A Little Further Explanation of an SFL Game

Now remember I am taking this from my memories of nearly 20 years ago. The original field was at the Anderson home in Estherville, Iowa. I believe it was 8 foot pool table in which we added paper stripes to emulate yard lines. The goal posts from an old style gumball set were used as goal posts (the old style gumball helmets came with the goal post in a set—the goal post was used to display the helmets usually). Other materials needed to play a game were a piece of paper, a large size paper clip, a die for each player & several gumball helmets (helmets were from the 80s era when the Falcons still wore a red colored helmet) for each team playing in the game (I will try to put some pictures at the end of this story to give you a better idea).

· Each game consisted of 20 total plays (10 plays for each half). Kickoffs & extra points did not count as part of your 10 plays for each half.

· Your team on the field was 8 helmets. One was your QB, 1 or 2 were your RBs, 1 or 2 were your WRs, you could have a TE (if you only used 1 RB or 1 WR) & 3 OL. On defense, you had 8 helmets used (3 DL, 2 LBs (one on each side), 2 CBs (one on each WR) and a free safety which could be positioned anywhere).

· Your offensive options were a run right (we called it a sweep), a run left (we called it a counter), a pass to a left side receiver (we called it a down & out), a pass to a right side WR (we called it a bomb) and a trick play (was a version of a flea flicker).

· Defensively, you had formations & called your defense based on what you thought the offense might call. The defense would write down their defense on a piece of paper & would show the team on offense their call once the offense revealed their choice. We lined up a “safety” to cover the play if you didn’t call the correct play (the safety would generally be lined up on the side opposite the one you called on defense).

· Each number on the die represented a move of one helmet length times the number on the die. For instance, a roll of 3 on your die meant you could move a helmet 3 helmet lengths (this was for both offense and defense).

· You could pitch the ball to your RB whenever you were ready to. However your QB could be sacked by a defender if you waited too long to pitch the ball to your RB.

· If you decided to pass, you’d move your receiver out to wherever you wanted to throw the ball to the receiver, call pass right before you rolled your die & the outcome was dependent on the roll. If the offense roll was higher than the defensive roll, the pass was completed. If the defensive roll was higher than the offensive roll, the pass was incomplete. And finally if the offense rolled a 1 & the defense a 6, the pass was intercepted by the nearest defensive player to the intended receiver.

· This would also apply to attempting a fumble (if you could make a tackle, you could choose to attempt to strip the ball instead of tackling the ball carrier). If you called this (on defense), you would have to roll a 6 & the offense would have to roll a 1. However, if the defense went for a fumble and was not successful, the RB could break away and get additional yards after contact.

· You could kick FGs or punt the ball based on where you were on the field of play (just like real football), but I can remember we had a few games in which people tried FGs of greater than 50 yards (not done very much in the real game). However, the field goal measured at less than 4 inches in width so a FG the length of the field was a very high risk call, unless it was the last play of the half or the game.