Episode 122: A Breakdown on American Football, the Super Bowl and the Chiefs

Listen to this Episode of "Coffee with Gringos" here or on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play and Stitcher.

Paige: You're listening to “Coffee with Gringos.” I’m Paige Sutherland.

Ian: I’m Ian Kennedy.

Paige: And today we are going to talk about the greatest sport according to Americans, that is American football or as we call in the US, just regular football. It's one of the most popular sports in our country, and the championship which is called the Super Bowl is probably the most-watched event of the year. It’s very exciting especially for the musical guests, as we all watch for. But today we just wanted to break it down a little about what the game is, what it means in the US, me and Ian's personal stories with it. So again, listeners as always if you get lost, check out that audio guide and transcript online at dynamicenglish.cl. So, Ian will be the expert for today's show. He's a big football fan. Ian, just tell the listeners a little bit about the history of American football.

Ian: Sure, thanks, Paige. So, before we begin, something that is kind of strange, confusing, and sometimes frustrating for some people is actually the name of the sport. So, it's named football, which obviously gets very confused with the world sport football, which we call in the US: soccer. We say “American football” to differentiate it from world football, and even though I am a huge lover of soccer and American football, it's very frustrating and annoying for me to have to explain to people when I say I like football, and I'm trying to talk about soccer in a global sense and they say, “you mean American football or soccer?” And then I have to differentiate again. So, I've always wondered why the hell do they call it football if you barely ever use your feet? It's mostly a game of throwing with hands, so for me, I always thought that was confusing, and I don't know what your thoughts are on that.

Paige: I agree, it is annoying because, in the US, we just say football. We don't say American football, we never specify. So, when I moved abroad and well, you're living abroad, Ian, it's just something you like have to say like, “American football” and I always felt like it sounded really pretentious like “America! We are the best and this is our sport.” So, I hated saying that. But yeah, I agree. I think do a change.org petition and change the name.

Ian: So, American football evolved basically as a form of soccer and rugby combined. I would say it's more similar to rugby than soccer. So, for our listeners who are aware of the physicality and sort of the rules of rugby, it's pretty similar. And the first football game was actually played in 1869, a long time ago, and it was based on the rules of soccer at the time since this was one of the most popular sports. And then over the course of many, many years, the rules started to evolve, the players started to evolve, the equipment, the shape of the ball, for example. All these things started to evolve to add more and more elements into the game that we see today. And it can be a really complicated sport even for people who grow up in the US. I remember being a kid and watching it and really not understanding a lot of the plays or the fouls, the penalties. So, I can really understand that anyone from outside the US, probably know little to nothing about it. I actually have a lot of fun explaining to my girlfriend who's turning into a big football fan how the rules work and all about the league. So, for those who are listening, don't worry if you're confused. It happens to all of us. But basically, what happens is you have two teams, eleven players on each team and it's a full-contact sport with a ball. So, all eleven players they're wearing really protective equipment, so they're wearing pads on their body, they're wearing a helmet to protect their face and their head. And the point of the game is to get a lemon-shaped ball and you need to get the ball from one end of the field to the other end of the field to score points. So, one team is on defense and one team is on offense. The team on offense, they have four tries to move the ball ten yards.  So, if they can move the ball ten yards in four tries, you start the tries over. So, once you get the fourth try you go back to the first try. Within those four tries, they can do what it takes to get the ball across the line. So that means the players can throw the ball, they can run the ball, and so for that reason, there are different ways that you can get the ball across the line and then eventually get the ball into the end zone. So, it's really dynamic in this way that you'll see players throwing the ball really far in the air to a player that's very far down the field, and maybe you'll also see a player that just has the ball, and he's running a long-distance past all the defense to try to make his way into the end zone. And the team on offense can do this over and over, basically, until they're able to score or if they run out of attempts and they have to give the ball to the other team. So how the scoring works is if you can get the ball inside of the other end of the field which is called the end zone, this is called a touchdown. This would be pretty similar to in soccer you would call it a goal, or a point. So, when you score a touchdown, the offensive team receives six points, and then they can either score two points after by trying to run the ball back into the endzone, or they can kick the ball through a goalpost.  And when you kick it through the goalposts, you get one extra point. So, the scoring is typically six or seven points and then teams also have opportunities to kick through the goalposts from a longer distance in the field and they can get three points. So also different from other sports, for example like soccer, football games tend to have a high score. You can see scores in the thirties, in the forties sometimes if there's a lot of scoring happening. And so, one thing that's great about football is there's a lot of action in this way. As you can imagine, there's a lot of contact. So, a lot of hitting each other and a lot of injuries, lots of action. So, naturally, it's a very entertaining sport to watch live or on TV. So, as I've mentioned, it's quite unique compared to other sports and, again, it can be confusing to understand what's going on. So, Paige—as a native US girl, what's your experience, and what's your opinion on football?

Paige: You explained that very well, Ian. I think I struggle whenever I'm abroad or when I lived in Chile to just explain the game in a few sentences because you really can't. There's just so many rules and they're always changing the rules, and sometimes they blow the whistle and someone will be like, “why did they blow the whistle?” And I'm like, “I don't really know. They were doing an unsport move so it can be really, really in the weeds with a lot of the rules. But I think why it can be so confusing is unlike soccer where it's constant play and the clock is always running, in football plays are a couple of seconds and it stops. And so, what I love about that is that it's a very social watching sport. You can have pizza; wings and you don't have to pay attention so much because there's so much stopping. Where in soccer, you get up to get a slice of pizza, and you miss the only goal of the whole game and you're really upset about it. And so, I do enjoy watching football a lot because you do get that social where you can chat, you can eat, and you won't really miss as much because there's so much pausing and commercials. I think some people will say that's a bad thing because it takes what, Ian, three hours sometimes to watch a football game because of all the stopping?

Ian: Yeah, it could take two, three hours with commercials, with halftime, with timeouts. There's a lot of elements that can make it really drag on.

Paige: I like sometimes when it's a social thing where you're having a party, you can have a few beers and play music to chat and still watch the game. Where in soccer it's like your eyes have to be glued to the screen or you're going to miss the most important part of the game.

Paige: CWG officially has over one hundred episodes and we are among the “Top Podcasts” in Chile. And that's thanks to you, but we are always working to grow our audience. So, make sure to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Snapchat, Tik Tok, and even LinkedIn. But most importantly— rate, review and share us with all your friends, family, and coworkers. And if you want to take your English education to the next level, sign up for private or group classes at dynamicenglish.cl.

Paige: What we have to talk about today too is that we have the Super Bowl coming up. Which as I mentioned a little earlier, the Super Bowl is probably the highlight of some people's year. It’s the television event of the year and they really go all out. I mean, it's like the World Cup of football here where they have star-studded performances and all the light shows and the best commercials of the year. All the advertisements pay millions of dollars on these commercials because they know millions and millions of people around the world are watching it. And so that's coming up soon, and Ian's very excited because his team will be playing for a second year in a row.

Ian: Go Chiefs! Yes, I’m very excited, Paige.

Paige: Yeah, tell us a little bit about that, Ian. I mean, the Chiefs haven't won a Super Bowl in a while until last year so this is like they're on a roll.

Ian: Yeah, exactly. So, like you mentioned, the Super Bowl is the championship game between the two best teams from both divisions. So again, it's a little different from other leagues in sports where it's not whoever has the most points at the end of the season who wins. You actually have a championship tournament and so, in that way, it's a little more exciting as well. And so, this year, the Kansas City Chiefs—my home team, who I love, and would die for—they are playing against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. And this is going to happen on Sunday, February 7th, so coming up really soon, and I'm extra excited because, like you mentioned, for the first time in many, many years, the Chiefs won the Super Bowl last year. And so, for us, this is really exciting because it's an opportunity for them to be defending champions, which in football is pretty rare. There are only a few teams that have ever been so successful to make this happen. And so, of course, we're very excited and it's great because there's no better feeling I feel like than when you support a team that has been bad for many, many years and you stay loyal and you still love them and then they finally become very successful and win championships. It's just a really great feeling so I'm kind of riding that high right now of supporting a really successful sports team. It's going to be sad this year since here in Santiago we're going to be in lockdown for the Superbowl, so I'll be shouting and screaming from my apartment watching from the TV. But nonetheless, it's going to be a really fun game to watch.

Paige: I am jealous because it is a lot more fun when your team is in it. I mean, the Super Bowl, they do a phenomenal job. It's a show and I'll watch it regardless of my team not being in it but not to brag, I’m from Boston and the Patriots have been in a lot of Super Bowls. So, I've been kind of spoiled where I'm used to my team being in it and this year, they really didn't do well but for people who know a little bit about the sport, our quarterback, who has won the most Super Bowls ever, left the Patriots last season for the Bucs who are now in the Super Bowl. So, it's kind of like a piece of the Patriots is still in the Super Bowl, so I think a lot of people from the Boston area have mixed feelings. I think some people were rooting for him because he's Tom Brady and he's the franchise quarterback of the Patriots, but some people have grudges of, how dare you leave the Patriots and move on? But regardless of the sides, it's awesome, he's in his 40s, he's won the most Super Bowl rings ever, and he's in a Super Bowl again. So, he definitely is an impressive athlete, so I'm excited to just watch him in the Super Bowl.

Ian: Absolutely, it's easy for you, Paige, coming from Boston. Your team has the most Super Bowls in NFL history with six. So, most years people are actually pretty sick and tired of seeing the Patriots do well, because they're like, “Oh my god, they're in the Superbowl again? Can we please have some different teams?” So, it's refreshing to have some different faces, different teams, even if your star quarterback is now playing for another team. It still gives a reason for people to support that team and to support that player and yeah, he's undeniably an amazing player—maybe the best football player to ever live.

Paige: And I have to ask, Ian. I know you're going to be biased, but how are you feeling going into the Superbowl? Do you feel confident? Have any anxiety?

Ian: Yeah, I do. I feel confident. We were worried because two games ago, our star quarterback, as well, got injured and we were worried he wasn't going to be able to come back to play in these two last championship games. So, he's back and healthy now so I'm feeling much more relieved than before. But you can't disrespect the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or Tom Brady, because he's such a good player. So, I feel confident but not overly confident. I don't want to jinx anything. So, I think, honestly, it's going to be a close game and I think it's going to be really entertaining just from a watching standpoint. So, of course, the Chiefs are in my heart, I'm going to be super nervous and drinking lots of beer during it to keep me calm, but in the end, it's just a great game to watch. Okay, listeners as we mentioned, there's a lot to learn with football, there's a lot involved with it, so we could talk for many more episodes but we're not going to do that. But if you get the opportunity to watch a football game, especially on February 7th, Sunday in the evening when the Superbowl is going on, it's a real treat. You're going to get to see not only a great sporting event but also a cultural event. So, if you want to tune in and see something exciting, go for it. Make sure to do that. And make sure to root for my team, the Chiefs. So again, if you get lost, go online to dynamicenglish.cl and check out that audio guide and transcript. Go Chiefs!

Paige: “Coffee with Gringos” was brought to you by Dynamic English, where you can learn English simply by using it. If you’re interested in taking classes or just want to learn more, go to our website at dynamicenglish.cl. Thanks for listening.

Key Vocabulary, Phrases & Slang:

 1.     break (something) down (phrasal verb): to explain something.

a.     We are going to break down American football for our listeners today.

2.     pretentious (adjective): trying to impress by showing greater importance than something else.

a.     She is so pretentious and thinks she’s better than everyone else.

3.     abroad (noun): in another country other than one’s native country.

a.     I have been living abroad in Chile for three years.

4.     in the weeds (idiom): complicated and unimportant details.

a.     It’s easy to get in the weeds of quantum physics.

5.     halftime (noun): intermission of time during the middle of a sports game.

a.     There are many music performances at halftime.

6.     timeout (noun): a period when the game clock is stopped during a football game.

a.     There are usually many timeouts during an American football game.

7.     drag on (phrasal verb): to take a longer amount of time than necessary to do something.

a.     Football games can drag on past three hours.

8.     to be glued to the screen (idiom): to be completely focused on watching the TV.

a.     He is always glued to the screen during the Chiefs games.

9.     to go all out (phrasal verb): to do something with as much effort as possible.

a.     They really go all out for the Super Bowl!

10.  star-studded (adjective): featuring a number of famous people.

a.     The Super Bowl is one of the most star-studded events of the year.

11.  on a roll (phrasal verb): to be successful.

a.     Those teams are really on a roll in the league this year.

12.  ride a high (idiom): to enjoy the momentary success or joy of something.

a.     They are riding the high of studying abroad in Europe for the semester.

13.  to brag (verb): to talk greatly about oneself.

a.     He likes to brag about how smart he is every time we see him.

14.  spoiled (adjective): being too accustomed to something good.

a.     The kids are so spoiled because their parents give them whatever they want.

15.  quarterback (noun): football player position who manages the offense of the team.

a.     Patrick Mahomes is the best quarterback in the league.

16.  to root for (something/someone) (phrasal verb): to support someone or something.

a.     I will be rooting for the Chiefs on Sunday for sure.

17.  grudge (noun): a persistent feeling of anger from a past injury or insult.

a.     Football fans hold grudges against players for leaving their team.

18.  undeniably (adverb): cannot be denied or disputed.

a.     Tom Brady is undeniably a great player.

19.  biased (adjective): unfairly opinionated towards something.

a.     You’re biased because your team is playing in the Super Bowl.

20.  jinx (verb): to bring bad luck.

a.     I don’t want to jinx the team so I won’t say anything else.

21.  treat (noun): an enjoyable event or item.

a.     The Super Bowl is a real treat so make sure to watch!