A week before super bowl traditionally increases in the USAper bowl” – the All Star-Event of the current season. The two NFL Conferences, American Football Conference (AFC) and National Football Conference (NFC)duel for the first time on Sunday evening (05.02.2023) in the “flag football“variant, there is a lot of slapstick.
If there are still outstanding bills to be settled from the past season of the US professional league NFL, this year the set of rules prevents them from being settled in the Pro Bowl by pithy tackles or hard blocks are settled. Because the big spectacle between AFC and NFC is completed according to flag football rules.
Flag Football: Greatly simplified rules, no physical contact
Flag football is actually intended to make it easier to get started with “real” American football, it is played regularly in American schools. Very simplified rules apply, shorter playing times, the field is smaller, there are fewer players – and the most serious difference: flag football is virtually contactless.
Hardly any contact, hardly any protective clothing: flag football here between Walldorf Wanderers and Kalikakou from France
That means for them defencethat she has only three ways to stop an opponent’s attack: She can intercept a pass like in normal American football (interception), she can deflect or knock down a pass (deflection) – and she can drag the ball carrier’s flag (flag pull), which he wears on a belt.
AFC and NFC compete in a “7 vs. 7” format. The game is not played at the full 100 yards, but at half the distance. So there is a 50-yard playing field with an end zone 10 yards deep on each side. The playing time is ten minutes twice.
Health and fun in the foreground
It is not allowed to hold, block or tackle the opponent. There are also designated no-running zones where, as the name suggests, the ball may not be brought into the end zone by running play. The point of this whole story is that at the end of a stressful season, the health of the pros should be the priority.
The German-American Amon-Ra St. Brown is with the after a strong season Detroit Lions (best receivers with six touchdowns) in the Pro Bowl. He’s somewhat friendly with the flag football game: “When I always watched it as a kid, nobody really blocked it because at the end of a long season nobody wanted to get hurt anymore.”, says St. Brown. The last time he played flag football was when he was six or seven years old, but there are still similar forms of training today.
Buckets over the heads of the coaches
The NFL’s attempt to surpass the event character of basketball’s all-star weekend has met with a mixed response among professionals and coaches. For example, while the NBA before the actual showdown a Slam Dunk Contest or a three-point competition, this time there is a lot of slapstick among the footballers: throwing and shooting at targets, a kind of dodgeball variant with the football egg, there is a bit of golf played, there are relay races and catching games.
Finally, you have to hit targets hanging on buckets above the opposing trainers’ heads. All of these pranks are worth points that add up to the first two flag football games and carry them into the grand finals. In the end, everyone has to decide for themselves whether all of this really excites the fans and is worthy of a Pro Bowl event.
Possible Olympic sport
The International Olympic Committee, among others, will definitely take a close look. Flag football already existed at the “World Games”, in 2028 in Los Angeles this variant of American football could even become an Olympic game, at least as a demonstration sport.