Athletic Gear and Equipment: American Football

American football is one of the most popular sports in North America today. In this sport, the football is advanced towards the opposing team's end zone and score points, either by placing the ball over the goal line (touchdown) or kicking it through the goal posts.

The world's center stage for American football is the National Football League (NFL). All kinds of football athletic gear and equipment are on display here on a daily basis. American football fever reaches its peak with the Super Bowl, the penultimate match of the season that serves as the championship game of the NFL.

The most important piece of football equipment is the ball itself. The football used in this sport different from the one used in soccer, and is unique as it’s not as spherical as most balls. The football is pointed at the ends and usually measures 11 inches long and 22 inches in circumference. As expected of its uneven shape, the American football is difficult to catch and has unpredictable bounces. It consists of four leather panels sewn together and usually tanned to a brown color.

The football athletes' uniforms are also important. Football jerseys have players' numbers printed with large and bold fonts; this is needed so the spectators and the coaches at the sidelines can see who is who across the large field. The pants complement the jerseys in terms of color theme. Recently, black, navy, and teal are some of the most commonly used colors.

Because football is a hard contact sport (this might be an underestimation!), athletes need to have some elaborate protective equipment. This comes in the form of pads and helmets. Lightweight plasticized padding is used to cover the thighs, knees, hips, shoulders, hands, and forearms to avoid injury.

The American football helmet, arguably second only to the ball as an icon of the sport, offers sufficient protection to the player's head. Without the helmet, serious head injury would be an often occurrence. These plastic helmets have guards that cover most of the face, thus rendering the athletes mostly unrecognizable except for their jersey numbers and body build.

Lastly, football shoes are designed for the sport, and are often called "cleats" (like the ones used in baseball or soccer). Cleats are made with the playing field (grass or dirt) in mind, and as such they have large studs on the bottom that grip the surface. This helps players from sliding and assists them when rapidly changing direction. Often, the stud itself is called a cleat.