Difference Between The Nfl And College Football example essay topic

1,534 words
Some people say that Pro Football, mainly the National Football League, or NFL, is the best source of football out there today. For me, college football is better than the NFL. There are many reasons why I feel this way. The main reason is that the players in the NFL have become too greedy. College football for the most part is a purer game and is more of a contest.

I enjoy it more because of the competition, while in the NFL, the only competition is who has the bigger salary. As I said, the big difference between both leagues is money. If a player plays in the NFL, he is paid to play for a certain team. The player will sign a contract for a certain amount of years, and depending on his performance, the teams' coach and the players' agent will decide the salary, or the amount of money the player will make over the length of years that he has signed for.

In college football, a player is signed with a college, and most players get scholarships for playing for that college. They are not given an actual paycheck like in the NFL. This makes for the players in the NFL becoming too greedy. They have forgotten the love of the game, and have grown a new love for money. Another big difference in both leagues is the overtime rules. The NFL uses the so-called "sudden death" rules.

It is used to determine a tie breaker. The tie game goes into an overtime period of 15 minutes. As they do in the beginning of the game, the referee will toss a coin to see who gets the ball first. The first team to score wins the game. The NFL uses this overtime procedure in every game that needs it, while in college, they only use it to determine the winner at a championship level with which there must be a winner. In a college game, the overtime period is more forgiving to the two teams.

It allows each team a chance to score in overtime. The team who gets the ball first in overtime will do so on the 40 yard line. Then they will have to move down the field and either try to score a touchdown or a field goal. After that team has either successfully scored points, or run out of downs, the other team will get the ball either on the 40 yard line, or where the team was unsuccessful in getting the first down.

When they have the ball, they will either try for the win or try for the tie, if the team who had the ball first did successfully score. If after the first period of overtime, the score is still tied, the process is repeated until one team has won the game. There are many differences between both college football and the NFL except for the field. They are both the same size which is 120 yards long. The actual field is 100 yards long with two end zones at either end of the field which are each ten yards long. Also each field is 53 1/3 yards wide.

That is pretty much the only similarities between the two leagues. The goal posts in the NFL are 18 1/2 feet wide, with the crossbar at ten feet, while the college goal posts are 23'4". Another difference between the two goal posts is that the NFL uses one pole to support it, while college uses two. Another difference is the time clock. The time clock controls the pace of the game. It allows the team with the ball to huddle up, pick a play, go to the line of scrimmage and execute that play within a certain amount of time.

The NFL time clock is 30 seconds long, while the college time clock is only 25 seconds long. A minor difference in NFL and college football is timeouts. In the NFL, a team is given three timeouts per half. Timeouts can also be taken by referees when a player is injured.

Also a team in the NFL is given a fourth timeout before the last two minutes of the second or fourth period, but that is in exchange for a five yard penalty. In college football you are only allowed three timeouts each half, but again a referee will take one if a player is injured. A major difference between NFL football and college football is substitution. In the NFL, there are certain players to do certain things. For example if a field goal is needed, then the kicker and his special teams' blockers will come out on the field.

If the kicker gets hurt, then a suitable substitute is called in. Teams in the NFL are allowed to fill that certain position as many times as needed. In college football, substitution is limited. This seems to favor the smaller schools since a larger school, say in Division One, has more people who they can back up for their starting positions, but are unable to use them.

When it comes to when a player can continue running after slipping, the NFL and college differ again. In the NFL, if a player is running and slips and a knee hits the ground, but he is not tackled by the defense, then he is able to get up and start running again. In college football, if any part of a players body other than his hands or his feet hit the ground, he is considered down, and the play is over. Another huge difference is the advancement of a fumbled ball.

In both leagues, a ball that is fumbled then caught in the air may be advanced by either team. When the ball touches the ground, that is when the rules change. In the NFL, the ball can be advanced by either team, whether it was caught in the air or if it had touched the field. According to college rules, the ball my only be advanced by the team which fumbled the ball in the first place. The opposing team may recover the ball, but will not be able to move it forward, or advance it. Yet another difference between the NFL and college football is the conversion after a touchdown has been made.

In both leagues, the team is able to either kick the point after, which is worth one point in either league, or the team is able to go for a two point conversion. The difference comes at where the ball is placed. In the NFL, the ball is placed at the two yard line. In college, it is placed at the three yard line. One of the more noticeable differences between the NFL and college football is the fact that college teams get ranked before they start the football season. In the NFL, a team is not ranked on how they did the following year or how tough their schedule is.

Every team starts over just as the season starts over. It does not matter how well or how poorly you did the following year. In college football, that is not the case. Before the beginning of the college football season, there are two polls that are taken. One is the coaches' poll, and one is the media poll. These determine at what rank you will start the season at.

The ranking goes from one to twenty-five. Playoffs are also decided differently in NFL and college. The NFL has the playoff system. That means whichever team has won their specific division, moves on to the playoffs.

The playoffs pit one team against another team with the winner moving on to the next stage. Any team has a chance to win the championship, as long as they make it to the playoffs. In college football, this is not so. They have what is called a Bowl Championship Series. At the end of the college season, there are many bowl games. For example; The Orange Bowl, The Fiesta Bowl, The Rose Bowl, are just a few.

One of the bowl games is decided that it will be for the National Championship. The number one and number two teams ranked in the nation at the end of the season will then be chosen to play for the prestigious title of "National Champions". As I have discussed, there are many reasons why the NFL and college football are differentiated. Most of the differences have to do with how the game is set up, and not so much as how they are played. Hopefully now everyone can understand why I find college football so much more enjoyable than the NFL.