Having never played a madden or any other NFL game ever ( or even followed the real game so don't know the rules), is Madden 10 a good place to start?.  I've always fancied playing an American football game but end up deciding against it for one reason or another.  For a newbie like myself, will it allow me to learn the game or will it expect me to know about the sport 
 
Thanks.

I can't think of any better game to get you into the sport.

You could track down an Xbox and get 2k5 BUT if you want the most up to date rosters I'd go with 10.  It's good for learning formations, terminology, players, and rules.

I played Madden 09 and didn't have a fucking clue what I was doing.

Well it doesn't provide an "NFL training" mode but all the terminology is the same.  Just google american football and you'll have a jumping off point.

Get the Wii version of Madden, but go cheaper with Madden 07 or 09 for the Wii. If you're new to the series, always buy an old game on the cheap to see if you like it and believe me, you can find an Xbox 360 Madden game cheap from years past.

I can't imagine that you would enjoy Madden at all if you don't know the rules.  Fun sport, but the rules can be pretty convoluted.  I'd recommend learning the basic rules first.

absolutely.  
although its not very kind to new comers.  
 
there was a thread on here somewhere a while ago that i and others wrote in-depth explanations of the very complex sport. 

I think the only point to get into a sport is to support "your team," so if you don't give about any team its kinda hard to give a shit about any sport. At leas in my opinion...

" I think the only point to get into a sport is to support "your team," so if you don't give about any team its kinda hard to give a shit about any sport. At leas in my opinion... "