World Cup of American Football

[drdougfresh]

Edits on page 2!

I don't know about you, but I have often wondered what the Olympics would be like with American football. Sure, there's soccer, there's hockey, but past that, there's not a lot of super-competitive and fun to watch team sports. I realize that the Olympics are short, and the physical toll American football takes on the human body is not conducive to 2 weeks of back-to-back games-- but bear with me.

I was recently thinking about designing an entire leagues-worth of uniforms for a fictional league-- be it hockey, baseball, or football. I started thinking about it and it hit me: American football is fairly rare across the globe, but I think it would pick up in time. Even more interesting was that aside from the poorly-documented IFAF, there really is not a major international competition for this sport.

Then it hit me, why not combine the two questions/wonders into one monster-project? The creative wheels started turning, and I shared the idea with a few friends on Twitter. My friend Andy from Norway was instrumental in compiling my list. I knew a lot of the countries on my side of the world that should have teams represented in the Olympics, but Andy helped me a lot with the European/Asian side of things. Here's my criteria to have a team in this competition:

-Large, or sizable population and

-A population that loves rugby, hockey, and/or soccer, or;

-Is considered to be one of the "world leaders" in terms of economic power, or;

-Already house an American football league or team.

With those criteria, and our creative minds, we came up with a list of 24 nations that would ideally have a sustainable team with a moderate to large fan base.

The names on the jerseys are for the most part names of players from those countries with NFL experience and are still (realistically) fit for playing football (yes, Hines Ward was born in South Korea). Otherwise, I pulled a name that was common in those countries. Numbers are irrelevant, so don't be mad that a lineman has the #7. It's just done that way.

Here's the link, I didn't want to put 24 images on this thread: American Football in the Olympics

C&C appreciated!

[BrianVlietDesign]

These are fantastic!

[IceCap]

All in all they're pretty great. I love Ghana and South Africa in particular. Just a few notes.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Canada set. I'm not fond of the leaves on the sleeves. I think moving them up to the proper sleeves, or even the shoulders, would be a better idea.

Italy should be blue. Italy always wears blue in international competition.

England, Scotland, and Wales wouldn't have Olympic teams. England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are all part of the United Kingdom. The Olympics don't allow sub-national teams to compete, hence why you never see the English national soccer team at the Summer Olympics.

[drdougfresh]

All in all they're pretty great. I love Ghana and South Africa in particular. Just a few notes.

I'm not sure how I feel about the Canada set. I'm not fond of the leaves on the sleeves. I think moving them up to the proper sleeves, or even the shoulders, would be a better idea.

Italy should be blue. Italy always wears blue in international competition.

England, Scotland, and Wales wouldn't have Olympic teams. England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are all part of the United Kingdom. The Olympics don't allow sub-national teams to compete, hence why you never see the English national soccer team at the Summer Olympics.

Thanks! I was thinking blue for Italy, but when I came up with the crest, it just liked the crimson and gold look a lot more. Said "classic and elegant", much like I view their country. I was getting tired of white and blue, anyway. And as for the UK countries, the only reason I broke them up was the fact that they all have huge rugby following, and I felt it would do a disservice to bunch them together.

Obviously, the Olympics are a long-stretch. So, if that's you hang up, look at it from a World Cup type competition instead.

[MJWalker45]

I'd say color in England and Argentina so they can be read on TV. Swap numbers on the China jerseys. I'd also throw in different number fonts as well. I liked Spain and South Africa. Though I had to see the flag to know it was South Africa. I also liked Germany getting the anthracite treatment instead of the black everyone else wants to give them.

[hockey week]

There are a couple "would they really use that color?" (Scotland using red, Japan in blue, Germany in gray, for instance) and a couple "oh the poor commentators trying to see those numbers" (Argentina, Spain, England), but honestly, a lot of that is just personal preference (well, except perhaps the numbers).

This really is a great set. It's thought out, it's well done, it's without glaring flaws, and darn it, it looks great.

for a first set, that's excellent. I hope all of your projects are this well thought out. Bravo, sir

[drdougfresh]

I'd say color in England and Argentina so they can be read on TV. Swap numbers on the China jerseys. I'd also throw in different number fonts as well. I liked Spain and South Africa. Though I had to see the flag to know it was South Africa. I also liked Germany getting the anthracite treatment instead of the black everyone else wants to give them.

Good thinking on the numbers, I was just going for visual appeal. But if Joe Buck does announcing, I'm not changing them . As for South Africa, I'm glad you brought it up. A few other people had asked me about that, and here's their coat of arms. Germany is my second favorite international team (Dutch and German heritage), so I wanted to do something really uncommon for them. Thanks!

There are a couple "would they really use that color?" (Scotland using red, Japan in blue, Germany in gray, for instance) and a couple "oh the poor commentators trying to see those numbers" (Argentina, Spain, England), but honestly, a lot of that is just personal preference (well, except perhaps the numbers).

This really is a great set. It's thought out, it's well done, it's without glaring flaws, and darn it, it looks great.

for a first set, that's excellent. I hope all of your projects are this well thought out. Bravo, sir

The colors got tricky. Especially when you're working with a narrow set of them. Most countries don't stray from the standard set (black, white, blue, red, yellow, and green) so I had to be imaginative. Germany is (shockingly) the only fabricated uniform color I used. They have never ventured away from the standard red, gold, and black, so I decided to break the mold. Scotland's royal standard flag features a red lion (as seen on the helmet), hence the red. Japan uses blue on all their uniforms, and they call it 'Samurai Blue'. I can't find a factual reasoning, but mostly what I've read says that they use blue as a uni color because of the prevalence of red in the region (Koreas, China, etc.).

Thanks for the comments, guys. International competitions and culture really interest me, so I wanted to get a good product out there!

[Yankeefan38]

These look really good some better than others but overall a great job, only if this was really an Olympic Sport. I love what you did with the Netherlands and Ghana they were my two favorites.

[YessSir32]

These are simply amazing! I would love football in the Olympics.

[thespleenenator]

email these to the Olympic committee, now.

[drdougfresh]

email these to the Olympic committee, now.

Haha, if only it were that easy...

[Yankeefan38]

email these to the Olympic committee, now.

Haha, if only it were that easy...

Haha, yea that would be nice. If it were that easy I would have elephants ice skating in the 2014 Winter Olympics

[Enio125]

These are unbelievable. You should keep going with more countries if you've got the time. The only thing I would suggest is adding a shamrock on the Irish helmet and putting each country's flag on the belt like you did with the Netherlands.

[illwauk]

I always figured American football could work at the Olympics if the IFAF or whatever international governing body held some type of tournament in the host city in the weeks leading up to the games, but only the top 4 teams would actually participate in the Olympics. Semi-finals during the first week, gold medal and bronze medal games the next.

As far as the concepts, most of them are pretty good. Although to echo what some of the others have said, pay attention to what colors the different countries use for international competition since it's not always the same as the flag (e.g. Italy) and keep in mind the commentators who'd have to call this game when choosing number colors.

[drdougfresh]

I always figured American football could work at the Olympics if the IFAF or whatever international governing body held some type of tournament in the host city in the weeks leading up to the games, but only the top 4 teams would actually participate in the Olympics. Semi-finals during the first week, gold medal and bronze medal games the next.

As far as the concepts, most of them are pretty good. Although to echo what some of the others have said, pay attention to what colors the different countries use for international competition since it's not always the same as the flag (e.g. Italy) and keep in mind the commentators who'd have to call this game when choosing number colors.

I like that idea. That, or as I mentioned earlier, a "World Cup" type of event that lasts an entire month. Preferably during the NFL offseason, so Hines Ward can save South Korea's team.

[Yankeefan38]

As much as I would love for this to be possible one day I doubt it will ever happen. The Olympic Committee wouldn't allow it because if NFL players are allowed to play America would run away with it every year. It would take years for any country (besides Canada) to build up a football program. Think about it with all the leagues when your a kid from pee wee to taxi and so one to high school and college, it would take a long time for anyone to even have a chance to competing with America.

[drdougfresh]

As much as I would love for this to be possible one day I doubt it will ever happen. The Olympic Committee wouldn't allow it because if NFL players are allowed to play America would run away with it every year. It would take years for any country (besides Canada) to build up a football program. Think about it with all the leagues when your a kid from pee wee to taxi and so one to high school and college, it would take a long time for anyone to even have a chance to competing with America.

As ironic as it is, Japan has the most titles in the IFAF World Cup. It was our first year in the comp last year and we won, but it took 2 OTs to knock off Japan (who allowed 0 points in the group stage, while scoring 96). As much as I would love to think we'd trample the world in this sport, it's possible that other nations would compete heavily (see: Olympic basketball). It's a team sport, and it's a sport that if you have athletic enough players, you can compete. It's why we see the upsets on Saturdays and Sundays. The announcement of a league like this would get some big response, and all it takes is a few years of training to field a decent team. I think we'd be pleasantly surprised by the level of competition.

[Cola]

As much as I would love for this to be possible one day I doubt it will ever happen. The Olympic Committee wouldn't allow it because if NFL players are allowed to play America would run away with it every year. It would take years for any country (besides Canada) to build up a football program. Think about it with all the leagues when your a kid from pee wee to taxi and so one to high school and college, it would take a long time for anyone to even have a chance to competing with America.

As ironic as it is, Japan has the most titles in the IFAF World Cup. It was our first year in the comp last year and we won, but it took 2 OTs to knock off Japan (who allowed 0 points in the group stage, while scoring 96). As much as I would love to think we'd trample the world in this sport, it's possible that other nations would compete heavily (see: Olympic basketball). It's a team sport, and it's a sport that if you have athletic enough players, you can compete.

Not a chance. It couldn't even be called "competition." The IFAF is basically a joke when it comes to presenting true American talent against the rest of the world. Your comparison of Olympic basketball doesn't work as well here because a.) professionals from the NBA compete and b.) many countries all over the globe regularly play basketball, we are just better at it for the most part.

The IFAF American team doesn't play with professionals. Hell, they don't even play with a team the caliber of 3rd Team All-American college football players. Most were decent Division III players with a few so-so Div I players that faded out in some form or fashion. Let's look at the requirements to be on the team:

- You can't be a professional football player.

- You can't currently be enrolled in college.

- You can't be no more than 1 year removed from college.

Talent pool is a bit slacking with those limitations.

I won't even go as far to include using an NFL roster to prove my point, but just imagine even it was some solid Division 1 players. It would be a total massacre and all other nations would take their ball and go home with one tournament in the books.

[drdougfresh]

As much as I would love for this to be possible one day I doubt it will ever happen. The Olympic Committee wouldn't allow it because if NFL players are allowed to play America would run away with it every year. It would take years for any country (besides Canada) to build up a football program. Think about it with all the leagues when your a kid from pee wee to taxi and so one to high school and college, it would take a long time for anyone to even have a chance to competing with America.

As ironic as it is, Japan has the most titles in the IFAF World Cup. It was our first year in the comp last year and we won, but it took 2 OTs to knock off Japan (who allowed 0 points in the group stage, while scoring 96). As much as I would love to think we'd trample the world in this sport, it's possible that other nations would compete heavily (see: Olympic basketball). It's a team sport, and it's a sport that if you have athletic enough players, you can compete.

Not a chance. It couldn't even be called "competition." The IFAF is basically a joke when it comes to presenting true American talent against the rest of the world. Your comparison of Olympic basketball doesn't work as well here because a.) professionals from the NBA compete and b.) many countries all over the globe regularly play basketball, we are just better at it for the most part.

The IFAF American team doesn't play with professionals. Hell, they don't even play with a team the caliber of 3rd Team All-American college football players. Most were decent Division III players with a few so-so Div I players that faded out in some form or fashion. Let's look at the requirements to be on the team:

- You can't be a professional football player.

- You can't currently be enrolled in college.

- You can't be no more than 1 year removed from college.

Talent pool is a bit slacking with those limitations.

I won't even go as far to include using an NFL roster to prove my point, but just imagine even it was some solid Division 1 players. It would be a total massacre and all other nations would take their ball and go home with one tournament in the books.

Well, this isn't the IFAF, I was merely using it as a comparison that some countries DO have some talent. But if you introduce the sport to a nation and they embrace it, there's no telling what could happen. Look how badly we get our ass kicked in soccer-- probably one of the most athletically demanding sports in the Olympics. Right away, yes, we would murder these other countries. There would probably have to be a mercy rule. But, there's also the fact that if this were in the Olympics, it would probably be 4 games and done (2 semis/final/consolation)-- qualifiers before the event. You give a country like Germany the chance to build up a team in 4 years, I think they could assemble a pretty good group of guys.

Besides, doesn't America need another sport to beat everyone in consistently besides snowcross?

[illwauk]

I like that idea. That, or as I mentioned earlier, a "World Cup" type of event that lasts an entire month. Preferably during the NFL offseason, so Hines Ward can save South Korea's team.

Therein lies the problem... there's no way guys would risk an NFL salary by playing in such a tournament, so you'd probably end up with a U.S. roster filled out by All-MAC 2nd Teamers. But even that would probably still be enough for the Americans to dominate for the next couple decades.