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Alan Branch
Alan Keith Branch (born December 29, 1984) is a former American football defensive tackle. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft and has also played for the Seattle Seahawks, Buffalo Bills, and New England Patriots. He played college football at Michigan. Early years Branch attended Cibola High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In addition to playing on the defensive line, Branch also played tight end as well as running back and punt returner in high school. He scored three rushing touchdowns and two receiving touchdowns in his senior season and five punt return touchdowns for his career. Branch was a fairly highly regarded recruit coming out of high school, ranked as high as #6 nationally among defensive tackles. Branch was also a three-year starter on the varsity basketball team, earning all-district honors as a sophomore and was second-team all-state as a junior. High school awards *Selected to play in 2004 U.S. Army A ...
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Defensive Tackle
A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the largest and strongest of the defensive players. Depending on a team's individual defensive scheme, a defensive tackle may be called upon to fill several different roles. These roles may include merely holding the point of attack by refusing to be moved, or penetrating a certain gap between offensive linemen to break up a play in the opponent's backfield. If a defensive tackle reads a pass play, his primary responsibility is to pursue the quarterback, or simply knock the pass down at the line if it is within arm's reach. Other responsibilities of the defensive tackle may be to pursue the screen pass or drop into coverage in a zone blitz scheme. In a traditional 4–3 defense, there is no nose tackle. Instead there is a left and right def ...
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Pass Deflections
In American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ..., a pass deflected, also known as a pass deflection, a pass defended, a pass , a pass knockdown, or a pass breakup, is an incomplete pass that is caused by a defensive player. This is done by slapping or blocking the ball with a hand or part of the arm, knocking the ball to the ground. It can also be done by aggressively hitting the receiver at the exact moment he first makes contact with the ball, or shortly thereafter, jarring the ball loose. If the defender hits the receiver before the latter first makes contact with the ball, it is pass interference. References American football terminology {{Americanfootball-stub ...
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Oakland Raiders
The Oakland Raiders were a professional American football team that played in Oakland from its founding in 1960 to 1981 and again from 1995 to 2019 before relocating to the Las Vegas metropolitan area where they now play as the Las Vegas Raiders. Between 1982 and 1994, the team played in Los Angeles as the Los Angeles Raiders. The team's first home game was at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, against the Houston Oilers on September 11, 1960, with a 37-22 loss. They played their last game as an Oakland-based club on December 29, 2019, a game which they lost 16-15 to make them finish 3rd in the AFC West, eliminate them from playoff contention, and suffer a late-season collapse after starting with a 6-4 record. Early years (1960–1962) A few months after the inaugural American Football League draft in 1959, the owners of the yet-unnamed Minneapolis franchise accepted an offer to join the established National Football League as an expansion team (now called the Minnesota V ...
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Defensive End
Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is played. History Early formations, with six- and seven-man lines, used the end as a containment player, whose job was first to prevent an "end run" around his position, then secondarily to force plays inside. When most teams adopted a five-man line, two different styles of end play developed: "crashing" ends, who rushed into the backfield to disrupt plays, and "stand-up" or "waiting" ends, who played the more traditional containment style. Some teams would use both styles of end play, depending on game situations. Traditionally, defensive ends are in a three-point stance, with their free hand cocked back ready to "punch" an offensive lineman, or in a two-point stance like a strong safety so they can keep containment. Some defensive end ...
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LaMarr Woodley
LaMarr Dewayne Woodley (born November 3, 1984) is a former American football outside linebacker. He played college football at Michigan, where he was recognized as a unanimous All-American, and was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. In his second season, he won Super Bowl XLIII over the Arizona Cardinals as a member of the Steelers. Woodley also played for the Cardinals and the Oakland Raiders. Early years Woodley was born and raised in Saginaw, Michigan. While in high school, Woodley teamed with former Detroit Lions wide receiver Charles Rogers and former Chicago Bulls point guard Anthony Roberson on Saginaw High School's football team in 1999 to win Michigan's Division II state championship. Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals.com, Woodley was listed as the third best inside linebacker in the nation in 2003. College career Woodley enrolled at the University of Michigan, He predominantly played defensive end and somet ...
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Touchdowns
A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In American football, a touchdown is worth six points and is followed by an extra point or two-point conversion attempt. Description To score a touchdown, one team must take the football into the opposite end zone. In all gridiron codes, the touchdown is scored the instant the ball touches or "breaks" the plane of the front of the goal line (that is, if any part of the ball is in the space on, above, or across the goal line) while in the possession of a player whose team is trying to score in that end zone. This particular requirement of the touchdown differs from other sports in which points are scored by moving a ball or equivalent object into a goal where the whole of the relevant object must cross the whole of the goal line for a score to ...
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High School Football
High school football (french: football au lycée) is gridiron football played by high school teams in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both countries, but its popularity is declining, partly due to risk of injury, particularly concussions. According to ''The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...'', between 2009 and 2019, participation in high school football declined by 9.1%. It is the basic level or step of tackle football. Rules The National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) establishes the rules of high school American football in the United States. In Canada, high school is governed by Football Canada and most schools use Canadian football rules adapted for the high scho ...
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Punt Returner
A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another position such as wide receiver, defensive back, or running back. The special teams counterpart of a return specialist is a kicking specialist. According to All-American Venric Mark, "Returning punts is harder. You have to judge the ball more, you have to know when to fair catch and when not to. You can't be a superhero and try to catch everything. With kickoff returns, you catch the ball and — boom — you're going." Kickoff returner A kickoff returner (KR) is the player on special teams who is primarily responsible for catching the opposing team's kickoff and attempting to run it towards the end zone to score a touchdown. If the ball is kicked into his own end zone, the kick returner must assess the situation on the field while the ball i ...
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Running Back
A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback to rush the ball, to line up as a receiver to catch the ball, and block. There are usually one or two running backs on the field for a given play, depending on the offensive formation. A running back may be a halfback (in certain contexts also referred to as a "tailback" ⁠ ⁠—  see below), a wingback or a fullback. A running back will sometimes be called a "feature back" if he is the team's starting running back. Halfback/tailback The halfback (HB) or tailback (TB) position is responsible for carrying the ball on the majority of running plays, and may frequently be used as a receiver on short (or sometimes long, depending on the system) passing plays. In the modern game, an effective halfback must have a blend of both quickness and agility as a runner, as well as sure hands and good vision up-f ...
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Tight End
The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide receiver. Like offensive linemen, they are usually lined up on the offensive line and are large enough to be effective blockers. On the other hand, unlike offensive linemen, they are eligible receivers adept enough to warrant a defense's attention when running pass patterns. Because of the hybrid nature of the position, the tight end's role in any given offense depends on the tactical preferences and philosophy of the head coach as well as overall team dynamic. In some systems, the tight end will merely act as a sixth offensive lineman, rarely going out for passes. Other systems use the tight end primarily as a receiver, frequently taking advantage of the tight end's size to create mismatches in the defensive secondary. Many coaches will often have on ...
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Defensive Line
In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A number of NFL rules specifically address restrictions and requirements for the offensive line, whose job is to help protect the quarterback from getting sacked for a loss, or worse, fumbling. The defensive line is covered by the same rules that apply to all defensive players. Linemen are usually the largest players on the field in both height and weight, since their positions usually require less running and more strength than skill positions. Offensive line The offensive line consists of the center, who is responsible for snapping the ball into play, two guards who flank the center, and two offensive tackles who flank the guards. In addition, a full offensive line may also include a tight end outside one or both of the tackles. An offe ...
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College Football
College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football in the United States, American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most other sports in North America, no official minor league farm team, farm organizations exist in American or Canadian football. Therefore, college football is generally considered to be the second tier of American and Canadian football; one step ahead of High school football, high school competition, and one step below professional competition (the National Football League, NFL). In some areas of the US, especially the South and the Midwest, college football is more popular than professional football, and for much of the 20th century college football was seen as more prestigious. A player's performance in college football directly impacts his chances of playing professional football. The best collegiate ...
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