Americans call football “soccer” because they call American football “football.” Don't let the names of the games fool you, though, they are very different. American football is more like rugby than football. Except for one or two special plays, players use their hands to carry or throw the ball. Usually only one player throws the ball, he is called the quarterback. The quarterback tries to lead his team's offense down a 100-yard (a little less than 100 meters) field by passing (throwing) the ball or giving it to another player who runs with it. If the quarterback's team carries the ball across the 100th yard, then they score a touchdown. The defense tries to keep the offense from scoring touchdowns by grabbing the player with the ball and pulling him to the ground. If the offense cannot move 10 yards forward in four plays, it must give the ball to the other team.