Goodell considering doing away with kickoffs

[Rain Man]

If I was commissioner, here's what I would do.

You make the field 70 yards long, but you have two fields in parallel. You then connect them with curves in the end zone to make the thing a big race track. If a guy scores standing up, he keeps running around the track. He gets more points for getting around the curve and reaching the second field, and even more points if he can traverse that entire field. He keeps going until someone finally brings him down. If he can make it fifty laps, his team is racking up points like a pinball machine.

Now, the defensive team can choose to chase the guy, or they can run around in the other direction to stop him on the other side. If a guy is really fast and he scores, some of the defenders may chase him and others will run the opposite direction so they can stop him on the next lap. Maybe you even have a rule where the defenders can throw another guy on the field every time an endzone is crossed.

It would be loads of fun.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

If I was commissioner, here's what I would do.

You make the field 70 yards long, but you have two fields in parallel. You then connect them with curves in the end zone to make the thing a big race track. When a team has the ball, they get points for every end zone that they cross. If a guy scores, he keeps running around the track. He gets more points for reaching the second field, and even more points if he can traverse that entire field. He keeps going until someone finally brings him down.

Now, the defensive team can choose to chase the guy, or they can run around in the other direction to stop him on the other side. If a guy is really fast and he scores, some of the defenders may chase him and others will run the opposite direction so they can stop him on the next lap.

It would be loads of fun.

Just make it a 110 yard oval with two 5 yard end zones. You get 3 points every time you cross an end zone. The interior oval (non playing surface) is divided into two regions that replace the sidelines. Call it Trackball.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by listopencil

Just make it a 110 yard oval with two 5 yard end zones. You get 3 points every time you cross an end zone. The interior oval (non playing surface) is divided into two regions that replace the sidelines. Call it Trackball.

That works for me.

Maybe you don't even give up the ball when you score. You just keep pushing around the track until the other team can stop you.

This would also be a very fun system to watch on defensive turnovers. Some linebacker makes an interception and takes off running. How long does it take to catch him? I think it would be a blast.

Maybe we should invent a new league for this. I think it would surpass football pretty quickly.

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

That works for me.

Maybe you don't even give up the ball when you score. You just keep pushing around the track until the other team can stop you.

This would also be a very fun system to watch on defensive turnovers. Some linebacker makes an interception and takes off running. How long does it take to catch him? I think it would be a blast.

Maybe we should invent a new league for this. I think it would surpass football pretty quickly.

Yeah, that's what I am thinking. Three points each time you have possession through the entire end zone. Passes out of bounds would be tricky. A QB could clip the interior oval on a pass, getting the ball to a receiver from outside of the field of play.

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by listopencil

Yeah, that's what I am thinking. Three points each time you have possession through the entire end zone. Passes out of bounds would be tricky. A QB could clip the interior oval on a pass, getting the ball to a receiver from outside of the field of play.

Could you throw it across the infield to the other side? Or would it be like hockey icing where you can't throw it further than one end zone?

[listopencil]

Originally Posted by Rain Man

Could you throw it across the infield to the other side? Or would it be like hockey icing where you can't throw it further than one end zone?

If you have the "sidelines" in the middle then I think you have to rule out throws across the middle. Too much potential for interference. How about we make the area in the middle circular with a cirumference of 110 yards? The field itself could be 53.5 yards wide.This gives the middle spot a diameter of 35 yards. Eliminate the "sidelines" concept and rent ad space there instead. Allow signage below thirty inches in height. I like your "icing" rule. Say a pass can not circumvent an end zone at any time or it is an illegal "forward pass."

[Rain Man]

Originally Posted by listopencil

If you have the "sidelines" in the middle then I think you have to rule out throws across the middle. Too much potential for interference. How about we make the area in the middle circular with a cirumference of 110 yards? The field itself could be 53.5 yards wide.This gives the middle spot a diameter of 35 yards. Eliminate the "sidelines" concept and rent ad space there instead. Allow signage below thirty inches in height. I like your "icing" rule. Say a pass can not circumvent an end zone at any time or it is an illegal "forward pass."

I'm not sure I'd go for a circular field. You need a straightaway for players to reach top speed.

Throwing across the infield might indeed cause interference. However, I don't think we could avoid it near the ends of the straightaways. If you have a guy accelerating around the curve of the end zone, passes are going to cut across the infield unless you actually block it with a net or something. I think you might have to allow passes across the infield for practical reasons, but perhaps they just can't be thrown to a point behind the line of scrimmage. So if you're at midfield, you can throw "deep" to a guy who runs 50 yards, turns the corner, and runs 40 yards back, but you can't throw deep to a guy who runs 50 yards, turns the corner, and runs 60 yards back.