6 Comments
User's avatar
David Perlmutter's avatar

Is this UFL thing meant to be a competitor to the NFL, like how the ABA and the WHA challenged the NBA and the NHL in the '70s?

Football Archaeology's avatar

The UFL gives football fans something to watch in the spring and does not compete with the NFL. They are not legally tied to the NFL but help showcase borderline talent, so they function as a minor league in practice. They also been a laboratory for potential rule changes.

David Perlmutter's avatar

Minor league football. Nice.

Chris Cavanaugh's avatar

What's the history behind the widths of the goal posts? They seem very specific, rather than an even 20 or 22 feet. Thanks.

Football Archaeology's avatar

I think an early article will answer your question. https://www.footballarchaeology.com/p/todays-tidbit-setting-new-standards

TLDR, they experimented with different widths, eventually settling on a width and then modified it to account for American sawmills not producing lumber longer than 24 feet.

Vasav Swaminathan's avatar

Im aligned with you on the UFL rule, tho it is fascinating to consider if Thompson had been successful how the game would have changed. It definitely seems like the passing game succeeded in "opening" the game based on old scores compared to modern scores, but it is interesting to think of the strategy had been to kick so much more often and a TD was less important than a kick...would teams basically try to down the ball inside the five?