I know the NFL doesn’t bother to keep stats on the number of marriages they’ve impacted. But I think most would agree that the six month football season can certainly be a stress factor on marriages. I’ve seen couples that share a passion for the game of football, and I’ve seen some that don’t. For me, I’m always looking for ways to strengthen marriages, and I have no doubt that football can be one of those ways – as long as it’s something you and your wife can enjoy together.
Most wives can tolerate football and some are even big fans of the game. But for lots of other wives, the game is a complete mystery – and they just don’t get it. Many wives are interested in learning the game, but it can often be as complicated to teach it, as it is to learn. And that creates a hurdle that husbands and wives often can’t overcome. If they could, then the game might actually become something that brings them together, rather than drive them apart.
In the spirit of helping to keep marriages healthy and take some of the mystery out of teaching and learning football, I’ve put together a quick cheat sheet of key rules. This is obviously not meant to be an exhaustive course in football strategy, but rather a guide of some key points that can be taught and learned in as little as fifteen minutes. If you expand on each these points for a minute or so, your wife will have everything she needs to know in order to start watching the game.
1: The team with the football is the offense. The team without the football is the defense. Both teams have an offense and a defense.
2: The purpose of the offense is to score points. The purpose of defense is to keep the offense from scoring. The defense also wants to take the ball from the offense.
3: The offense can score by making touchdowns and by kicking field goals.
4: Touchdowns are scored by running the ball across the goal line, or catching the ball in the end zone. They get 6 points for the touchdown and then have an opportunity to kick for an extra point, for a total of 7 points. Field goals are worth 3 points, and they get that by kicking the ball through yellow goalposts, also referred to as uprights.
5: Referees are there to make sure the players abide by the rules.
6: When a rule is broken, it’s called a penalty and the referee will throw a flag when he catches a player breaking a rule. Penalties can be made by both the offense and the defense.
7: Offenses move the ball down the field by throwing the ball or running the ball. And when a player gets tackled, that play is over.
8: Each time the offense runs or passes for 10 or more yards, they get a first down. And they have to gain at least 10 yards every 4 plays to keep the ball.
9: When the defense gets the ball back, they become the offense.
10: If the defense catches the ball it’s called an interception. If the offense drops the ball, it’s called a fumble. Interceptions and fumbles are called turn-overs.
11: The quarterback is the one that throws the ball and he is considered the coach on the field.
12: The quarterback generally throws the ball to a wide receiver and hands the ball to a running back.
13: If the quarterback gets tackled, it’s called a sack. Sacks are a big deal for the guys on defense and that’s generally when you see players do their little dances.
14: The game is violent and players do get hurt. Concussions and broken bones are common.
15: The goal is to score more points than your opponent and if it’s a tie, they play what is called “overtime”.
I hope that provides some of the main points to teach – I’m sure you’ll have a few more to add. But keep it high-level and don’t expect your wife to get it right away. If she is real 
interested in learning, you might consider sacrificing a couple of games so you can spend more time teaching than watching. This is a real positive opportunity for you and your wife to connect – and hopefully, it will lead to more opportunities.
Finally, I know how passionate us men can get about the game and how much of our lives we’ll dedicate to football season. With that in mind, click here to ready up on some behavior tips yo keep in mind throughout the season.
godsgirl24 says:
Thanks for this post! Although I am not married….YET….I’m grateful to now know how the game ‘really’ works. I do like to watch the game in spite of the fact that I didn’t know all of the ins and outs until now. My son plays football and but I just stand on the sidelines and scream his name (while he looks at me like I’m a mad woman)!! Again, thanks for this post and I look forward to the day when I ‘am’ married and can share some of these moments with my future husband.
Craig Allen says:
This is a great post but it assumes your wife is interested in learning about sports! I did not marry someone who shares this interest, but it gives us more things to learn about each other.
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