# The Alliance of American Football



## Lazybird8654 (Feb 8, 2019)

So the new Alliance of American Football launches tomorrow here is couple news stories on it
http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...-know-first-alliance-american-football-season
http://www.espn.com/college-footbal...er-ready-bring-fun-alliance-american-football

Rule changes aganist NFL (taken from Espn article):

The most notable one is no kickoffs, which is something Polian insisted on if he was going to be involved. They did this because data they collected said the kickoff was largely a non-dynamic play where the largest number of injuries occurred. Also, fans and players dislike the kickoff on the whole, and it affects overall game time. Instead, the ball starts on the 25-yard line after each score or at the start of the game.


Instead of an onside kick, if a team is trailing by 17 points or there's five minutes or less left in the fourth quarter, a team can attempt an onside conversion. They get the ball on their own 28-yard line and have to convert a fourth-and-12. If they do, they keep the ball and keep going. Don't convert, and the opponent takes over from the point at which they stop them.


There are no extra point kicks, so a team is going for two after every touchdown.


Overtime rules have the ball starting on the 10-yard line with four downs and a two-point extra point if a team scores (field goals are not allowed).


There's also a significant change in pass-rushing rules for defenses. Teams can rush only five players and can't blitz players from the secondary. If you have five men on the line of scrimmage on defense, those are the only players who can rush. "With less than a month to get our teams ready to play, the hardest part to get cohesiveness in is the offensive line," Polian said. "So if we came with all the exotic blitzes that we see, which is basically coming out of the secondary, they couldn't pick it up and we're going to get quarterbacks hurt, and it's not much of a game, honestly. Nobody wants to see the quarterback sacked repeatedly."


With replays, officials won't have to go under the hood or watch a tablet. Instead, the official will have an earpiece to communicate directly on the field with the replay official in real time. All of this is designed to help shorten game times. The hope is for games to be two and a half hours or less.

Other rule changes:  
Play clock is 35 seconds (5 seconds faster then NFL)                                                                 No television timeouts                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     All the teams are from the south and sunbelt states.


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## User names must be unique (Feb 8, 2019)

American football is boring, just play rugby like the rest of the world.


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## Jeanne d'Arc (Feb 8, 2019)

These rules are a breath of fresh air. Would love to see the NFL adapt these, but Christ knows they won't as football purists would raise hell about any changes to the game.


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## Queen Elizabeth II (Feb 8, 2019)

User names must be unique said:


> American football is boring, just play rugby like the rest of the world.



American Football is Rugby for wusses. Real men don't need any of that faggy body armour you pansies.


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## gobbogobb (Feb 8, 2019)

All those rules are really cool except for the pass-rushing one.


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## sasazuka (Feb 8, 2019)

I saw the title and assumed it would be a revival of the World League of American Football, that league where Montreal got a pseudo-NFL team for a year or two in the early 1990s.


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## RealtreeByGod (Feb 8, 2019)

Pass rush rule is absolutely pants-on-head retarded. Removing special teams as a skill and strategy is something else I've always been against, but it's not as huge of a deal.

Offense is already catered to too much in the NFL, and this league is taking it to the next level by letting us watch QBs sit in clean pockets and either pick zones apart or step up, run, and slide for 9 yards a pop.


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## NOT Sword Fighter Super (Feb 8, 2019)

Hockey is best sport, and I'm not even a leaf fag.


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## Lazybird8654 (Feb 8, 2019)

Here are the teams:





Early CBSSports.com power rankings put the Arizona, Orlando, and San Antonio teams in the top 3 with the Memphis team at the bottom of the rankings:
https://www.cbssports.com/aaf/news/...-at-the-top-of-alliance-of-american-football/


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## whatever I feel like (Feb 8, 2019)

> The most notable one is no kickoffs, which is something Polian insisted on if he was going to be involved. They did this because data they collected said the kickoff was largely a non-dynamic play where the largest number of injuries occurred. Also, fans and players dislike the kickoff on the whole, and it affects overall game time. Instead, the ball starts on the 25-yard line after each score or at the start of the game.




Yeah, fuck that. And fuck the lack of rushing options.


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## RG 448 (Feb 9, 2019)

I just love that these rules reduce the amount of foot-on-ball action in football even more.


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## Foxxo (Feb 9, 2019)

Annie said:


> These rules are a breath of fresh air. Would love to see the NFL adapt these, but Christ knows they won't as football purists would raise hell about any changes to the game.


They can't just _change_ things, definitely not this much. This is Burgerland, not Cuck Island. I sure would love to see how long this new dumpster fire lasts with 29% fewer broadcasting ads, though.


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## Lazybird8654 (Feb 9, 2019)

Ironically this league was formed by the guy who made the This Was the XFL 30 for 30 movie. This league will also be on the CBS sports network which is such a unknown network to put this on.

Nfl also seems to be in support of this as they are broadcasting 19 games on NFL Network:
https://aaf.com/nfl-network-to-televise-19-alliance-of-american-football
TNT and B/R live are also broadcasting games.

CBSSports.com video on the league:
http://www.cbssports.com/general/video/10f8c5a8-5d80-43fb-a6f4-81296830cf93
Guy in video says league is looking to compliment the NFL and not compete against it.

Here is a more complete list of rule changes from it's Wikipedia page:

Teams will have 52 players on each roster, with some selected by a territorial draft. The territory assigned to a team consists of at least five colleges plus designated professional teams, one Canadian Football League, and four NFL teams, for those from Big Ten and the Big 12 conferences. Only one quarterback can be taken from their region. A quarterbacks-only "Protect or Pick" draft was conducted in November 2018 in which teams may retain their allocated quarterback or select an unprotected quarterback from another team.
Telecasts will feature no television timeouts and 60 percent fewer "full-screen commercials," with the league aiming for an approximate real-time game length of 150 minutes, down from just over 180 in the NFL. In turn, the AAF aims to charge more money for the remaining commercial slots, also alluding to product placement opportunities that do not interrupt the game telecast.
All teams must attempt two-point conversions after each touchdown; there will be no extra point kicks.
Defenses will be forbidden from advancing more than five players on or across the line of scrimmage, and no defensive player can cross the line of scrimmage from more than two yards outside the offensive tackles.  The "illegal defense" penalty for violating these rules is a 15-yard penalty.
There will be no kickoffs; possession at the start of each half, and after scores, will begin on a team's own 25-yard line, the same as touchbacks in the NFL and NCAA. In lieu of an onside kick, a team can keep possession of the ball by attempting a scrimmage play from their own 28-yard line and gaining at least 12 yards. (The original proposal for this play had teams making a 10-yard play from the 35-yard line.) This play can only be used by a team trailing by 17 points or more (a three-possession game) or for either team with five or fewer minutes remaining in regulation. The onside conversion play will also be available after any safety, played from the 18-yard line.
The play clock will run only 35 seconds, five seconds shorter than in the NFL. (The league originally proposed a 30-second play clock, but Ebersol concluded that a clock that short would have negative impact on the quality of play.)
Two coach's challenges per team are the only replays; no challenges in last two minutes of either half nor any overtime period, as they are automatic. If both of the team's challenges are won they are granted a third; they risk losing a timeout if a challenge is upheld, however.
Outside organizations will handle head-safety protocols. 
In the event of a tie at the end of regulation, a single overtime period will be played, under the high school football rules of the "Kansas Playoff." Each team will begin on their opponent's 10-yard line and be given one possession (four downs) to score, with no field goals allowed. If the score remains tied after each team has been given their possession, the game ends in a tie. In the postseason, overtime periods will be played until there is a winner, with teams alternating who goes first in each overtime period. One timeout per overtime possession.
Playoffs will consist of four teams, the top two teams from each conference.
Officiating will have a ninth member called a sky judge, an off-the-field official who reviews every play using technology like a booth review. The sky judge can call or take away penalties missed or made by the field officials.
While catches in the NFL require both feet inbounds, the league, like the CFL and NCAA, requires just one foot.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_of_American_Football


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## Kamiii (Feb 9, 2019)

It's the NFL's version of the G-league if you know what that is.


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## RealtreeByGod (Feb 10, 2019)

Lazybird8654 said:


> Ironically this league was formed by the guy who made the This Was the XFL 30 for 30 movie. This league will also be on the CBS sports network which is such a unknown network to put this on.
> 
> Nfl also seems to be in support of this as they are broadcasting 19 games on NFL Network:
> https://aaf.com/nfl-network-to-televise-19-alliance-of-american-football
> ...



All of these I like though


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## RG 448 (Feb 10, 2019)

Watched a game last night.  It was actually pretty good.


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## Wallace (Feb 10, 2019)

Lazybird8654 said:


> Ironically this league was formed by the guy who made the This Was the XFL 30 for 30 movie. This league will also be on the CBS sports network which is such a unknown network to put this on.
> 
> Nfl also seems to be in support of this as they are broadcasting 19 games on NFL Network:
> https://aaf.com/nfl-network-to-televise-19-alliance-of-american-football
> ...




Interesting that the NFL is giving them support. I wonder if this is a way to beta test some of these rules changes before implementing them in the NFL.


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## Picklechu (Feb 10, 2019)

Went to the Birmingham Iron game today. I'm not a fan of some of the rules (kickoffs, etc), but I still really enjoyed it. I'll probably go to another game or two before the end of the season.


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## RumblyTumbly (Feb 14, 2019)

A lot of these rule changes feel like an experimentation for the NFL. Hopefully, this helps fix the game. 

The only rule change I'm not a fan of is getting rid of extra points. I feel like that takes some of the strategy and decision making out of it.


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