Andersp:
It is similar to the reason of why we drive on the park way and park on the drive way. :)

As far as I know, the real reason is through the evolution of Football. The game that predates all of them was called Football. With the addition of the forward pass and then years of modifications to the rules you have modern Football, which is "foot" in name only. Soccer gets its name from Association Football. Soccer was developed as a less violent and safer version of the then current forms of football, such as Rugby. Since we had Football in the United States already Soccer got known by a different name. While over there in England and Europe the Association version came to dominate and they never developed a game similar to our type of Football except for the two main versions of Rugby which still go by that name or just Union or League depending on which version of Rubgy is being played. Rugby is called Rugby here. Soccer is Soccer. Football is Football or depending on which Football it'll be called be it's league or group. College, Arena, Highshcool, Canadian, NFL are the main types of Football. Soccer is a minor sport here. We all know Soccer isn't nothing much compared to real Football even if it is played in so many places and is so popular in so many places. Soccer is an English invention. Somehow the French got into the control of a portion of it and all you Soccer playing Europeans formed leagues and tournaments and there you have it. The French also had a major say in the schism that developed in Rugby and how there came to be two versions even though the split in Rugby was from the northern parts of England and arguing of paid players and other things. I'm trying to remember this stuff, so maybe an English or French Rugby fan can fill it in better than I can. I've never seen Rugby played though there are people that play it around here in Southern California. I can see Soccer getting lots more popular here some day, but for the time being it is strictly a minor league game. I'm not the only that hates Soccer. Soccer itself is one of the most played games where I happen to live. Kids play it all the time in the parks and fields. There's youth and adult leagues. Where I live happens to have one the highest Mexican and Central Amercian influx of immigrants in Califonia if not the United States, along side Vietnamese (Thought I don't know if the Vietnamese immigrants are a soccer playing people). Plus Soccer doesn't require much in the way of equipment or rules to play. Just some guys, a field, and a ball. Same thing for Football, except you need to know more rules to have a decent game of Football. Football also has a lot more different roles and positions for the players to cover. Defense and offense are completely different aspects. Scoring is more complicated. Yep, Football has changed every year. This is one thing I don't like about it, but it is still a lot better of a game in my opinion than soccer ever will be. I say this as a Baseball fan as that is a game I like the best for watching in person, though one of these days I will see an Australian Rules Football game. That looks like real fun game to watch or play. Flowing like Soccer and tough and rugged like Rugby or Football.