Glossary of American Football - F

F

face mask

The protective grill that forms part of the football helmet.

face mask, grasping

A foul in which a player grabs the face mask or helmet opening of another player's helmet, usually in the process of making a tackle. It results in a 15 yard penalty. A 5-yard penalty was once enforced for a so-called incidental facemask, but was eliminated in the 2008 NFL's Owners Meeting.

false start

The sudden movement of the offense in an effort to draw the defense offsides.

fair catch

An unhindered catch of an opponent's kick. The player wanting to make one must signal for a fair catch by waving an arm overhead while the ball is in the air. After that signal, if he gains possession of the ball it is dead immediately and opponents will receive a fifteen yard penalty for hitting him.

fair catch kick

A free kickoff that takes point at the spot of a fair catch, if the catching team so chooses to execute it. It is very rare (in fact, college football does not even allow it), and most teams pass on the opportunity and take possession of the ball instead.

fantasy football

A game in which the participants (called "owners") each draft on their own or with the aid of software a team of real-life NFL players and then score points based on those players' statistical performance on the field.

field judge

The official traditionally in charge of timekeeping

field of play

The area between both the goal lines and the sidelines, and in some contexts the space vertically above it.

field goal

A score of 3 points made by place- or drop-kicking the ball through the opponent's goal other than via a kickoff or free kick following a safety; formerly, "goal from the field". A missed field goal can be returned as a punt, if recovered in-bounds by the defending team. In some leagues, four-point field goals can be scored under special circumstances.

field position

A relative measure of how many yards a team must travel in order to score: "good field position" would mean the offense has less distance to cover.

first down

The first of a set of four downs. Usually, a team which has a first down needs to advance the ball 10 yards to receive another first down, but penalties or field position (i.e. less than 10 yards from the opposing end zone) can affect this.

flag

A weighted yellow cloth thrown by a field official to indicate that a foul has been committed Also the weighted red flag that an NFL head coach throws throws onto the field to alert officials that he is challenging a call on the field.

flanker

A player position on offense. A wide receiver who lines up in the backfield outside of another receiver. The term is used infrequently in American Football, having been long since replaced by the "Z" wide receiver.

flat

An area on the field between the line of scrimmage and 10 yards into the defensive backfield, and within 15 yards of the sideline. Running backs often run pass routes to the flat when they are the safety valve receiver.

flea flicker

A trick play in which a running back throws a backward pass back to the quarterback, who then throws a pass to a wide receiver or tight end.

flexbone

A formation involving three running backs where a fullback is lined up behind the quarterback and two slotbacks are lined up behind the line of scrimmage at both ends of the offensive line.

formation

An arrangement of the offensive skill players. A formation usually is described in terms of how the running backs line up (e.g. "I" formation, which refers to the situation where the half back is lined up about 7 yards deep, and the fullback is lined up about 5 yards deep, both directly behind the quarterback) or how the wide receivers line up (e.g. "Trips left", in which three wide receivers line up to the left of the linemen). Frequently, the formation will allude to both, such as with Strong I Slot Right, in which the halfback is lined up 7 yards deep behind the quarterback, the fullback is 5 yards deep behind the guard or tackle on the strong side, and both wide receivers are lined up on the right side of the offensive line. There are rules limiting what is legal in a formation. All five offensive linemen must be on the line of scrimmage (a small amount of leeway is given to tackles when lined up for pass protection). Also, there must be one receiver (usually one tight end and one wide receiver) lined up on the line on either side of the offensive linemen (it doesn't matter how close they are to the tackles, as long as they are on the line), with a total of no fewer than seven players on the line, 5 of which must be numbered between 50-79. A numbering exception exists if the offense is in a scrimmage kick formation which allows a player whose number is 1-49 or 80-99 to take the place of a lineman numbered 50-79. A receiver who is on the line may not go in motion.

forward pass

A pass that touches a person, object, or the ground closer to the opponent's end line than where it was released from, or is accidentally lost during a forward throwing motion.

forward progress

The location to which a ball carrier's forward momentum carries him before he is tackled. At the end of a play, the football is spotted at the point where the ball carriers forward progress is stopped, even if he is pushed backward by the defenders.

fourth down

The final of a set of four downs. Unless a first down is achieved or a penalty forces a replay of the down, the team will lose control of the ball after this play. If a team does not think they can get a first down, they often punt on fourth down or kick a field goal if they are close enough to do so.

fourth down conversion

The act of using a fourth down play to make a first down (also known as going for it ). These are comparatively uncommon. If a team is close enough to the goal posts, they will generally attempt a field goal on fourth down. Otherwise, they will usually punt. However, the coach may elect to try to get a new first down. This is more likely if the amount of yardage needed for the conversion is small (typically a yard or less), if the team is trailing by a significant amount (likelihood of such a try increasing as it gets later in the game), or if a team is in a position on the field where a punt would likely result in a touchback but a field goal attempt is unlikely to succeed (usually between the opponent's 35 and 45 yard lines at the NFL level).

four-point stance

down lineman's stance with four points on the ground, in other words, his two feet and his two hands; often a technique used in short yardage or goal line situations.

free kick

A kick made to put the ball in play as a kickoff or following a safety (the score; "safety touch" in Canadian football) or fair catch.

free safety (FS)

A player position on defense. Free safeties typically play deep, or "center field", and often have the pass defense responsibility of assisting other defensive backs in deep coverage (compared to strong safeties, who usually have an assigned receiver and run support responsibilities).

fullback (FB)

A player position on offense. Originally, lined up deep behind the quarterback in the T formation. In modern formations this position may be varied, and this player has more blocking responsibilities in comparison to the halfback or tailback.

fumble

A ball that a player accidentally lost possession of; in Canadian football the term includes muffs.

fumblerooski

A trick play where the quarterback deliberately places the ball on the ground, technically fumbling so that another player (usually a lineman) can pick up the ball and advance it. This type of play is now banned by most football sanctioning groups.