Glossary of American Football

lateral

See backward pass.

leg whip

An illegal block or tackle using the legs to trip the opponent.

line of scrimmage/scrimmage line

One of two vertical planes parallel to the goal line when the ball is to be put in play by scrimmage. For each team in American football, the line of scrimmage is through the point of the ball closest to their end line. The two lines of scrimmage are called offensive line of scrimmage and defensive line of scrimmage. Often shortened to "line". In Canadian football, the line of scrimmage of the defensive team is one yard their side of the ball.

line to gain

A line parallel to the goal lines, such that having the ball dead beyond it entitles the offense to a new series of downs, i.e. a new "first down". The line is 10 yards in advance of where the ball was to be snapped for the previous first down (or is the goal line, if it is not farther than 10 yards away).

Linebacker (LB)

A player position on defense. The linebackers typically play 1 to 6 yards behind the defensive linemen and are the most versatile players on the field because they can defend both run and pass defense or called to blitz. There are two types of LB: Middle Linebacker (MLB) and Outside Linebackers (OLB). In 3-4 formation Outside Linebacker (OLB) may be designated as a "rush linebacker", rushing the passer on almost every play.

lineman

A defensive or offensive position on the line of scrimmage.

On offense, the player snapping the ball is the center. The players on either side of him are the guards, and the players to the outside of him are the tackles. The players on the end of the line are the ends. This may be varied in an unbalanced line.

On defense, the outside linemen are ends, and those inside are tackles. If there are 5 or 6 linemen, the inner most linemen are known as guards. This is rare in professional football except for goal-line defense, but is sometimes seen in high school or college.

live ball

Any ball that is in play, whether it is a player's possession or not. The ball is live during plays from scrimmage and free kicks, including kickoffs.

live ball foul

A foul given for various infractions such as changing numbers during a game

long snapper

A center who specializes in the long, accurate snaps required for punts and field goal attempts. Most teams employ a specialist long snapper instead of requiring the normal center to perform this duty.

loose ball

Any ball that is in play and not in a player's possession. This includes a ball in flight during a backward or forward pass.

losing record

A regular season record when a team loses more games than it wins. A losing record corresponds to a winning percentage less than .500. See also: non-winning record, winning record, and winning percentage.

losing season