- This article is about the sport of Arena Football. See Arena Football (video game) for the EA Sports video game of the same name. Arena Football is a PlayStation 2 and Xbox Videogame developed by Electronic Arts (under their EA Sports brand EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on Sports Formerly a gimmick inside Electronic Arts sports A video game is a Game that involves interaction with a User interface to generate visual feedback on a video device.
Arena Football is a sport similar to American football. The Kansas City Brigade is a team from the Arena Football League. American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, is a competitive Team sport known for mixing strategy with The sport was invented and patented by James F. Foster, a former executive of the United States Football League and the National Football League. Jim Foster is the founder and first Commissioner of the Arena Football League. For the proposed "New USFL" see United States Football League (2010. The National Football League ( NFL) is the largest professional American football league.
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History
While attending his first indoor soccer game, (the 1981 MISL All Star Game) on February 11, 1981 at Madison Square Garden, Foster conceived the basic rules of the sport on the back of a 9"x12" manila envelope he pulled out of his briefcase. Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a Team sport played between two teams of eleven players and is widely considered Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG, and known colloquially as The Garden, has been the name of four Arenas in New York City. 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. Rockford is a mid-sized city located on both banks of the Rock River in far northern Illinois After fine tuning the rules, he then secured additional operating capital to play several test games in the MetroCentre in April of 1986 and the Rosemont Horizon Arena in February of 1987. MetroCentre is a 10000-seat multi-purpose Arena in Rockford Illinois. The Allstate Arena is a Sports Arena in Rosemont Illinois, which is home to the Chicago Wolves hockey club DePaul University
The next critical step for 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 commissoner, (1986-1992) Foster established a league office with a small staff in suburban Chicago,(DesPlaines, Il)and with addition of some much needed additional investor capital, was ready to launch the Arena Football League. The Arena Football League (AFL was founded in 1987 as an American football indoor league. On June 19, 1987 the Pittsburgh Gladiators hosted the Washington DC Commandos in the first league game after a two week pre-season training camp for all four charter teams in Wheaton. Wheaton is an affluent community located in DuPage County Illinois, approximately west of Chicago and Lake Michigan. 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 1987 ArenaBowl Champions). Artistic Gymnastics World Artistic Gymnastics Championships: Men's all-around champion Dmitry Bilozerchev, USSR As the Arena Football League grew into an established league with close to 20 teams, it defined itself as a major market pro sports product under the leadership of long time AFL Commissioner C. David Baker,(1996-). A financially strong team ownership roster includes NFL owners, as well as major names in the entertainment world. 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 af2, in 2000. Minor leagues are professional Sports leagues which are not regarded as the premier leagues in those sports af2 (short for arenafootball2) is the name of the Arena Football League 's Minor league, which started play in 2000. Athletics For an extensive coverage see 2000 in athletics (track and field Marathon International The league was set up to operate in medium size markets around the US where it has enjoyed continued growth under the guidance of af2 President, Jerry Kurz. Other people have started their own indoor football minor leagues. This article discusses indoor variations of American football for indoor versions of association football (soccer see Futsal and Indoor soccer and for the These leagues do not technically play arena football or use the name Arena Football which is a registered trademark, because of the patent on the rules (specifically for the rebound nets, and related rules [1]) that Foster obtained in 1990 (which is actually held by Gridiron Enterprises, Inc. of which Foster is one of three partners). A patent is a set of Exclusive rights granted by a State to an inventor or his assignee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an Athletics For an extensive coverage see 1990 in athletics (track and field Marathon International Gridiron Enterprises is a sports consulting company based in Chicago, Illinois. The other two partners are successful, Chicago based lawyers, Bill Niro and Jerry Kurz, who in early 1989 joined with 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 disruptive limited partners for multiple breeches of the limited partnership agreement that was the basis for operating the AFL during the 1988 season.
Rules of the game
The field
Arena football is played exclusively indoors, in arenas usually designed for either basketball or ice hockey teams. Basketball is a team Sport in which two teams of five active players each try to score points against one another by propelling a ball through a 10 feet (3 m Ice hockey, often referred to simply as hockey, is a team Sport played on Ice. The field is the same width (85 feet)and length (200 feet) as a standard NHL hockey rink. The National Hockey League ( NHL) is a professional Ice hockey league composed of 30 teams in North America The field is 50 yards long with 8-yard end zones. A yard (abbreviation yd) is a unit of Length in several different systems including English units Imperial units and United The end zone is a term used in both Canadian football and American football. 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, curved (like a hockey rink). There is a heavily padded sideline barrier on each sideline, with the padding placed over the hockey dasher boards. The goalpost uprights are 9 feet wide, and the crossbar is 15 feet 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 apparatuses. 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 off the playing surface Each netframe is 32 feet high by 30 feet wide A player is not counted as out of bounds on the sidelines unless they are pushed into or fall 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, an offensive specialist (Wide Receiver/Running Back combination) and two defense specialists (Defensive Backs). In American football, each team has 11 players on the field at one time In American football, each team has 11 players on the field at one time Quarterback ( QB) is a position in American and Canadian football. Placekicker, or simply kicker ( PK or K) is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the
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.
- For two-way players "dead" time is one quarter
- For specialists "dead" time is one half
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 is the introduction of free substitution, the so-called "Elway Rule". John Albert Elway Jr (born June 28, 1960) is a retired Hall of Fame American football Quarterback. Previously, AFL coaches were limited to one substitution per position per quarter. Beginning with the 2007 season, coaches will be permitted to substitute players at will.
The rationale is that free substitution will 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 will be able to select from a wider player talent pool when building their rosters. Traditionalist fans and players, however, believe the rule changes are the beginning of the removal of the "Ironman" (two-way offense and defense) style of play of Arena Football that the league has actively promoted for 20 seasons, and that removing the Ironman style of play takes away a key component of what makes 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. In American and Canadian football a line of scrimmage is an imaginary transverse line crossing the football field across its narrower dimension beyond A snap (colloquially called a "hike" "snapback" or "pass from center" starts each American football and Canadian football 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. This article relates to Sports. For the Vietnam War bombing raids see Operation Linebacker and Operation Linebacker II. The mac may blitz from the side of the line opposite the offensive tight end. In American football or Canadian football, a blitz or red dog is a team defensive maneuver in which one or more Linebackers or Defensive The tight end ( TE) is a position in American football on the Offensive team. 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. [2] (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 5 yards back from the line of scrimmage. )
Ball movement
The ball is kicked off from the goal line. The team with the ball is given four downs to gain ten yards or score. First Down redirects here For the Prison Break episode see First Down (Prison Break episode. Punting is illegal because of the size of the playing field. A punt in some codes of football especially American football and Rugby football, is performed when the ball is A receiver jumping to catch a pass needs to get only one foot down in bounds for the catch to be deemed a completed catch. A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football 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. Athletics (track and field For an extensive coverage see 2006 in athletics (track and field Track The defending team may return missed field goal attempts that bounce off the rebound nets. A field goal (formerly "goal from the field" in US football and Canadian football is a goal that may be scored during general play ("from
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. A drop kick is a type of kick in various codes of Football. It involves someone dropping a ball and then kicking it when it bounces off the ground American and Canadian football, a team may try to score a two-point conversion instead of an Extra point immediately after it scores a Touchdown Blocked extra points and turnovers on two-point conversion attempts may be returned by the defensive team for two points.
Timing
Current timing rules
The clock stops for out-of-bounds plays, incomplete passes, or sacks only in the last minute of each half (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. In American football and Canadian football, the sack occurs when the Quarterback is tackled behind the Line of scrimmage before he 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. A touchdown is the primary method of scoring in American and Canadian football. American and Canadian football, a team may try to score a two-point conversion instead of an Extra point immediately after it scores a Touchdown If a quarter ends as a touchdown is scored, an untimed conversion attempt takes place. Halftime lasts 15 minutes. The play clock is 35 seconds, starting at the end of the previous play.
During the final minute of the fourth quarter, the clock stops if the offensive team has the lead and fails to 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 the outdoor game.
In overtime, each team gets one possession to score. If after each team has had one possession, one team is ahead, that team wins. If the teams are tied after each has had a possession, the next team to score ("sudden death") wins. Sudden death (or a sudden death round) is a way of providing a winner for a Contest or Game (typically a Sport) which would otherwise Each overtime period is 15 minutes, and continues from the ending of the previous overtime period until the tie is broken.
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:
- July 14, 1988: Chicago Bruisers 37, Los Angeles Cobras 37 (when this game was played, the overtime period was 7½ minutes long)
- April 8, 2005: Nashville Kats 41, Dallas Desperados 41
Before 2006, the play clock was 25 seconds, and it began on signal from the referee. Events 1223 - Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father Philip II of France. Athletics For an extensive coverage see 1988 in athletics (track and field Marathon International The Chicago Bruisers were a charter member of the Arena Football League, playing in the four-team "demonstration season" of 1987. History The Los Angeles Cobras played in the 1988 Arena Football League season only Events 217 - Roman Emperor Caracalla is Assassinated (and succeeded by his Praetorian Athletics (track and field For an extensive coverage see 2005 in athletics (track and field Track This page is for the second Nashville Kats franchise which began play in the Arena Football League in 2005 The Dallas Desperados are a professional Arena Football team in the Eastern Division of the Arena Football League.
Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner was the league's biggest rise to prominence in the NFL. Kurtis Eugene "Kurt" Warner (born June 22 1971 in Burlington Iowa) is an American football Quarterback Kurt played for the University of Northern Iowa and then the Iowa Barnstormers (then AFL, now AFL2), taking the Barnstormers to Arena Bowl X in 1996 and Arena Bowl XI in 1997 (losing both). The University of Northern Iowa, in Cedar Falls Iowa, is a state-supported university that offers more than 120 majors across the colleges of Business Administration The Iowa Barnstormers are an Arena football team based in Des Moines Iowa. In 1999 Kurt became the starting quarterback with the St. Louis Rams and ultimately led them to a Super Bowl XXXIV victory and he became the Super Bowl MVP. The St Louis Rams are a professional American football team based in St Super Bowl XXXIV featured the National Football Conference (NFC champion St
Popular culture
Because of its young age as a sport, few popular culture references to arena football exist. Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — It is, however, established as a high school sport in the motion picture version of Starship Troopers, and most of the lead characters play the sport, with a game taking place as an early scene in the film. High school is the name used in some parts of the world (in particular Scotland, North America and Australia) to describe an institution Starship Troopers is a 1997 sci-fi - Action film directed by Paul Verhoeven, written by Edward Neumeier, and starring In addition, Van Montgomery, a character on the TV sitcom Reba, was employed for a time as an arena football player. Reba was an American sitcom starring Country music singer Reba McEntire.
A previous movie reference can be found in Kinjite: Forbidden Subjects, directed by J. Kinjite Forbidden Subjects is a 1989 action / drama film starring Charles Bronson and directed by J Lee Thompson and starring Charles Bronson. One scene takes place during an AFL game, with the Chicago Bruisers visiting the Los Angeles Cobras. It was released in early 1989.
The movie White Noise also shows a short clip of an arena football game. White Noise is a 2005 drama /supernatural Horror film, directed by Geoffrey Sax and produced by Brightlight In the scene where Michael (the young boy) is surfing through the TV channels, he pauses on an arena football game (which was actually live at the time of recording) between the Orlando Predators and another team. The Orlando Predators are an Arena Football League team based in Orlando Florida that was founded in 1991 Because the game was live, the producers of the movie had to get written permission to use the game after the film was finished.
EA Tiburon released an arena football video game under the publisher EA Sports. EA Tiburon is an Electronic Arts video game development studio located in Maitland Florida just north of the Orlando Florida downtown area Arena Football is a PlayStation 2 and Xbox Videogame developed by Electronic Arts (under their EA Sports brand EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on Sports Formerly a gimmick inside Electronic Arts sports The game was released on February 9, 2006 (or, according to the EA Sports site, February 7, 2006) and features licensed players and arenas from the Arena Football League. Events 474 - Zeno crowned as co-emperor of the Byzantine Empire. Events January 26 2006 -- Nintendo announces its newly redesigned handheld the Nintendo DS Lite. Events 457 - Leo I becomes emperor of the Byzantine Empire. 1074 - Battle of Montesarchio in which the Prince Events January 26 2006 -- Nintendo announces its newly redesigned handheld the Nintendo DS Lite. They also released a sequel in 2007. Midway Sports did publish an arena football game in 2001 (Kurt Warner's Arena Football Unleashed). Midway Games ( (formerly Midway Manufacturing) is an American Video game publisher. Events Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences hosts the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; inducts John Carmack of Id Software Kurt Warner 's Arena Football Unleashed is a Sports game developed and published by Midway for the Sony PlayStation This game was poorly received, both by traditional videogamers who saw it as an unneeded ripoff of one of Midway's other game, NFL Blitz, and by arena football fans who did not like the rule changes and arcade nature of the game. NFL Blitz is a football themed Video game by Midway featuring the teams of the National Football League. An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine typically installed in businesses such as Restaurants Pubs Video arcades and Family Entertainment
In 2001, Jeff Foley published War on the Floor: an average guy plays in the Arena Football League and lives to write about it. The book details a journalist's two preseasons (1999 and 2000) as an offensive specialist/writer with the now-defunct Albany Firebirds. The Indiana Firebirds were a team in the Arena Football League. The 5-foot-6, self-described "unathletic writer" played in three preseason games and had one catch for -2 yards.
During the opening sequence of True Crime: New York City, Two unnamed characters can be seen playing Arena Football. True Crime New York City is an urban adventure Video game published by Activision and developed by Luxoflux for the Xbox, This article is about the sport of Arena Football See Arena Football (video game for the EA Sports Video game of the same name
Fatalities
Los Angeles Avengers player Al Lucas died, from a presumed spinal cord injury, on April 10, 2005 in a game against the New York Dragons. The Los Angeles Avengers is an Arena Football League (AFL team based in Los Angeles California and they began play as a 2000 expansion team Albert Lucas ( September 1, 1978 &ndash April 10, 2005) was an American football player in the NFL and Arena Football Spinal cord injury causes myelopathy or damage to white matter or myelinated fiber tracts that carry sensation and motor signals to and from the brain Events 879 - Louis III becomes King of the Western Franks. 1407 - the lama Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The New York Dragons are an Arena Football League team who were formed in 1995 as the Iowa Barnstormers. 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 American football. Most forms of Football have a move known as a tackle. In most cases this move is one that prevents an opposing player from carrying out what they intend A modern stadium (plural stadiums or stadia in English is a place or venue for (mostly outdoor Sports Concerts or other events consisting Lucas was 26. It is the only fatality in the AFL's history.
The only fatality in af2 history was Bakersfield Blitz FB/LB Julian Yearwood on July 19, 2003 during a game against the Wichita Stealth. af2 (short for arenafootball2) is the name of the Arena Football League 's Minor league, which started play in 2000. The Bakersfield Blitz were a professional Arena football team based in Bakersfield California. Events 711 - Muslim forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad defeat the Visigoths led by their king Roderic. Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. The Wichita Stealth is a now-defunct arena football team They played their home games at the Kansas Coliseum in Wichita Kansas. Yearwood came out of the game in the 1st 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 after medical personnel worked to resuscitate him. St Francis Hospital may refer to St Francis Hospital (Cincinnati Ohio St As a result, the game was abandoned in the first quarter with a 7-7 score. The teams never resumed or rescheduled the game and have never gotten back together on the same field since.
See also
References
External links
The Arena Football League (AFL was founded in 1987 as an American football indoor league. af2 (short for arenafootball2) is the name of the Arena Football League 's Minor league, which started play in 2000. The following terms are used in American football and Canadian football, but see also the Glossary of Canadian football. This article discusses indoor variations of American football for indoor versions of association football (soccer see Futsal and Indoor soccer and for theDapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic