League to consider widening Field to CFL Standards

that would be stupid

 

NFL need to pretty much do anything and everything to save players' brains at this point.

 

.....true, but the stadiums already close to the field might have to undergo some.

 

This is ridiculous. FFS man, just give the NFL a 55 yard line, the CFL an extra down, and merge the two leagues.

Oh, I almost forgot waist flags for the QBs.

 

I don't know if it'd be terrible or not but I'd hate to see us seem like CFL 2.0. We'd never hear the end of it from our neighbors to the north. Plus, what then happens to high school and college fields? Do those change, too? Wouldn't the camera have to pan back further from the field to cover the wider surface area? Depersonalizes the viewing experience a tad to me.

IDK, I think it'd change the dynamic of the game to where certain teams would immediately gain an advantage b/c their personnel would benefit more from having an expanded field, whereas others might even be hindered by it. It's a can of worms I wouldn't want opened. Before we know it we're gonna be watching flag football.

 

That certainly would be preferable to hundreds of former NFL players dying at the age of 45, and the NFL subsequently dissolving.

 

then how about fixing the actual problem rather than changing the game to suit the players' physical evolvement through roids, GH, and supplementation? I don't see hundreds of players from the 60's, 70's, and 80's dying by the age of 45. Some of them are hobbled, but that comes with the territory of being a modern day gladiator, not to mention being handsomely paid and aided by a great benefit plan.

 

I don't disagree. But the NFL's so exposed to liability that they need to adopt an "all-of-the-above" plan. Physical evolution can't really be stopped, even if you test for HGH.

Either way, the problem of NFL players suffering devastating brain damage is one that is growing worse at an exponential level. The NFL needs to take any and all action possible before they are crushed in litigation.

 

It is a contact sport and the risks are known to them. They accept them. If not, someone else will while they deliver mail in a tower or mine coal underground for pennies to the dollars they are making now - not to mention their free education if they were appreciative enough to take advantage of it.

The NFL should take a proactive approach to head trauma, after career benefit programs, etc, but to alter the sport in such drastic ways throws the entire history behind the game to the alley imo.

 

No, the risks are not known. The risks are being discovered to be worse and worse every day. The NFL has been way behind the curve here. It wasn't even acknowledged that football could cause brain damage until just recently. Certainly very few people would play football if it meant a 50% mortality rate by age 45.

 

Hmm, NFL is just biting on the CFL's jock lately...

FWIW, don't like this, different games, 4 downs v 3 downs etc etc

 

And what happens after the first bone crushing hit on a wider field? Then what? What do you do next? Put lead in their shoes so they cant run as fast at each other. Where do you draw the line?

 

Good point.
By the time these players make it to the NFL they're already physically evolved. It needs to stop long before these guys reach the league, like in high school. Not to mention the talented kids who play by the rules would be on a more even playing field as it should be, which I'm a fan of. The penalty for cheating needs to be stiffened b/c obviously the current system doesn't elicit enough fear, at least not enough to supersede aspirations of multi million dollar paydays.

 

Agree about it helping move fans in our stadium closer to the action..... although, now that I think about it, if the hashmarks are widened along with it, the action at times could be even further from one side of the stands, no? Any action in the middle of the field would still be the same distance, and action along the sidelines would be closer to that sideline but even further away from the opposite, so IMO it kind of all washes out.

 

Spread option QBs could really benefit from this is. More exciting play too...

I wouldn't mind a pre season trial run. Just to see what it looks like.

 

People will evolve without cheating. Simple genetic evolution, advanced training techniques, supplements, nutrition, etc. will do that. People will get bigger/faster/stronger without PEDs.

 

I think scoring would go through the roof.

 

Getting coaches to teach form tackling instead of hitting would be a better start.

 

I have to smirk a bit over all of this, just a lil bit..

I'm not in favor of it, the one rule I do think would save injuries in the NFL would be the 5 yd bubble around returners BUT no fair catches, it basically creates a semi open field situation w/o the blocking the league normally requires to create it.

As for cutting down on collisions..nope..if anything the CFL has much harder hitting as defenders have running starts before hitting the offensive player

 

They're already working on that I think?

 

Sounds like a great idea.They should consider going to three downs if they do this.

 

Ew.

I like watching CBs and WRs battle. It's getting to where CBs don't stand a damn chance so you may as well look at your secondary as primarily tacklers, not pass defenders.

 

If this happens resign Reggie Bush.

 

No doubt there are issues that can be improved upon but the above statement is a bit dramatic isn't it?

Hundreds of NFL players dying before the age of 45?

Not to mention you're also assuming with your argument that any deaths in that age range would be impact effect related.
If I'm not mistaken the most common cause of young NFL alumni early deaths are from obesity issues in previous Linemen not impact issues.

 

The only problem I see with it from a player safety standpoint is being too close to the walls/barriers that make up the seating. Otherwise, there are worse ideas out there for the NFL to take on :looks at Arena league WR motion:.

Think of what some coaches could do with that much more space to work with. The screen game would get much more use IMO with the speedier wideouts, and as mentioned the option game would be aided by this.

If this goes through as a new rule, would they limit the crown a team could put on a field? It could certainly help teams in the power running game to hit the sidelines running downhill at a team.

 

Sean Smith and Carroll are definately toast then if they do this. They cannot cover the current size field. Widen it and teams will jail rape our corners. They could do it without even using a RB and throw every play to the outside. Smith and Carroll would be flogged repeatedly.

 

That's what I was thinking. I've seen some pretty damn vicious hits watching CFL games, mainly just because of how much more room players have to gain that speed.

If they do decide however to widen the field, I think they should look at something in between the NFL size today, and the CFL size.

 

Gonna be harder for Tedd Ginn to run out of bounds after the catch.

 

Won't happen. It would require construction of lower stands that were built to accommodate current field sizes. Plus with 4 downs...scoring would become a joke.

 

Lmao I literally spit my drink out reading that. And liquor rarely escapes my lips.

 

I dont think flag football is going to make billions a year....

 

Hard hits cause Turnovers. Turnovers lead to wins.

 

So does wrapping up the ball carrier while pushing against the ball with your helmet to force it out of the carrier's hands.

But that isn't as "awesome" as hitting, so modern NFL players don't do it, even though it's more fundamentally sound. (Remember when Bernard Pollard, hitter extraordinaire, bounced off Michael Crabtree in the Super Bowl?)

 

If the NFL went to a CFL sized field with 4 downs the punter would no longer be required because there would be no punting. Seriously, 4 downs to gain 10 yards on that size field? With only 11 players? I'd stop watching. It would become a joke. Teams would regularly put up 100 points in my opinion. Every offensive record would be a joke. Defense would be the ultimate afterthought. Every game would be a race to 80.

I can not stress enough how horrible this idea is, just atrocious.

 

Stop making sense.

A lot of things wrong with the NFL can be fixed with fundamentals.

It can also be fixed by the rules. Good Old Rog wanted more offense and more scoring so, he opened up the game. The consequences to this is more speed and higher impact collisions.

 

Goodell didn't open up the game, he started protecting whoever holds the ball. The game was open before Goodell was hired. The NFL Competition Committee and its chairman Don Shula opened up passing offense with rules changes in 1978.