Example 1
Trying to improve his passing game, Teddy studied game films of Dan Marino and John Elway.
In this leatherheaded example, and is a coordinating conjunction used to connect two equal nouns, Dan Marino and John Elway. They're equal as nouns, but not as actors. Dan Marino's commercials for Isotoner gloves are an acting tour de force.
Example 2
Rob tripped and fell over the ottoman.
Here, the conjunction and is used to connect two equal past tense verbs, tripped and fell. In the classic opening sequence of The Dick Van Dyke Show, Van Dyke famously tripped and fell over the living room's ottoman every week… except for when he didn't. Three versions of the show opener were filmed—including one where he doesn't stumble at all—and were randomly used throughout the show's last four seasons. Viewers at home would place bets about whether or not Van Dyke would wipe out.
Example 3
Greg got stuck in a traffic jam on his way to pick up Lisa from the hospital after her knee surgery, so she decided to just roll herself home in her wheelchair.
In this sentence, the coordinating conjunction so is used to connect two independent clauses. When you use a coordinating conjunction to connect two independent clauses like this, a comma always precedes the coordinating conjunction. This—hey presto!—creates a compound sentence.