American football is one of the most popular sports in the United States. Games played in the National Football League (NFA), America’s professional league consisting of 32 teams, top the list of the most-watched television programs. College football is not far behind. Attendance at college football games is hitting all-time highs, and more than 2.2 million boys and students play the game across the country. One writepaper resource considers football a very fast growing sport.
Surely, the two leagues are not the same. While the rules are the same by and large, there are some key differences that make both unique in their own ways. Let’s take a look at what these are.
Players
There is a difference between the number of players teams take in the two leagues. NFL teams have 53 athletes in total. Of these 46 are involved in games every Sunday. College football teams can have more than 100 on their rosters.
Another difference is that professional football players do not need to worry about college assignments. College football players are grappling with both academic and athletic goals. That is why many decide to buy online research papers to get professional help and save time on completing academic papers.
Teams
NFA unites 32 teams based in different cities of the United States. Some players that are not good enough to compete in NFA, choose to go to Canada and play in the Canadian Football League.
College football has far more than that. 130 teams are fielded by academies, colleges, and universities in the U.S. and Canada. College football constitutes one of the main sources of income for athletic programs run by colleges and universities.
Careers
Pros in NFA, careers can span nearly a decade. Of course, athletes have their prime years, which may last only several years. Some players, like Tom Brady, can play much longer than that. In college football, it is more straightforward.
Tenures are limited to the duration of college education, i.e. they can last up to four years. Many students decide to use the services of writinguniverse.com to get their college assignments done. Professional writers help them with timely, high-quality, and well-tested essay writing services.
Status
This is the obvious one. NFA is a professional league where athletes make millions of dollars. The Super Bowl, the annual playoff championship game, is the pinnacle of athletic competition. Those who win it write their names in the annals of American sports history. During the Super Bowl the whole of America seems to grind to a halt for a couple of hours.
College football is managed by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), which also sponsors other sports at the college level, such as basketball, volleyball, etc. It is also popular, but it is deemed less prestigious, being second to professional competition. Essentially, it is the springboard for joining NFA.
Still, students invest a lot to become a college football player. It can be a huge lift for them to prove their worth. They also need to learn the ropes quickly to increase their chances of success when starting a professional career.
Overtime
Overtime is played differently in the two leagues. Professional athletes play a sudden death quarter. A coin toss is used to pick who kicks and receives. The result of the toss can be crucial because the team that scores first wins the game! If both teams fail to score, the game can end in a tie. However, at the playoff stage, the teams keep playing until one of them manages to score.
There is no tie in college football. When both possessions are considered the winner, both teams win possession from the other team’s 25-yard line.
Game length
No major difference in terms of the fixed duration of games. In both leagues, teams play for an hour, including four quarters of 15 minutes each. In terms of actual time played, including playing and stoppage times, college football games usually take much longer. Some games drag on for too long, making them unwatchable.
Clock
In the NFA, there is an automatic stoppage with 2 minutes left in a half. Teams factor this into their time management strategies. Basically, the rule earns the team having the ball an additional timeout. Any extra second is priceless when the stakes are high. It gives teams some breathing space and a chance to come up with a new strategy to score before the end of the half.
In college football, teams don’t get a bonus timeout. The difference is that the clock is stopped immediately following each first down. This allows the down marker to be reset. Again, we are talking only a few more seconds, but it is these little nuances that make the difference at the end of the day.
Pass Reception
In terms of rules, there is another difference. It is about how far the receiver must have in bounds for it to qualify as a completed pass. Pros must get both feet down when catching the ball. By contrast, the receiver needs to have just one foot down in college football. The catch is that many still practice their skills to have both feet down. This is a way of developing the kinds of skills they will need when moving on to the professional level.
Conclusion
The nature of the game is different in professional and college football by definition. Athletes face different kinds of challenges. The learning curve is usually very steep for students. They need to invest a lot in training to raise their chances come draft time. NFA athletes enjoy immense popularity, and they need consistency to be on top of their game for as long as they possibly can.
