Where the information comes from

Fluent in Football connects written play reports with historical comparisons and explanations. It cannot see the TV picture, identify a formation from video, or know a player’s assignment.

During the game

Scores, clocks, team images and play reports come from ESPN. Updates can arrive late, in batches, or with corrections. TV delay holds those updates before you see them; it cannot guarantee a match to every broadcast. The field direction is a setting you choose to match your TV.

Player names start with the written reports. When a name matches one player on ESPN’s roster for that team and season, we show the full name and fill in a missing jersey number. A number in the play report takes priority; conflicting or ambiguous matches stay as reported.

Roster records are cached for up to a day and may be unavailable. They are a snapshot of ESPN’s roster when fetched, not proof of who dressed or was on the field. Replays may therefore show a later roster number when the original report had none. The roster does not change play counts or choose who to watch.

The app uses an undocumented ESPN feed. We have no service guarantee or affiliation with ESPN, the leagues or the teams. Team names and logos identify the teams; they are not offered for reuse under the data licences below. ESPN

Historical comparisons

Game replay: Finished games loads ESPN’s schedule for your chosen date and fetches the final play reports when you select a game. College uses ESPN’s FBS schedule; NFL uses its league schedule. Game-specific analysis uses reports through your selected point. Historical comparisons use today’s tables, which may include games played after the replay date. Some completed games lack play-by-play; final reports may include corrections or details unavailable live. Replay does not recreate the original arrival timing, poll for live scores, or add simulated entries to your game journal.

NFL: play-by-play from nflverse. The repository publishes its data under CC BY 4.0. We filter, group and weight historical records to make the tendency tables, and aggregate preceding-season results for Past games.

College: data provided by CollegeFootballData.com. We use it to produce historical aggregates and selected teaching examples under its API terms. Those terms distinguish derived analysis and reasonable display from redistribution of raw datasets.

The year range is shown beside each tendency. That percentage compares down, distance and field position. Past games also matches score and clock bands, using the preceding season. Pass plays include sacks; scrambles count as runs. No-play penalties, kneels and spikes are excluded.

These are patterns in recorded results, not a reading of the coach’s intended call. Players, opponents and coaching staff change. Tests have not established that the current NFL team adjustment predicts better than its league comparison, or that using the app improves football understanding.

Historical lessons and charting

Each example names its source and game/play identifiers. NFL charting comes from FTN Data via nflverse, whose public subset is released under CC BY-SA 4.0. This is post-game charting, not a live view of tonight’s players.

FTN-derived lessons are adaptations: selected charted facts are joined with nflverse play-by-play, summarized, and illustrated. Those adapted lesson records, explanations and illustrations are provided under CC BY-SA 4.0. Retain credit to FTN Data via nflverse, the source and licence links, and the adaptation notice when sharing them. This does not license unrelated app code, team marks or broadcast footage.

Diagrams illustrate an idea or a recorded distance. They do not reconstruct the players’ routes. Passing distances appear only where the supplied components reconcile with the reported gain.

What stays in your browser

Your settings, game journal, practice history and diagnostics are stored on this device, separately for each website address. The app does not upload them automatically and does not include visit analytics. Download or copy them if you choose to keep or share a record. Practice history and journals have their own clear/delete controls; clearing site data removes all local records.

Your browser contacts this site’s host and ESPN to load the app, feed and team images. Those providers receive the usual connection information. Links to other sources open their websites. Local storage can be cleared or become unavailable, so it is not a backup.

Fonts

DM Sans and Barlow Condensed are bundled under the SIL Open Font License. See the included DM Sans notice and Barlow Condensed notice.

Page reviewed September 13, 2026. This date describes the page, not the freshness of a live report.