Despite both being native English speakers, someone from the Northeast may struggle to understand every regionalism spoken by someone from the Deep South. The same is true when it comes to football, where players, coaches, and even TV analysts use coded jargon that often goes over the heads of some fans.
Just think of the last time you watched a football game. Whether you were in the bleachers, close to the high school action, or hearing miked NFL players on TV, you might have heard the quarterback using a bunch of seemingly random words while calling plays. It’s all part of a coded language meant to convey secret messages to teammates. Those words, numbers, and letters have a deeper meaning. Here’s a closer look at how to decode football jargon.
Basic terms such as “touchdown,” “interception,” and “first down” are widely understood by both fans and players alike. Less clear, however, is why a quarterback may shout “Linda” before a snap, or what the word “tundra” means in the context of the gridiron.
Teams use different specific words in an effort to keep their playbooks shrouded in mystery, but there are general concepts that guide the lingo. If the words were the same across the NFL, then the opposing defense would know exactly what play was coming all the time. Coaches change it up from team to team, while still following overarching guidelines that players are familiar with, so the teams can quickly learn and memorize new plays.
For a look at the bigger picture, we turned to an interview between sports podcaster Pablo Torre and former college quarterback Nate Tice, in which Tice elaborated on some of the more common terminology used on the gridiron.
Usually this coded language is based on the first letter of a word. For instance, if the quarterback uses a word starting with “R” or “L,” they’re instructing players to run either right or left. In a clip shown during Tice’s interview with Torre, New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll mentioned that the team uses “Rita” instead of “right” and “Linda” instead of “left” (now you’re in on the secret). Each coach is likely to rely on a unique “R” and “L” word for this same directional purpose.
“D” words and “T” words, on the other hand, are widely used as a way to instruct players about where they should stand when lining up. On a typical play, the offense might have four eligible receivers (e.g., wide receivers, tight ends). If the coach wants two receivers on each side of the ball (“doubled”), they’ll call a play using a “D” word such as “dolphin.” But if the coach wants three receivers on one side and a single man on the other side, they’ll use a “T” word (code for “triple”) such as “trips” or “trio.”
The numbers tell the blockers what type of protection they need to provide and which direction they need to go. Again, each team determines what their numbers mean specifically, but players moving from team to team know the general category numbers designate.
Lastly, it’s important for the play caller to tell receivers what routes to run. For instance, Tice brought up the word “float” — a portmanteau of the words “flag” (which is a synonym for “corner” in the world of football) and “out.” If the receivers hear the word “float,” they know to run out toward the corner. “Tundra,” on the other hand, means “two under.” So a “tundra” call means that two receivers would run an under route.
Some of these words and phrases are more intuitive than others — a weekend football fan might not be able to step into the huddle and immediately translate the plays, but the formula allows football players to pick up new play calls more easily. The next time you’re watching a game, listen for words that start with “L” or “R,” and “D” or “T,” and see if you can accurately predict which play is coming. You may be surprised to find how easy it is to follow along with the analysts.
More from our network
Word Smarts is part of Inbox Studio, which publishes content that uplifts, informs, and inspires.
