Death of the Alliance of American Football

[Mac the Knife]

On 6/16/2018 at 8:11 PM, Ferdinand Cesarano said:

Radical suggestion: get rid of punts, too, as well as extra points. On 4th down, teams would have to go for it or try a field goal. And, after each touchdown (worth 7), the other team would just start from the 20.

 

At first I imagined eliminating field goals as well (and just living with the snarky comments about football no longer having anything to do with the foot). But leaving only one way to score (apart from the rare safety) would produce too many tie games.

 

I think plenty of people would enjoy a game that consisted almost entirely of plays from scrimmage, even on 4th-and-long when outside of field-goal range.

 

And you could make those plays from scrimmage a lot safer by adopting the CFL's one-yard buffer, and also by outlawing the three-point stance.

 

16 hours ago, NYC Cosmos said:

Here is a funky thought. of extra points, a bar would come up ⅓ of the way. If the kicker nails that window, its 2 points. If it is above that crossbar, it is worth a point. The bar can be automatic. push a button and the bar comes down from inside the goalpost. easy technology when you think of it.

 

I like the one-yard buffer rule, but the defense is going to want something in return. 

 

Looks like San Antonio will be the eighth and final team.

 

There's some ridiculousness in these, but there's also some things worth considering.

 

Getting rid of punts is a bad idea, as is going "Arena style" with fourth down rules.  I'm also opposed to eliminating field goals.  Extra point kicks, however?  I honestly think could be replaced by a simple, and far more exciting system, taking a small page from the XFL:  scoring teams try via one scrimmage down for 1 point from the 5, 2 from the 15, and 3 from the 25.  That would make a 9-point gap surmountable instead of the 8 of today (and the 7 of the pre-1994 era).  If a defensive return occurs, those point values are reversed - if the offense was trying for 1 point, the defense would get 3; if the offense was trying for 2, the defensive team would get 2; and if the offense was trying for 3, the defense would get 1 for a return.

 

I completely agree that the CFL's one-yard LOS gap would improve safety.  I have absolutely no data to support it, but something inherently tells me that it's safer than what the NFL has.  It'd make 3rd-and-1 or 4th-and-1's almost certain first downs, but for sake of safety that's a trade worth making.

 

One fundamental rule change I think I've advocated elsewhere here is to simply redefine what a "tackle" is.  It's currently written in the book as:

 

Quote

SECTION 35 TACKLING
Tackling is an attempt by a defensive player to hold a runner to halt his advance or bring him to the ground.

 

Meanwhile, the NCAA book provides a different definition:

Quote

SECTION 26. Tackling
Tackling is grasping or encircling an opponent with a hand(s) or arm(s).

 

The NFL needs to adopt the NCAA definition, if not expound upon it.

[Gothamite]

Indeed.  Impact tackling, simply knocking an opponent down, should be banned. When that happens, ballcarriers should be able to get up and keep running. 

[Mac the Knife]

Actually I think it should go one step beyond and be an Illegal Contact penalty - 10 yards from the spot of the foul.

[Gothamite]

Even better. 

 

Or ten yards on the end of the run. 

[Mac the Knife]

18 minutes ago, Gothamite said:

Even better. 

 

Or ten yards on the end of the run. 

Well, they'd be one in the same essentially, but yeah.

[Gothamite]

In my world, knocking somebody to the ground wouldn’t count as downing them. They’d have to be touched while on the ground. 

 

If a runner gets knocked down, and then get back up again without being touched, I’d give him whatever extra yardage he could get, and then ten yards on top of that.

 

Football, not bumper cars. 

[GDAWG]

AAF San Antonio to name GM and Head Coach:

 

 

[tigers]

18 hours ago, Gothamite said:

In my world, knocking somebody to the ground wouldn’t count as downing them. They’d have to be touched while on the ground. 

 

If a runner gets knocked down, and then get back up again without being touched, I’d give him whatever extra yardage he could get, and then ten yards on top of that.

 

Football, not bumper cars. 

 

This is the best idea of changes for Football I have heard for a long time.

Would stop guys diving at others knees and ankles trying to take them out.

[leopard88]

6 hours ago, tigers said:

 

This is the best idea of changes for Football I have heard for a long time.

Would stop guys diving at others knees and ankles trying to take them out.

 

I think a better middle ground would be basing a penalty on whether a player made a reasonable attempt to wrap and tackle the runner.

 

I know this brings another element of subjectivity into play and invites controversy, as with the pass interference rule.  However, if the intent is just to eliminate the knockout hit that involves no effort to wrap up the runner, a smaller player who goes low on a runner shouldn't be penalized if he isn't able to wrap up but still brings down the runner.

[tigers]

7 minutes ago, leopard88 said:

 

I think a better middle ground would be basing a penalty on whether a player made a reasonable attempt to wrap and tackle the runner.

 

I know this brings another element of subjectivity into play and invites controversy, as with the pass interference rule.  However, if the intent is just to eliminate the knockout hit that involves no effort to wrap up the runner, a smaller player who goes low on a runner shouldn't be penalized if he isn't able to wrap up but still brings down the runner.

 

I said diving, you know like just throwing themselves at their legs.

 

If they make an attempt to tackle them fairly without trying to break the oppositions legs then fairs fair.

[Mac the Knife]

So the AAF lineup is set: Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego. An interesting group of cities, but it's not really a national league with no markets north of Memphis east of the Mississippi River, no?

[B-Rich]

1 hour ago, Mac the Knife said:

So the AAF lineup is set: Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego. An interesting group of cities, but it's not really a national league with no markets north of Memphis east of the Mississippi River, no?

 

Yeah--- although SLC is a bit of stretch, it's pretty much the "Sun Belt League"...

[NYC Cosmos]

Should have been a 12-team league: St. Louis, NY, Chicago, Sacramento.

 

Mike Riley, again, in San Antonio? Well, at least his QB was Jason Garrett.

[MJWalker45]

10 minutes ago, B-Rich said:

 

Yeah--- although SLC is a bit of stretch, it's pretty much the "Sun Belt League"...

With a February start it makes the most sense. As much as we might like watching games in the snow at home, the players, coaches and stadium staff don't. Since they'll be playing in town, I'll probably catch a couple games but I won't do the seat license thing because I doubt they'll sell out the Alamodome.

[MJWalker45]

7 minutes ago, NYC Cosmos said:

Should have been a 12-team league: St. Louis, NY, Chicago, Sacramento.

 

Mike Riley, again, in San Antonio? Well, at least his QB was Jason Garrett.

So it'll be Kellen Moore this time?

[buzzcut]

As I said in the XFL thread, look for that league to have a similar lineup. Incidentally, 6 of the 8 markets will go up against the NBA(Birmingham and San Diego are the exceptions).

[TBGKon]

11 hours ago, GDAWG said:

AAF San Antonio to name GM and Head Coach:

 

 

So is Moose leaving Fox broadcasts for NFL?

[TBGKon]

3 hours ago, Mac the Knife said:

So the AAF lineup is set: Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego. An interesting group of cities, but it's not really a national league with no markets north of Memphis east of the Mississippi River, no?

Not a bad strategy though, keep things regional and in control and then expand/relocate later.  NBADL started in the Southeast with 8 teams i think and it grew from there.

 

Also, going by this i think its safe to assume the XFL will target St Louis and NorCal.

[GDAWG]

1 hour ago, AstroBull21 said:

So is Moose leaving Fox broadcasts for NFL?

 

We'll find out when he's announced, but if I had to guess, the answer would probably be no. 

[dfwabel]

1 hour ago, AstroBull21 said:

So is Moose leaving Fox broadcasts for NFL?

The league's co-founder (Polian) is keeping his ESPN job, so why should Moose leave his?