How the First-Down Line Works

When you watch a football game on TV, there’s a yellow line stretching across the field that shows viewers where the team must go to get a first down. HowStuffWorks provides a fascinating look at the technology that goes into painting that line across the field on the screen.

Actually overhead in the stands of a college game: A woman, speaking on her cell phone in a down-home West Texas accent, says, “No, honey, that yella line’s just on the tay-vay.”