The QB. The glamour-kitty position in American football (and Canadian football); the one who receives the ball from under-center, and the one who is often the team's highest-paid. The position came about as teams switched from the single-wing formation - in which the center snapped the football (i.e. put it in play, a replacement for the rugby-style scrum) to any of the players in the backfield - to the T-formation, where a specialized back (the QB) lined up directly behind the center.