American football


 * You may be looking for another type of game called "football". See the football disambiguation page for more options.

American football, known simply as football in North America, is a human competitive team sport. Outside North America, the game is called American football to differentiate it from soccer, which is often called football as well. In football, the object of the game is to move the ball, called a football, into an opposing team's end zone, while preventing the opposing team from doing the same. The game was one of the most popular spectator sports in the United States.

Pre-warp era
The Dominion attempt to disrupt history, from 2374, by going back in time and plan an attack in the middle of an American football game held in 1999.

Many major research universities had a football team; at one point, especially in the 20th century and 21st century, university-level football was considered a farm league for professional football leagues, to the point of admitting students who would otherwise not be able to learn in college just to stock a college's football team.

24th century
James Farrell played on the Starfleet Academy football team while a cadet. (Star Trek: The Nomad Frontier)

25th century
By the 25th century, few universities actually had ladies as starting players. Catherine Mouranger played football for as a star linebacker for the Yugra State University Checkmates and, thereafter, for the Moscow Black Storm, representing Belgium in competition. Russian university football in that era allowed four years of undergraduate eligibility and four years of graduate eligibility.