From Cows to Footballs
By: Joey Cooper 3AS
Introduction
Do you ever think to yourself "how is this football made?" or "where does it come from?" when you are playing catch with your friends. A football goes through a long and interesting process to be made.
Farm
Now, you think a football would just start at a factory. Actually, it starts at a farm. What do they need at a farm? You know how people say throwing a pig skin around? Well, actually you are throwing a cow skin around. Cowhide is dry cow skin. The farmers tan a cow and get the dry skin. When they get enough cowhide, a truck comes to bring it to a factory.
Factory
Once all the cowhide is brought into the factory, they put it under a machine. "What does tho machine do?" You ask? The machine stamps the cowhide to give it the bumpy texture of a football. After the cowhide is stamped with a bumpy texture, they dye it brown. Next the cowhide is cut in four football shaped pieces. Afterward they sew all four pieces into a football. But wait! There is still more. The ball is inside-out. They give the ball a fifteen second steam bath to make it turn right side-out. Then they cut a hole in the ball. They put in a plastic ball called the bladder. The bladder makes the ball hard. Once the bladder is in they sew the ball back together and sew in the laces. Soon trucks will come to bring the footballs to the store.
Store
When the footballs get to the store they are ready to be sold. They will probably be sold out pretty soon because of all the awesome things you can do with them. You can play a football game, play catch, monkey in the middle, or 500!
Fun Facts
As you can see, the football goes through a very long and interesting process to be able to be sold. But there are a few extra fun facts I haven't mentioned, like the shape of the football makes it easier to throw. Here's an interesting one: Footballs used in the NFL don't have white lines on the sides of it. Also to strengthen the skin sew cotton lining on all four sections of the ball.
Conclusion
Now if anyone asks you "Where does a football come from?" or "how is a football made?" You can tell them all about the interesting process for a football to be made.