Arena football

This article is about the sport of arena football. For the video game, see Arena Football (video game).
Arena football

Colorado Crush (white) at the Kansas City Brigade (light blue).
Highest governing body Arena Football League
Nicknames Indoor football, football, gridiron football
First played June 19, 1987; Washington Commandos vs. Pittsburgh Gladiators
Characteristics
Contact Collision
Team members 8 at a time
Type Indoor pro football

Arena football is a variety of indoor gridiron football played by the Arena Football League (AFL) and China Arena Football League (CAFL). It used to be a proprietary game (the rights to which were owned by Gridiron Enterprises) but the patent expired in 2007. The game is played indoors on a smaller field than American or Canadian outdoor football, resulting in a faster and higher-scoring game. The sport was invented in 1981, and patented in 1987, by James F. Foster, Jr., a former executive of the National Football League and the United States Football League. Though not the only variant of indoor American football, it is the most widely known, and the one on which most other forms of modern indoor football are at least partially based.

Three leagues have played under arena football rules: the AFL, which played 22 seasons from 1987 to 2008 and resumed play under new ownership in 2010; arenafootball2, the AFL's erstwhile developmental league, which played 10 seasons from 2000 through 2009, and the CAFL, which began play in 2016 but is not directly affiliated with the AFL.

History

While attending the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL) All-Star game on February 11, 1981, at Madison Square Garden, Jim Foster came up with his version of football and wrote the rules and concepts down on the outside of a manila folder, which resides at the Arena Football Hall of Fame. Over the next five years, he created a more comprehensive and definitive set of playing rules, playing field specifications and equipment, along with a business plan to launch a proposed small, initial league to test market the concept of arena football nationally. As a key part of that plan, while residing in the Chicago area, he tested the game concept through several closed door practice sessions in late 1985 and early 1986 in nearby Rockford. After fine tuning the rules, he then secured additional operating capital to play several test games in the MetroCentre in April 1986 and the Rosemont Horizon Arena in February 1987.

The birth of the Arena Football League

The original Arena Football logo, used by the Arena Football League from 1987 to 2002[1][2]

The next critical step for Jim Foster was securing a network television contract with ESPN and an initial group of key national corporate sponsors including United Airlines, Holiday Inn, Wilson Sporting Goods, Budget Rental Car, and Hardees Restaurants. As the league's founding commissioner, (1986–1992) he established a league office with a small staff in suburban Chicago, and with addition of some much needed additional investor capital, was ready to launch the Arena Football League. On June 19, 1987, the Pittsburgh Gladiators hosted the Washington Commandos in the first league game after a two-week training camp for all four charter teams in Wheaton, Illinois.

AFL football operations and training was overseen by veteran college and pro head coach, Mouse Davis, the father of the famed "run and shoot" offense, (which became the basis for the high scoring arena football offense still in use today). The other two 1987 teams were the Chicago Bruisers and the Denver Dynamite, (the ArenaBowl I Champions). As the AFL grew into an established league with close to 20 teams, it defined itself as a major market pro sports product and welcomed Commissioner C. David Baker (1996–2008). In the early 2000s the league appeared to have financially strong team ownership roster includes NFL owners, as well as major names in the entertainment world, and, for a while, a weekly Sunday afternoon broadcast on NBC starting the week after the Super Bowl, during the stadium-played game's off season. The growth and establishment of the AFL as a major market league spawned a developmental league that Foster also helped co-found, a minor league called Arena Football 2 (af2), in 2000. The league was set up to operate in medium size markets around the U.S. where it has enjoyed growth under the guidance of af2 President, Jerry Kurz. Other people have started their own indoor football minor leagues. These leagues do not technically play Arena football or use the proper name "Arena Football" which is a registered trademark, and initially because of the patent on the rules (specifically for the rebound nets, and related rules[3]) that Foster obtained in 1990 (which was actually held by Gridiron Enterprises, Inc. of which Foster is one of three partners). The other two partners were Chicago based lawyers Bill Niro and Jerry Kurz, who in early 1987 joined Foster to help secure the patents on the Arena Football game system and re-establish the Arena Football League in early 1990 as a franchised league after successfully removing a small group of limited partners for multiple breaches of the limited partnership agreement that was the basis for operating the AFL during the 1988 season. The patents expired in 2007.[4]

Rules of the game

The field

Arena football is played exclusively indoors, in arenas usually designed for either basketball or ice hockey teams. The field is the same width (85 feet (26 m)) and length (200 feet (61 m)) as a standard NHL hockey rink. The scrimmage area is 50 yards long (unlike the field in NFL which is 100 yards long), and each end zone is approximately eight yards deep. Depending on the venue in which a game is being played, the end zones may be rectangular (like a basketball court) or, where necessary because of the building design, rounded (like a hockey rink). Each sideline has a heavily padded barrier, with the padding placed over the hockey dasher boards.

An AFL goalpost

The goalpost uprights are 9 feet (2.7 m) wide, and the crossbar is 15 feet (4.6 m) above the playing surface. Taut rebound nets on either side of the posts bounce any missed field goals back into the field of play. The ball is "live" when rebounding off these nets or their support apparatus. The entire goalframe and goalside rebound net system is suspended on cables from the rafters. The bottom of the two goalside rebound nets are 8 feet (2.4 m) off the playing surface. Each netframe is 32 feet (9.8 m) high by 30 feet (9.1 m) wide.

A player is not counted as out of bounds on the sidelines unless he is pushed into or falls over the sideline barrier. This rule was put in place before the 2006 season. Before that time, a sideline with only a small amount of space (typically 6" to 12") existed between the sideline stripe and the barrier which would provide the space for a ball carrier to step out of bounds before hitting the sideline barrier.

The players

Each team fields eight players at a time from a 20-man active roster. Before 2007, players played both offense and defense except for the Quarterback, Kicker, and Offensive Specialist (Wide Receiver/Running Back combination) and two Defensive Specialists (Defensive Backs).

Substitution rules

Rules before 2007 season

If a player enters and leaves, from the moment he leaves the player is considered "dead" and cannot return to play until the designated time is served.

Exception: a "dead" player may participate on kickoffs, or as long snapper or holder. In 2006, the AFL changed its substitution rules such that free substitutions are now allowed on all kickoffs.

New rules for 2007 season

The most significant change was the introduction of free substitution, the so-called "Elway Rule". Previously, AFL coaches were limited to one substitution per position per quarter. Beginning with the 2007 season, coaches were permitted to substitute players at will.

The rationale was that free substitution would improve the overall quality of football in the league by giving coaches the freedom to put their best players on the field for every play of the game, and that teams would be able to select from a wider player talent pool when building their rosters. Traditionalists, however, believed the rule changes were the beginning of the removal of the "Ironman" (two-way offense and defense) style of play of arena football that the league had actively promoted for 20 seasons, and that removing the "Ironman" style of play took away a key component of what made arena football a distinctive sport over other versions of football (NFL, CFL, other indoor leagues, etc.).

Formations

Four offensive players must be on the line of scrimmage at the snap; one of the linemen must declare himself the Tight end. One offensive player may be moving forward at the time of the snap. Three defensive players must be in a three- or four-point stance at the start of the snap. Two defenders serve as linebackers, called the Mac and the Jack. The Mac may blitz from the side of the line opposite the offensive Tight End. The Jack's role has changed after new rules set in place by the league in 2008. The Jack cannot blitz, but under new, more defense-friendly rules, the Jack Linebacker may roam sideline to sideline within five yards of the line of scrimmage and drop into coverage once the Quarterback pump fakes.[5] (Before this rule, the Jack could not drop back into coverage until the ball is thrown or the quarterback is no longer in the pocket, and the Jack had to stay within the box designated by the outside shoulders of the offensive line, the line of scrimmage, and five (5) yards back from the line of scrimmage.)

Ball movement

The ball is kicked off from the goal line, to start the halves and odd overtimes, or after any score except for a safety, where the free kick occurs from the 5-yard line. The team with the ball is given four downs to gain ten yards or score. Punting is illegal because of the size of the playing field, however, a field goal that either misses wide (therefore bouncing off the nets surrounding the goalposts) or falls short, may be returned. Thus an impossibly long field goal is tantamount to a punt in other football variants. A receiver jumping to catch a pass needs to get only one foot down in bounds for the catch to be ruled a completed catch, just as in college football. Practically, this means that one foot must touch the ground before the receiver is pushed into the boards by an opposing player. Passes that bounce off the rebound nets remain "live." Balls that bounce off the padded walls that surround the field are "live"; the end zone walls were not live until the 2006 season.

Scoring

The scoring is the same as in the NFL with the addition of a drop kick field goal worth four points during normal play or two points as a post-touchdown conversion. Blocked extra points and turnovers on two-point conversion attempts may be returned by the defensive team for two points.

Timing

Current timing rules

A game has four 15-minute quarters with a 12-minute halftime (ArenaBowl has a 30-minute interval). Each team is allowed three timeouts per half.

The clock stops for out-of-bounds plays, incomplete passes, or sacks only in the last minute of each half or overtime (there is only a one-minute warning, as opposed to the two-minute warning in the NFL and the three-minute warning in the CFL) or because of penalties, injuries or timeouts. The clock also stops for any change in possession, until the ball is marked ready for play; for example, aside from in a half's final minute, time continues to run down after a touchdown, but stops after an extra point or two-point conversion attempt. If a quarter ends as a touchdown is scored, an untimed conversion attempt takes place. The play clock is 35 seconds, starting at the end of the previous play. In some arenas, the final minute of the period is measured in tenths of a second.

During the final minute of the fourth quarter, the clock stops if the offensive team has the lead and does not advance the ball past the line of scrimmage. This prevents the offensive team from merely kneeling down or running other plays that are designed solely to exhaust the remaining time rather than to advance the ball downfield, as often occurs in outdoor football. In the first overtime, each team gets one possession to score. Whoever is ahead after one possession wins. If the teams are tied after each has had a possession, true sudden death rules apply thereafter. Each overtime period is 15 minutes, and continues from the ending of the previous overtime period until the tie is broken. All overtimes thereafter are true sudden death. Teams get three timeouts per two overtime periods.

Previous timing rule changes

Before the 2006 season, there was one 15-minute overtime period, and if it expired with the teams still tied, the game was recorded as a tie. There were two ties in AFL history before the 2006 rule change (although a cancelled game in 2015 was simply ruled a tie):

Before 2006, the play clock was 25 seconds, and it began on the signal from the referee.

Graduates to the NFL

Some AFL players have gone on to have successful careers in the NFL, most notably Kurt Warner. Warner played college football at University of Northern Iowa and then quarterbacked the AFL's Iowa Barnstormers to ArenaBowl X in 1996 and ArenaBowl XI in 1997, before earning two NFL MVP Awards, a Super Bowl MVP Award and quarterbacking two different teams to the Super Bowl, winning Super Bowl XXXIV.

Another, probably the second most notable behind Warner, could be Fred Jackson, although he never technically played arena football. Jackson played indoor football with the Sioux City Bandits in 2004 when they played in the NIFL (2004) and the UIF in 2005 before finally moving on to NFL Europa's Rhein Fire in 2006, then to the NFL after Rhein.

Following an initial undistinguished NFL career, being released or unsigned for four seasons out of eight, quarterback Tommy Maddox would revitalize himself with the AFL's New Jersey Red Dogs for one season before going on to quarterback the Los Angeles Xtreme to the XFL championship win and eventually return to the NFL for five seasons, retiring with a Super Bowl ring after the Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL.

Others Arena to NFL graduates include Anthony Armstrong, Oronde Gadsden, Lincoln Coleman, Adrian McPherson, Rashied Davis, Jay Feely, Rob Bironas, Antonio Chatman, Mike Vanderjagt, and Paul Justin. Former Arena League MVP Jay Gruden (brother of Jon Gruden) went on to coach the Orlando Predators of the AFL, and is currently the head coach for the Washington Redskins. Eddie Brown, voted in 2006 as the greatest player in AFL history,[6][7] never played in the NFL, but his son Antonio Brown joined the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2010 and was voted to the Pro Bowl in 2011, 2013, 2014, and 2015.

Other media

Even though arena football is a relatively young sport, it has appeared in other forms of popular culture over the course of its existence. It has appeared in films, television, literature, as well as video games (about the sport, as well as referenced in others).

Fatalities

Los Angeles Avengers player Al Lucas died, from a spinal cord injury, on April 10, 2005 in a game against the New York Dragons. Although it might be attributed to the rough style of arena football, the tackle, during a first quarter kickoff, was not very different from those in stadium-played football. Lucas was 26 years old at the time. It is the only fatality in the history of the Arena Football League.

The only fatality in the history of af2 is Bakersfield Blitz FB / LB Julian Yearwood on July 19, 2003 during a game against the Wichita Stealth. Yearwood came out of the game in the first quarter after blocking a field goal attempt allegedly claiming that he wasn't well, collapsed, and was later pronounced dead at Via Christi St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, Kansas after medical personnel worked to resuscitate him. As a result, the game was abandoned in the first quarter with a 7–7 score. Both teams were credited with a tie in the standings.

See also

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arena football.
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