Pothole Prairie by Tim Engstrom

Surprise, surprise!

There is a football league playing football the way I have argued that it ought to be played — without pads.

It’s the American 7 Football League, or A7FL.

It offers seven-man football with no helmets or pads with clear rules on how to tackle. There aren’t kickoffs or field goals. There presently are seven teams from New York to Virginia, and each team has a roster of 25 people.

The league website calls it, “The game America wants.”

I do. There is a misconception about how players use helmets. People think wearing them protects players from being hit in the head. The truth is that players wearing a helmet smack other players with the helmets, increasing the risk of concussion. Without pads they don’t ram their heads into the other players. It’s that simple. You are more cautious with your body without pads.

In addition, I have argued that there ought to be limitations to substitution, like in pre-1950s football when players played on offense and defense. I believe that worn-out players are less likely to hurt each other than fresh, ready-to-hit players. Presently, football’s two-platoon system often pits fresh players against weary players.

Statistics show the quarter with the most occurrences of injuries is the third. But don’t be fooled. The research studies say the reason it has the most injuries is players don’t warm up and stretch again after the halftime break, like they do at the start.

Besides injuries, I am puzzled by the sheer number of bench warmers the high school, college and pro aspects of football requires. Colleges hand out 85 scholarships for football alone, and they only play 11 to 13 games. Think of how many college scholarships are spent on players who hardly see game action. Those scholarships could benefit many wrestling, baseball, gymnastics, golf and soccer male athletes.

A7FL allows unlimited substitution, but with rosters capped at 25 players and no special teams, that does some of the job of ensuring players are likely to get time on the field.

Pop Warner saw participation drop 9.5 percent between 2010 and 2012, according to Steve Fainaru of ESPN. That is a signal that fewer and fewer boys of the next generation will be interested in playing football.

A7FL President Ryan DePaul said the season runs eight weeks starting March 1, 2015. He said the players get called up from a minor league in the sport called TownBeef Football, founded in 2006. Both leagues were formed by the same men. They didn’t want to quit playing the sport after they hung up the pads after high school or college. They were good but not good enough for the pros. And they wanted to reduce injuries.

They got rid of special teams, where many of the injuries occur during full sprints followed by collisions. Tackling requires tacklers to wrap up, not throw shoulders. The first tackler can attempt below the knees but not additional tacklers. And piling on is forbidden.

With fewer big bodies in the middle — two lineman on each side — there are fewer chances for players to get twisted around other bodies and limbs. In this league, holding actually isn’t allowed. It is tolerated far too often in the college and pro game.

Quarterbacks have three words to get the snap off. Offenses can go on the first, second or third word. This keeps the offense’s edge a surprise, and removes eating the clock to get the other side to jump offside. This accelerates play.

The league shrinks the width of a conventional football field from 53.33 yards to 40 yards and keeps the usual length of 100 yards with 10-yard end zones.

So in a league without kicking, where the ball doesn’t touch feet, is it strange to call it football?

“We have juggled the idea of changing it but have never come up with a name we liked,” DePaul said, “and when any American sees our game, I’m sure they’ll will identify it with football.”

Don’t believe football has to make changes? Scoff today all you want. I’m a big football fan, too. I’m telling you, in 20 years, football is going to look a lot different. It might be more like the A7FL.

In a nutshell, people will want to preserve the fun of running between defenders or passing to receivers. Some fans want the violence, but that factor is overrated. The real play-to-play thrill of the game for most fans, coaches, players and TV viewers is in the ball movement and defense of that movement, not the injuries.

 

Albert Lea Tribune Editor Tim Engstrom’s column appears every Tuesday.