Talk:Gridiron football

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Merge with North American Football Articles? (2006)[edit]

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Since it is basically just a name for an existing article, perhaps we should consider incorporating its contents more directly with the entries for the variants it describes. - Plasticbadge 02:36, 10 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • Disagree - I suggest merging football (american) with this one as gridiron is the proper name for the sport. Football shall hence be known as the former (within the United States) soccer. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.242.212.88 (talk) 2007-01-16T00:51:15 (UTC)
  • Disagree - I believe this needs to be a separate article, as it is the principle name for the game in Australia and New Zealand. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Jai Raj (talk • contribs) 2007-02-05T12:08:37 (UTC)
  • Agree - Being the most popular name in some countries doesn't justify a separate article. It just means we need to redirect the other names. How about a redirect from 'Gridiron football' to Football#North American football codes, with some language from here moved to that section, mentioning the 'gridiron'? The Monster 03:36, 11 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • What about the actual article American football, though the opening line should then be reworded to "...also known as Gridiron outside the United States and Canada". Breno 04:05, 11 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Disagree - Countries outside the US and Canada refer to the game as Gridiron, not American football. The term American football gives the connotation that the game is exclusive to the United States alone. Also, patriotic gridiron fans from non North American countries do not like to call the game American, due to current world politics and they try to distance this international sport from a specific country. Breno 07:56, 11 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
  • Looking at other articles, if American football, Canadian football and College football each have their separate articles, why does gridiron have to be merged? Sure, the article is in need of expansion and copyediting, but it can still be worked on. Breno 07:56, 11 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.
  • It is called football in the country in which it is most popular. It is American football, but it's still football. It's not the National Gridiron League and literally nobody in the U.S. refers to the sport as such. Calling the field itself "the gridiron" is common, but the number of football fans outside of North America, not counting American expats and soldiers abroad, is (likely) dwarfed by those in the U.S. Therefore it just makes sense to call it what it's known by the majority of English speakers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Tinoynk (talk • contribs) 03:00, 26 April 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Given the names of the leagues outside of the US and Canada, the use of Gridiron to refer to the sport seems to be a purely Australian term, and not the generally accepted term outside of North America. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_American_and_Canadian_football_leaguesRLent (talk) 16:02, 9 June 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Merge with North American Football Articles? #2 (2007)[edit]

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.
The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

Picture[edit]

I added in a link to a picture of the old stadium that had been broken. Its just a drawing (I'm not sure what the original was), but it shows the field pattern better than any actual photos I could find. Dangermouse29 18:10, 5 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

umm[edit]

At present, I don't have a reference, but I've seen this in several places where the history of American football is discussed. Briefly, in the early days of the forward pass, the passer had to be more than 5 yards laterally away from the spot where the ball was snapped. Lines parallel to the sidelines were added to enforce this rule. Since the yardlines were already present, the field took on the appearance of a "gridiron". The forward passing rules were soon changed and the lines removed, but the name stuck. Or at least that's how the story goes. 65.24.249.74 (talk) 01:12, 27 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Clean-up[edit]

Please see Wikipedia:Manual of Style for information on the style of an article. This article is lacking sections and headings, and has an over use of boldface type. --Pinkkeith (talk) 21:47, 4 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]


Australia is cited as using the term, however it's just gridiron, not "gridiron football" —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.45.99.157 (talk) 03:10, 26 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I agree. The current name bugs me because, while “gridiron” is the name of the sport in Oceania (not the UK?) it’s almost never referred to as “gridiron football.” The name gridiron (sport) is also ambiguous, but something should change. —Wiki Wikardo 16:49, 12 July 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Move images?[edit]

Should the "old-style" image, showing more obviously the origin of the term, be moved up to the top? M0ffx (talk) 15:57, 12 February 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Missing info[edit]

What is the short dimension of the field (in the US, Canada)?

Capek (talk) 17:45, 15 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Rename to Tackle football?[edit]

I think this is how this article should be called. Gridiron is mostly an informal term that has become widely accepted and used by the media in countries that are fairly aware of the sport, but is not used by any governing body to designate the game, and is not well known outside of North America and maybe the UK.
The official rules published by Football Canada are officially entitled "Canadian Rule book For Amateur Tackle Football". The Federation of the Philippines calls itself "American And Tackle Football Federation". So tackle football seems to be the official term recognized by governing bodies when they want a name inclusive of rule codes that are not strictly the American version. I would use something like : "Tackle football, often referred to as gridiron football, is a sport..." - — Preceding unsigned comment added by ‎2a01:e35:2e96:ba90:4de7:d446:2b29:486a (talk)

I disagree. Gridiron football refers to the North American variety, which is what this article is about. Tackle football is a broader term. Barryjjoyce (talk) 21:17, 4 April 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Merge/deletion (2016)[edit]

Merging to American football has been discussed and rejected on several occasions. This article, whatever its title, is intended to be an overview of all the North American football codes as a whole, which includes Canadian football, and as such should not be merged or deleted. - BilCat (talk) 21:51, 18 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]


Intention doesn't really matter, what matters is if that purpose is both necessary and fulfilled. This is neither necessary nor fulfilled as this is both a redundant and POV fork per Wikipedia policy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:REDUNDANTFORK https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:POVFORK

For the redundancy: Variations of American football are covered at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football#Variations_and_related_sports with links to the main pages of those alternative codes.

For the POV, there's no strong argument to keep this article except to promote the use of "gridiron football" as a name for this family of football codes.

To that argument: The useage of "gridiron" in the title is both undue weight to a minority use term and contrary to Wikipedia naming conventions. "When the subject of an article is referred to mainly by a single common name, as evidenced through usage in a significant majority of English-language reliable sources, Wikipedia generally follows the sources and uses that name as its article title (subject to the other naming criteria)." https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:UNDUE https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:NPOVNAME https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:OTHERNAMES

72.168.176.162 (talk) 17:30, 23 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Whether the article should exist is a separate issue from its title. Name changes have been proposed, but didn't gain any traction. - BilCat (talk) 18:06, 23 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Canadian football is not a variation of American football. They are two seperate, but similar sports which both fall under the umbrella of "Gridiron football". I don't understand the objections which have been raised. ParkH.Davis (talk) 00:04, 25 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 8 February 2016[edit]

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: not moved. There is clear consensus not to use the proposed new title, although some commenters do think that the current title is inappropriate. (non-admin closure) sst✈(conjugate) 09:35, 16 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]


Gridiron football → Football in the U.S. and Canada – Simply put, the term "gridiron football" is not used in this way outside of Wikipedia. It's not an umbrella term for American and Canadian football together. It's chiefly a synonym for American football specifically.[1][2][3] The phrase is rarely used in U.S. or Canada, and is mostly found in foreign works discussing American football. There really isn't a commonly used umbrella term for both American and Canadian varieties (other than "football", which obviously won't work here.) Some scholars use "North American football" to discuss both together,[4][5][6][7][8][9][10] but barring that, it's probably best to go with a neutral, descriptive title per the article titles policy. Cúchullain t/c 17:29, 8 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]

  • I note that a large number of Google Books hits for "gridiron football" are Wikipedia ripoffs or referencing Wikipedia,[11] suggesting that our observer effect is making the phrase seem more prominent. That's bad medicine.--Cúchullain t/c 17:32, 8 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose, at least at the proposed title. The proposed title fails to capture the purpose and scope of the article, which is to give a collective overview of the two similar but distinct codes of football, while the proposed title confuses the issue by not making that distinction. So while I can agree that "gridiron football" seems to be a wiki-ism, I don't think the proposed title cuts the mustard. oknazevad (talk) 18:21, 8 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose If you chose North American football then maybe, but not the current requested title per Oknazevad; this is not about football in North America, this is about the variety of football that is also played outside of North America, there being NFL Europe amongst others outside of US and Canada -- 70.51.200.135 (talk) 04:31, 9 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose, "Football in the U.S. and Canada" says nothing about what code of football the article refers to. If you don't like the present name, come up with a better one, not a worse one. "American and Canadian football" could be correct, couldn't it? Snowsuit Wearer (talk|contribs) 01:46, 10 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose, the different variants of gridiron football are played around the world. Plus there's American football in the United States. --NaBUru38 (talk) 17:32, 10 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose - as the code is unclear in that title. "Gridiron football" is probably the best option, as the article is basically an overview for international readers, many of whom would be familiar with the term. "North American football" is probably too vague, as it can include Mexico, and probably is less common than Gridiron football. "American and Canadian football" would be acceptable, though a bit long for usage in disambiguation. (An example of this usage in disambiguation is Lineman (gridiron football)). - BilCat (talk) 18:24, 10 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support North American football variant. This better encapsulates the topic (a code of sport) than the location specific one currently proposed and is more based on real world usage that the current choice. SFB 22:04, 15 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
North American football (a redirect, fairly well established in reliable sources) would be fine with me. Anything but "gridiron football", which again, is demonstratively not used this way outside of Wikipedia.--Cúchullain t/c 22:08, 15 February 2016 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Assessment comment[edit]

The comment(s) below were originally left at Talk:Gridiron football/Comments, and are posted here for posterity. Following several discussions in past years, these subpages are now deprecated. The comments may be irrelevant or outdated; if so, please feel free to remove this section.

It is too short to be anything other than a Stub. TFCforever (talk)

Last edited at 02:58, 24 November 2007 (UTC). Substituted at 16:45, 29 April 2016 (UTC)

Draft outline[edit]

Just a note but there's a proposed outline for this topic at Wikipedia:WikiProject Outlines/Drafts/Outline of gridiron football. -- Ricky81682 (talk) 00:57, 27 June 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 4 October 2017[edit]

The following discussion is an archived discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Not moved. There is a clear absence of consensus with respect to the proposal. bd2412 T 16:00, 14 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Gridiron football → North American football – It's time to try this again, as this article's title is a substantial problem. As noted above, "Gridiron football" is not used in this way in any source outside of Wikipedia. The phrase is a synonym for American football,[12][13][14] and is not used as an umbrella term for American and Canadian football together. It's also a pretty rare term in the only two countries where this is a major sport. "North American football" is used in various sources for this topic, and it already redirects here.[15][16][17][18][19][20][21] A descriptive title like "American and Canadian football" could also work, but as noted various times before, the present title is not in use in this sense in the real world, and so isn't an acceptable article title. Cúchullain t/c 15:16, 4 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Not really a risk of confusion; it has redirected here for most of the last 5 years without incident. If there’s any risk of confusion we can always add a hat note and/or greate a disambiguation page.—Cúchullain t/c 03:57, 5 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Hat note added.--Cúchullain t/c 14:00, 5 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose - Oh dear, again? "Gridiron football" is probably the best option, as the article is basically an overview for international readers, many of whom would be more familiar with the term "gridiron", with "football" as a natural disambiguator, there being no primary topic for "gridiron". "North American football" is probably too vague/ambiguous, as it can include Mexico/CONCACAF soccer, and probably is less common than "Gridiron". "American and Canadian football" is less common as an alternative, and is really too long for easy usage in disambiguation. (An example of this usage in disambiguation is Lineman (gridiron football)). - BilCat (talk) 01:02, 5 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Gridiron football is even more subject to confusion, as the readers who know the term will expect it to refer to American football specifically, not to an umbrella article on the two forms of the game specifically. It’s even worse that the term is not common in either of the only two countries where this is a major sport, but is rather used by outsiders.—Cúchullain t/c 03:57, 5 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Where is your evidence that the current name causes confusion? The talk page shows some people disagree with the name, but no real confusion. If there's any risk of confusion, we can always add a hatnote. And I've answered the "used by outsiders" argument already, twice, so I don't see the need to repeat myself, repeat myself. - BilCat (talk) 04:13, 5 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Also, your claim that "gridion football" is only used this way on Wikipedia is incorrect. Encyclopaedia Britannica also uses the term this way per their article on the sport, including applying it to Canadian football. - BilCat (talk) 04:31, 5 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
The confusion comes from Wikipedia using the term in a way it isn't commonly used in the sources, and is the fact that it's a term that's less recognizable people in the countries where the sports are played. Even that Britannica link uses "Gridiron football" as a synonym for "American football"; it mentions Canada in one sentence saying that the game "also developed simultaneously in Canada," which is reductive. Britannica also uses British English. To repeat, Wikipedia uses local varieties of English for subjects with strong national ties, so using a primarily foreign term wouldn't be kosher even if "gridiron football" was in use as an umbrella term.--Cúchullain t/c 13:58, 5 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Again, where is the evidence anyone finds the term "confusing"? It is totally obvious what the article is about. As to the Britannica article, there is a whole section on Canadian football, so that's hardly one mention. - BilCat (talk) 21:18, 5 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
The evidence is that most sources do not use the term in this way, especially in the varieties of English where these sports are actually played. Where is the evidence that this isn't the case?
I only see one paragraph in the Britannica article, with one line about Canadian football, perhaps because I'm on mobile. At any rate, it's one source out of many more that use "gridiron football" (or more commonly "gridiron") to refer to American football specifically. There are even sources that use "gridiron" for American football to the exclusion of Canadian football.[22][23] Meanwhile, there are numerous sources that use "North American football" for exactly what this article is talking about, so...--Cúchullain t/c 14:13, 10 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support. Names must be natural, and this current one ain't. Red Slash 17:38, 6 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Support, although simply "American football" would be a better option. No fans of this sport refer to it as 'gridiron football', and the current title makes us look way behind the times. Indeed, this might be the worst current article title on Wikipedia. Lepricavark (talk) 05:27, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
    • Agree American football is worth a look, I've never heard it called "North American football" and my googles (see below) verify that it's unusual. Andrewa (talk) 06:56, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose, I get almost 18 million ghits for "gridiron football" -WIkipedia" but less than half a million for "North American football" -Wikipedia and many of these appear to be false positives, talking about all codes not just this one. "American football" -Wikipedia gets 58 million so agree it might be the go. Andrewa (talk) 06:52, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
    • There seems to be confusion as to what this article is about. This is supposed to be an umbrella article covering American football and Canadian football together. American football is taken by, well, American football. "Gridiron football" refers to American football as well in the vast majority of sources, sometimes to the exclusion of Canadian football. "North American football" is used in various sources when talking about American and Canadian football together, as this article does.--Cúchullain t/c 12:30, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
      • Exactly. Perhaps a case can be made that North American football is the common name for the overview, but I don't think we're there yet. In Australia, as has been observed, gridiron is the common name for the overview. Andrewa (talk) 22:43, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
    • I'm not sure we should be basing votes on how many hits the terms get within Wikipedia. Lots of Wikipedia articles use the term gridiron football when talking about something that is related to both American football and Canadian football. If the article title was different, then gridiron football may not be used in those instances. WikiOriginal-9 (talk) 16:19, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
      • It's just one piece of data, not the best by a long way, just the easiest obtained. Interested in other data of course. Andrewa (talk) 22:43, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose per Andrewa, and because North American football is vague and gridiron football is a natural choice for describing the history of the codes. —innotata 09:32, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
    • I challenge the notion that "gridiron football" is a natural choice, given that it almost always refers to American football specifically.--Cúchullain t/c 12:30, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comments - I've notified the following Wiki projects of this discussion: Wikipedia:WikiProject American football, Wikipedia:WikiProject Canadian football, Wikipedia:WikiProject College football, and Wikipedia:WikiProject National Football League. Given that this topic falls under the scope of all these projects, they probably should have been notified from the beginning of this proposal. My apologies for not thinking of it sooner. Thanks. - BilCat (talk) 09:51, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Encyclopedia Brittanica refers to it as gridiron football, even the Canadian version.[24] From talking with a few Australians before, and backed up by this ABC (Australia) article, they usually refer to it as gridiron. The problem with North American football is that most outside of NA will think of it as North American soccer. But yes, nobody in the US calls it gridiron. Six of one, half dozen of the other ... stick with the status quo.—Bagumba (talk) 10:22, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
    • As the article states, Australians and New Zealanders use "gridiron" for American football. You are correct that nobody in the US or Canada calls it "gridiron", which is a pretty major WP:ENGVAR issue.--Cúchullain t/c 12:30, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
      • Also, given that this sport predominantly associated with the USA and Canada, and not with Australia and New Zealand, it doesn't make much sense to me to name the article on the basis of what this sport is called in the latter two countries. Lepricavark (talk) 13:54, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
        • For national ties (WP:TIES), American football or Canadian football would be used, not an umbrealla term for the sport. The grouping Of the two flavors is more of an academic topic, and there is no strong regionally favored term for it other than football.—Bagumba (talk) 11:27, 13 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose. Let's be honest. The problem from a US perspective is that we refer to the sport as "football" but the rest of the world uses that term for a different game. So we are forced to come up with an artificial descriptor. Virtually nobody outside of Wikipedia refers to the sport as "American football", "North American football" or "gridiron football". In trying to decide on the most accurate, and admittedly artificial, name for Wikipedia purposes, "gridiron football" seems to be the least objectionable. First, it avoids ethnocentrism. The sport is no longer played exclusively in the US and Canada and has been gaining popularity in Europe over the past decade or so. The "gridiron" convention allows for the fact that the sport is played outside North America. Second, most knowledgeable fans of the game know that it is played on a gridiron. Accordingly, it is not a strange or unfamiliar term. Third, "North American football" fails the WP:COMMONNAME standard, as "gridiron football" is the more commonly used term. A google news search shows 5.3 million hits for "gridiron football" and only 11,300 for "North American football". A general google search provides similar results 11.9 million for "gridiron football" and only 470,000 for "North American football". Cbl62 (talk) 13:57, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
In addition to the Encyclopedia Britannica cited above (very persuasive IMO), other examples of "gridiron football" usage include the "Britannica Guide To Football", British Gridiron Football League and NSW Gridiron Football League (what they call American football in the UK and Australia), this article again bearing on how the sport is referenced outside North America, and this book about the marketing of "gridiron football" in Europe. Even in the US, usage of "gridiron football" is on the rise and includes the the U.S. Army Gridiron Football Classic,Atlantic Gridiron Football Camp in NJ, the "Little Gridiron football program" in Indiana, the All-Shore Gridiron Football Classic in New Jersey, and the annual Women's Gridiron Football Clinic in Indiana. Cbl62 (talk) 15:10, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Again, all those sources besides Britannica are using "gridiron football" in reference to American football specifically, which is not what this article is about. "North American football" is demonstrably the more common umbrella term in the reliable sources.--Cúchullain t/c 15:41, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
It seems like you're obfuscating the issue. You previously argued that "nobody in the US or Canada calls it 'gridiron'" and that "gridiron football" was "demonstratively not used this way outside of Wikipedia." The sources above (many predating Wikipedia) show that your assertions are incorrect. Further, your contention that "North American football" is the more common umbrella term is contrary to Britannica and the Google hits (25 to 1 in favor of gridiron) and Google news hits (480 to 1 in favor of gridiron) figures reflected above. Gridiron football is by leaps and bounds the more common umbrella term, and American football, Canadian football, arena football, British Gridiron Football League, and NSW Gridiron Football League are all variants thereof, each with its own set of rules. Cbl62 (talk) 16:10, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not attempting to obfuscate anything, it's just a confusing issue because of the terminology. There are two things: 1) "Gridiron football" (or usually just "Gridiron") is a fairly common term for American football (the 11-player version). This term is in use in the U.S. but is much more common in foreign countries such as Australia and New Zealand, where it's the usual name for American football. 2) This article is not about American football/gridiron, it's about American (11-player) and Canadian (12-player) football, and derivatives, taken together. While Britannica and potentially some other sources do use "gridiron football" as an umbrella term for American and Canadian football, a review of the sources show that this is not common, especially in the local varieties of English. The use is confusing because the vast majority of sources and people using "gridiron" are using it for the American game, including the British Gridiron Football League and NSW Gridiron Football League. Other than just "football", no umbrella term is common, but the sources I linked above use "North American football" for the umbrella term, and they're far more numerous than sources using "gridiron" as an umbrella term.--Cúchullain t/c 16:40, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
You are incorrect in saying that "gridiron football" is not an umbrella term. Check out this description from an academic source: "While various forms of gridiron football do exist, the common features of each generally include: protective equipment, the passing of the ball forward by hand or running from an ever-changing line of scrimmage through a system of downs, and an objective to pass the opponent’s goal line or kick the ball through the opponent’ uprights to achieve a touchdown or field goal." To the contention that "gridiron football" refers only to American football, see also the following reliable sources referring to Canadian football as a variant of gridiron football: [25], [26], and [27]. Cbl62 (talk) 16:55, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I'm not saying that they are or aren't, but we should be wary of some sources copying this Wikipedia article when referring to gridiron football. If this article was called North American football for several years, then I think that some new sources may pop up referring to the sport as North American football. WikiOriginal-9 (talk) 17:03, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I don't see the problem with newer sources copying Wikipedia, especially as there is no way to prove influence (mirrors aside, of course), or to distinguish WP's influence from prior influences such as Encyclopaedia Britannica. Britannica's usage existed long before this article. - BilCat (talk) 17:38, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
(edit conflict):WikiOriginal-9: Absolutely correct - recent sources are influenced by the Wikipedia article having this title for so long. This is citeogenesis, which is a problem in that Wikipedia is meant to follow the sources, not the other way around. To the above point, the point is that "gridiron" as an umbrella term is uncommon in the sources (especially North American sources, which is an WP:ENGVAR issue); "North American football" is more common.--Cúchullain t/c 17:46, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
There's no possible way to prove influence unless a source admits it. We can't simply dismiss newer sources because we think there's been some influence. As to "North American football" being more common, it's still ambiguous, as has been pointed out. Hopefully we won't end up with something like "North American football (gridion)" when a much simpler and clearer title is already in use. - BilCat (talk) 17:54, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
I don't buy the citeogenesis contention. Use of the phrase "gridiron football" has long historic foundations, dating back more than a century before Wikipedia was a twinkle in Jimmy Wales' eye. It is "North American football" that is the newly-minted phrase. Cbl62 (talk) 19:29, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
It's a newer phrase, but it's actually in use for the topic of this article, while the current name generally means something else.--Cúchullain t/c 19:44, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
That would definitely be fine with me. It would remove the concern that the present title is misleading and confusing.--Cúchullain t/c 16:40, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
"Football (gridiron)" doesn't seem bad in principle. But how would we deal with the naming of numerous football players like "Jim Root (gridiron football)"? Would they be retitled "Jim Root (football (gridiron))"? Cbl62 (talk) 17:44, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Exactly. Despite its perceived problems, "gridiron football" is simply the best choice available. - BilCat (talk) 17:57, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
Gridiron football is preferred over football (gridiron) per WP:NATURALDIS (e.g. quarterback sack over sack (football)).—Bagumba (talk) 10:54, 13 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Arbitrary heading[edit]

  • Oppose North American football makes no sense.--Rockchalk717 16:37, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Oppose Never heard of the term "North American football", which would seem to be Eurocentric (or otherwise not used in the actual region the sport is primarily played). "Gridiron football", despite not being a common/unused term in NA, is at least known by people here. I don't really see why we should change it now outside of the OP's personal opinion. North American football can also be confused with soccer in the region, I.E. CONCACAF. ~ Dissident93 (talk) 19:35, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comment The premise that gridiron football does not include Canadian football is dubious. The Sydney Morning Herald referred to a "Canadian Football League gridiron coach" here The BBC refers to "Canada's professional gridiron competition, the nine-team Canadian Football League (CFL)" here—Bagumba (talk) 07:56, 13 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
    • The BBC article is a good one. Can we incorporate it as a source in the article somewhere? - BilCat (talk) 09:18, 13 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
    • Another good quote from the BBC article which shows the terms being used interchangeably: "The sports of American and Canadian football both developed in the mid-19th Century, evolving from the British game of rugby. While the two forms of gridiron are in essence the same game, there are some key rule differences." - BilCat (talk) 09:34, 13 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Discussion[edit]

This is more complicated than I first thought, and I suggest we relist.

One of the problems is that pesky word American. Both it and America are embarrassingly ambiguous... we decided that America would redirect to United States (the USA), but that American would be a DAB, and please let's stick to those. But those decisions reflect a complexity...

If someone says to me "I'm an American", I know that they're from the USA not from Canada or Venezuala. So maybe American football is a suitable title for the article specific to the USA. Or should it be American football (USA)? Is the US code the primary topic of American football?

American football (America) would be logical for the US-specific article, but... EEEK. Please, no.

Other thoughts? Andrewa (talk) 21:38, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure why we would need to have American football (America). There isn't another sport called American football. Canadian football and American football are different sports. This gridiron football article is trying to serve as an overview of both of them since they are very similar. WikiOriginal-9 (talk) 22:48, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
We'd need to disambiguate if we decided, as has been suggested above, that this overview article (currently called Gridiron football) would be better titled American football. One or the other or both articles would then need disambiguation.
In much of the world, both gridiron and American football would be taken to mean both the US and Canadian versions. Andrewa (talk) 22:57, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Of course the word football is as pesky as American, with many strong local associations. So this article title is something of a perfect storm. But we'll get there! Andrewa (talk) 22:57, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]

It's pretty much understood in English-speaking nations that America is synonymous with the US. Having spent an extended period in South America, this is not the case there for natives that speak English as a second language. America would be ambiguous between North and South America, as the US in Spanish is Estados Unidos, with no hint of America in Spanish. This carries over into their English. However, this is not a concern for English Wikipedia.—Bagumba (talk) 23:07, 12 October 2017 (UTC)[reply]
The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page. No further edits should be made to this section.

Requested move 27 January 2018[edit]

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Gridiron football → Gridiron.

Whereas the word football was coined to describe a variety of games which involve playing the ball with the foot, but (a) Gridiron does not involve playing the ball with the foot to any significant degree, and (b) the vast majority of gridiron players never play the ball with the foot, therefore notwithstanding widespread incorrect usage of the word football in the North part of America, gridiron is objectively not a type of football and thus it should not be referred to using that word in any Wikipedia entry.

— Preceding unsigned comment added by Epikuro57 (talk • contribs) 16:29, 27 January 2018 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

More should be made of blocking[edit]

Yes, the forward pass is a big difference between American football and rugby, but not every play is a pass play. There's one thing that happens on literally every play that wouldn't be permitted in rugby: blocking.--98.111.164.239 (talk) 07:38, 12 July 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Origin of name?[edit]

I was reading that “gridiron” was an early slang term for the US flag, due to the bars or stripes on it. If so, perhaps the identification with the US and flag had something to do with nicknaming to sport. Might be a point of interest to investigate... Ptilinopus (talk) 03:32, 30 October 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Headbanger making a joke?[edit]

It seems like someone shoehorned the words "system of a down" in the History section. This could be a coincidence, but it looks like some headbanger is making a joke. Bardbarian201 (talk) 05:42, 9 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

IP vandalism. Fixed. BilCat (talk) 06:11, 9 March 2022 (UTC)[reply]

This page should be deleted[edit]

This page serves no real purpose except, perhaps, to confuse readers. There already exists the main page, American football, and each level of play from professional to collegiate to high school has an individual page. Keystone18 (talk) 18:13, 16 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]

Merger to American football has been discussed at least four times before, and closed as with clear consensus against merging the last two times. I've no desire to repeat those arguments in favor of keeping this article here, but you can read them for yourself. I don't see a note about a previous AFD, so you could do that, but I doubt it would succeed. BilCat (talk) 21:11, 16 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
American is just one subtype: Gridiron football § Comparison of codes—Bagumba (talk) 02:38, 17 August 2023 (UTC)[reply]
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