Unless you have been living under a rock for the last two weeks, or you don’t have Instagram, most of you all have heard about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce and their new relationship. If you have no idea what I am talking about, look it up. There are a lot of new football fans because people are tuning in to see Taylor. I am here to make a guide to understand football for a lot of the new fans, or even just for people who want to know what is going on during Fighting Illini games.
For the bare basics if you have absolutely no knowledge:
Without a decent quarterback, there is no chance to win, because they score pretty much all of the points. There is also a Running Back. Pretty self-explanatory. There are Wide Receivers, who catch the ball. And then Tight End. They are a mix of a wide receiver and a blocker. Travis, however, is more of a large WR because he doesn’t block as much as normal TEs do, and he catches a lot more passes than average. There are also blockers who protect the QB and make running lanes for the RB. There is also the defense, but their main goal is to stop the offense, tackle the QB and intercept the ball.
For those who know the positions, but are not exactly clear on what is going on
So, every series of plays that an offense makes is called a drive because the team is trying to drive down the field. Normally on first or second down, that is where teams tend to run the ball. If you don’t know what downs are, the offense has four opportunities to get 10 yards. If they do not get the yards, they are forced to turn over. Normally, offenses punt on fourth down because if they do not get to the 10-yard mark, they are forced to turn it over where the ball lies. If they punt, the team they are against has a worse field position. So honestly, the teams really have three tries to get 10 yards.
For those who just want to know more about Travis and the Chiefs
Travis Kelce is from Ohio, and he went to the University of Cincinnati. He was drafted in 2013 by the Chiefs. He is one of the best Tight Ends in the history of the NFL. His bestie on the team is the QB, Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs are also arguably the best team in the NFL and have a little dynasty going. They have won two Super Bowls in the last 5 years, and have made the playoffs every year since 2015. If you want to learn more details about Travis, he has a podcast called New Heights.
I hope you are feeling a little more knowledgeable about football, but I really only talked about the bare basics. There are a lot more little things about the game, but unless you are actually about to become an avid viewer, you don’t need to know everything. Go, Taylor and Travis!