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Good morning, I am David Haase, Professor of Physics and Director of The Science House at North Carolina State University. My colleague, Beth Snoke, and I would like to remind you of some of the physics aspects, especially the contact part, of football.

The title of the talk comes from a humorous monologue presented by a young Andy Griffith being a North Carolina country boyÍs description of first seeing a college football game. He could not figure out what all the fighting and hitting and cheering was all about. If he had grown up in Texas, Louisiana, or Florida instead, he would have known about football from birth.

This paper started with my assisting in writing an article for ESPN magazine that was written by Alan Grant in October 5, 1998. Mr. Grant wanted a scientists view of tackling and blocking in the NFL. What are the most destructive hits and why? I am going to make a few comments about the science in football, develop some useful units for measurement and then discuss some particular hits.