"In American and Canadian football a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line crossing the football field across its narrower dimension, beyond which a team cannot cross until the next play has begun. Its location is based on the spot where the ball is placed after the end of the most recent play and following the assessment of any penalty yards.
A line of scrimmage is parallel to the goal lines and touches one edge of the ball where it sits on the ground prior to the snap. Under NFL and NCAA rules, there are actually two lines of scrimmage at the outset of each play: one that restricts the offense and one that restricts the defense. The area between the two lines (representing the length of the ball as extended to both sidelines) is called the neutral zone. Only the center, the offensive player who snaps the ball, is allowed to have any part of his body in the neutral zone. In order for there to be a legal beginning of a play, a certain number of the players on the offensive team, including certain eligible receivers, must be at, on or within a few inches of their line of scrimmage.
Many fans and commentators refer colloquially to the entire neutral zone as the "line of scrimmage," although this is technically not correct. Others use the general term to refer specifically to the defensive line of scrimmage, since it is the line relevant to the measurement of progress toward the goal. Referees, when explaining a penalty, will refer to "the previous spot" instead of the "line of scrimmage" in order to avoid confusion."
Thats the definition. Basically its the line the teams line up on before the "snap", when the offensive center snaps the ball back to the quaterback. There are lots of lines in American football: obviously the sidelines and goal line, but during play, once the ball has been downed, the offensive team has to get the ball to a line 10 yards past the line where it was downed. They get 4 attempts at this, called "downs". So stating on first down there are 4 lines in play - the line of scrimmage (where the ball was originally downed), the line 10 yards away they have to get the ball past within 4 attempts, then the sidelines and goalline with endzone. Confusing? Now ask yourself why its called football.
As you can see there is a line of scrimmage (the players lined up on the right) and 10 yards towards the opponents end zone there is another "line".
The players themselves are placed in "lines" as well; namely the offensive and defensive lines. The offensive line consists of five players whose job is to protect the passer and clear the way for runners by blocking members of the defense. The lineman in the middle is the Center. Outside the Center are the Guards, and outside them are the Tackles. Except for the center, who snaps the ball to one of the backs, offensive linemen generally do not handle the ball. The defensive line consists of three to six players who line up immediately across from the offensive line. They try to occupy the offensive linemen in order to free up the linebackers, disrupt the backfield(behind the offensive line)of the offense, and tackle the running back if he has the ball before he can gain yardage or the quarterback before he can throw or pass the ball. They are the first line of defense.
Behind the defensive line are the Linebackers, whose job it is to rush the quarterback or cover potential receivers.
The bottom blue line of players are the offensive line, the top line of 4 red players is the defensive line.
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