[Liongale]

I always see a lot of antagonizing about the difference between football and American football (or amefuto for short in Japanese)- I don't know why people get hostile when the whole soccer/football names come up. It is named that, and it won't change, so being hostile is pointless... even though American football might be better off with the name 'Gridiron', as it is it's nickname.

When gridiron was invented, it used to involve no forward passes, and relied on punting kicks and drop kicks- even though it still relied on handling the ball to move it down the field. This came from different forms of rules, as before 1848, there was no official rules for football (soccer), and some games did involve handling the ball. Eventually the terms and rules for people who favored different forms- like 'rugby football' and 'football football' split, but the names stuck. No one back then saw it necessary to change the name.

So you see, American Football is the son of Football, it may be it's own game, but it carries the family surname. So no need to be mad at history!