is written in American English, which has its own spelling conventions (color, defense, traveled) and some terms that are used in it may be different or absent from other varieties of English. According to the relevant style guide, this should not be changed without broad consensus.
This article was copy edited by Twofingered Typist, a member of the Guild of Copy Editors, on September 25, 2019.Guild of Copy EditorsWikipedia:WikiProject Guild of Copy EditorsTemplate:WikiProject Guild of Copy EditorsGuild of Copy Editors
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Assess : newly added and existing articles, maybe nominate some good B-class articles for GA; independently assess some as A-class, regardless of GA status.
Cleanup : * Sport governing body (this should-be-major article is in a shameful state) * Field hockey (History section needs sources and accurate information - very vague at the moment.) * Standardize Category:American college sports infobox templates to use same font size and spacing. * Sport in the United Kingdom - the Popularity section is incorrect and unsourced. Reliable data is required.
* Fix project template and/or "to do list" Current version causes tables of content to be hidden unless/until reader chooses "show."
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American football is NOT referred to as "Gridiron" -- not anywhere in the U.S., anyway. Whoever entered that reference in the main article either must not be from this country or has no interest in or knowledge of the game. The gridiron is another name for the FIELD on which the game is played, a holdover from the early days when, in addition to the 5 or 10 yard stripes, lines were also laid down from end zone to endzone, running perpendicular to the yard stripes, thus forming a grid. References are sometimes made to play "on the gridiron," yes, but is the sport ever referred to as Gridiron? That is a distinct and hearty "no way." 138.207.186.136 (talk) 13:26, 16 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]
This term is not used in the U.S. when referring to the game. However, it is correct in its use as a differentiator from other firms of football (Association-, Australian Rules-, Rugby-, etc.), even if it IS only derivative. For that purpose, it's important that it be left unchanged.
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Reference 160 is not a relevant reference for the said article but purely a backlink attempt. Nothing about the reference provides value to the article. Should be removed as it purely for advertisement purposes. Alphape1 (talk) 19:39, 1 January 2024 (UTC)[reply]
In the field and equipment section I see a TON of fractions that make it a bit harsh on the eyes. I know in general Wiki prefers to use of decimals to fractions and I'm think that this is a section that would benefit from that change. Lindsey40186 (talk) 19:45, 19 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The rules define them by fractions, not decimals, and since American units don't really use decimals it's the most natural way to use them, imo. AFAIK, only SI units are supposed to 100% use decimals here. ToaNidhiki0519:48, 19 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I've been trying to address the duplicative use of the word "team" in the first sentence, but I've now been revertedtwice without any attempt at presenting a better idea. If anyone else would like to take a swing, have at it. Ed[talk][OMT]06:53, 22 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
I mean, it's this way because the article needs to define what type of sport this is (a team sport), how many teams there are (two), and how many players there on each team there are (11). Your edits remove stuff that needs to be there, to solve a problem that really doesn't exist? ToaNidhiki0514:00, 22 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
The phrase "two teams of eleven players" already tells readers that American football is a team sport. Including "team sport" is entirely redundant. Moreover, that concept does not need to be linked; we can certainly assume that our readers have heard of team sports. Ed[talk][OMT]20:39, 22 September 2024 (UTC)[reply]
That another articles does similar things doesn't mean it's good writing. Repeating "team" twice in five words is a clear and obvious redundancy no matter what article we're talking about.