SUPER BOWL LIX: BASIC VOCABULARY TO GET A FULL ENTERTAINING EXPERIENCE.

Barbara Bos Blazquez
5 feb
4 Min. de lectura

"The true competitors, though, are the ones who always play to win". - Tom Brady

BLC NFL Vocabulary

by Bárbara Bos Blázquez

We should celebrate this United States’ well-known, fascinating, and surreal NFL party alongside with our Bos Learning Centre’s Vocab Vault debut, where readers can expect:

🔹 Weekly Word Drops – Learn new words with definitions, usage examples, and synonyms.

🔹 Theme-Based Vocabulary – Words related to travel, business, social media, music, and more!

🔹 Idioms & Phrasal Verbs – Expand beyond basic vocabulary with natural, native-like expressions.

Let’s seize the opportunity to get familiar with American football key terms to understand and enjoy this sport and at the same time, improve your English vocabulary, whilst you get ready for the Super Bowl LV.

Hereafter you can find the basic vocabulary list that will fill you in on what you really need to know about American football.

🏈 Defensive line

The defensive players who play opposite the offensive line-men. Defensive linemen disrupt the offense’s blocking assignments.

🏈 Down

A period of action that starts when the ball is put into play and ends when the ball is ruled dead. The offense gets four downs to advance the ball 10 yards. If it fails to do so, it must surrender the ball to the opponent, usually by punting on the fourth down.

A football game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers is captured from a high-angle view. The Steelers' offensive line is set up for a play, with "1st & 10" displayed on the field. The Bills' defense is positioned on the other side, ready for the snap. Stadium lights and a digital scoreboard indicate that the game is in progress. The image includes text explaining the concept of a "down" in American football. — Depiction of a "down".

🏈 End zone

A 10-yard-long area at both ends of the field. A player in possession of the football scores a touch-down when he crosses the plane of the goal line and enters the end zone.

🏈 Field goal

A kick, worth three points, that can be attempted from anywhere on the field but usually is attempted within 40 yards of the goalpost.

A football player in a white and yellow uniform kicks the ball as a teammate holds it in position. The stadium lights shine on the field, and the text 'Field Goal' appears at the top, explaining that a successful kick through the goalposts earns three points. — Chris Boswell attempting to score a field goal.

🏈 First down

A team begins every possession of the ball with a first down. The offense must gain 10 yards or more (in four downs) to be awarded another first down.

🏈 Formation

A predetermined setup (or alignment) that the offense or defense uses.

🏈 Foul

Any violation of a playing rule.

🏈 Fumble

When any offensive player loses possession of the football during a play. The ball can simply drop from his hands or accidentally pop free by the force of a tackle.

Fumble definition with a Spanish translation.

🏈 Incompletion

A forward pass that falls to the ground because no receiver could catch it, or a pass that a receiver dropped or caught out of bounds. After an incompletion, the clock stops, and the ball is returned to the same line of scrimmage.

🏈 Interception

A pass that’s caught by a defensive player, and thus stolen from the offense.

A defensive football player in a black and yellow uniform leaps high into the air to catch a pass, intercepting it from an opposing player in a white and blue uniform. The stadium is packed with spectators, and the text 'Interception' is displayed above, describing the play as a change of possession. — The most exciting moment in a game.

🏈 Kick

A play that occurs after a team is awarded a safety. This term is some-times used to refer to a placekicker’s attempt to kick a field goal or extra point.

🏈 Kickoff

A free kick that puts the ball into play at the start of the first and third periods and after every touchdown and field goal.

🏈 Offensive line

The human wall of five men who block for and protect the quarterback and ball carriers.

🏈 Offensive pass interference

A penalty in which, in the judgment of the official, the intended receiver significantly hinders a defensive player’s opportunity to catch a forward pass.

🏈 Officials

The men in the striped shirts who officiate the game and call the penalties.

🏈 Offside

A player is offside when any part of his body is beyond his line of scrimmage or the free kick line when the ball is snapped.

🏈 Option

When a quarterback has the choice — the option — to either pass or run.

🏈 Overtime

Extra playing time tacked on to the end of the game to decide a game that’s tied at the end of regulation play. In the NFL, the first team to score in overtime wins the game.

🏈 Pass interference

A judgment call made by an official who sees a defensive player make contact with the intended receiver before the ball arrives.

🏈 Possession

When a player maintains control of the ball while clearly touch-ing both feet, or any other part of his body other than his hand(s), to the ground inbounds.

🏈 Punt

A kick made when a player (the punter) drops the ball and kicks it while it falls toward his foot. A punt is usually made on a fourth down. The farther it flies from the line of scrimmage, the better.

🏈 Return

To catch the ball after a punt, kickoff, fumble, or interception and run it back toward your own end zone.

🏈 Rushing

To advance the ball by running, not passing. A running back is sometimes called a rusher.

🏈 Special teams

The 22 players who are on the field during kicks and punts. These units have special players who return punts and kicks.

🏈 Tackle

To use your hands and arms to bring down an offensive player who has the ball. Tackle also refers to a position on both the defensive and offensive lines

🏈 Touchdown

A situation in which any part of the ball, while legally in the pos-session of a player who is inbounds, goes on or beyond the plane of the opponent’s goal line.