gridiron football

Gridiron football is a term used in some countries outside the United States and Canada that refers to both American football and Canadian football.The term came about after it was observed that the field of play in each sport, because of the many lines marking it, resembles a gridiron. According to certain early rules of American football, some fields were painted with square-like "grids" of demarcation. The ball would be snapped in the "grid" it was downed in on the previous play. This was left in favor of the system of yard lines and hash marks used to the present. An example of a field that was painted with such a "grid" pattern is the old Archbold Stadium at Syracuse University, which has since been torn down. Gridiron is directly descended from rugby football.
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