NFL has considered widening the playing field 35 feet, and reportedly may revisit the idea By Frank Schwab | Shutdown Corner The NFL reportedly might consider widening the playing field to Canadian Football League standards, a drastic idea that would be one of the bigger rules changes the game has seen in a long time – if it comes to pass. The National Football Post reported that the league has talked about widening the field sideline-to-sideline from 160 feet to 195 feet, which is the CFL standard, and the league might look into the idea again this offseason. The National Football Post said the competition committee discussed the idea a year ago. In theory, a wider field would be safer for a league that has much bigger and faster players than it did decades ago. “I’m not so sure we shouldn’t think about widening the field,” former competition committee member Bill Polian told the National Football Post. “It’s a radical idea, but I think it’s worth thinking about. You would have more space and perhaps a safer game. I say that based on my CFL experience. There are less collisions of that type in the Canadian game.” The idea of a wider field is radical, and although the league needs to improve player safety, it seems like changing the dimensions of the field would take a lot of convincing to a league that doesn't make major modifications very often. The National Football Post story made the counter-argument that the wider field might not necessarily help player safety, because players would have more room to build up speed and have bigger collisions. There would be many logistical issues. Many stadiums were built with the 160-foot wide field in mind, with every foot of possible room used for seats that generate revenue. Widening the field by more than 10 yards might make the playing area inside the stands a bit snug. Also, for teams that use the fields for college or high school state playoff games, converting between the two would be a difficult task. Also, there's the fact that it's hard to imagine the NFL changing one of the basic foundations of the game after so many years with the same size field. The last change this drastic might be when the league moved the goal posts from the goal line to the back of the end zone in 1974. Changing the width of the field would be a major change to the game, and while it doesn't logically seem very likely to happen soon, the NFL needs to look at every possibility to quell the negative publicity over player safety issues.
oh boy.... forget the structural logistics but what about the impact on an NFL roster with regard to player stamina, speed, and ability to adapt to a larger field - especially coming from the college game.
I'm not sure there's going to be a big impact on injuries either. Having the field be 35 yards wider just means fewer people able to get out of bounds before they get hit. The reason the CFL has fewer injuries than the NFL is the culture of the CFL.
Making the field wider would definitely open up the offenses more and in theory replace the hard-hitting entertainment with lots more scoring. I think there's a good chance this is what the NFL angles for as the litigation forces them to evolve whether they want to or not.
If they make the field wider they should make it proportionally longer too IMO. Maybe consider using the metric system instead of yards as well.
Going to 100 meters instead of 100 yards would add 8 yards to the field length. Really the NFL should be thinking about how to make the game last for the long haul and make as many positive changes at once as are feasible from a continuity stand point. They're making small incremental changes in the rules so far but those changes are being overwhelmed by the pace and potential scope of litigation. Getting out in front by making real changes now instead of being forced to do so incrementally would be a wise course of action. The NFL should have test environments out there that are being used to explore the market impacts on an ongoing basis. It would be a tricky process to navigate but it's probably the direction the NFL has to go to get to the next stable market state.
Pro Football Talk says widening the field is NOT on the agenda of the competition committee. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...-field-isnt-on-competition-committees-agenda/
There are 320+ lb players in the CFL also. I don't think widening the field does much to the trenches, it just makes speed more important for the people not in the trenches.
Yeah I didn't get that part of the article. I think you're more spot on saying skill position speed becomes more important.
It gives you more space to run the ball with. Kickoff and punt returns will be easier since the kickoff/punt teams will have to spread out more. Running outside the tackles will be easier because CBs will be spread out wider.
A wider field would just make the passing game even more dominant and make it harder for the defense. It should have no impact on player injury, IMO, and may even add to more injury since players will be running longer distances (and having more momentum) before tackling one another.
I don't see how widening the field will lead to game getting safer. IMO, this is considerred purely for "viewing pleasure" purposes -- another way to stress offence.
The offense also has only 3 downs in the CFL which means less plays and less opportunity to for injury. Also the 1 less down helps even the advantage the offense has on a field that size.
Thread name is miseading I'm no Goodell fan... but I haven't read anywhere that this is Goodell's idea.
Not that many. You'll see American football safeties moved to LB frequently. For the most part, everyone is smaller and still not as fast as the NFLers. CFL game is very offensive driven. For example, WRs are allowed a running start prior to snap in the slot (completely nullifying certain aspects of press man cover or jamming). The pass always sets up the run in the CFL. You could also land a 747 in a CFL end-zone. I much prefer the NFL game/rules/regulations. Well, the Tagliabue NFL.
Isn't it possible that more open space would equal more high-speed collisions? Wasn't that the logic behind the talk about eliminating kickoff returns?
This is like that south park episode. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlv6BrrxD_4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
CFL games have 12 guys on O, and 12 guys on D. Are they suggesting making the field bigger, but keeping it 11 on 11, while keeping 4 downs instead of 3? This is just stupid and reeks of removing defense from the game. does nothing regarding injury.
