GFL - Special Teams Section
By Adam Knoll | November 25, 2009 at 01:01 AM EST | No Comments
The primary reason that the GFL does not have special teams is pretty simple; guys getting blindsided for no real reason can create needless injuries. Add that to the fact that an 8 man kickoff team/ Kick Return team is ludicrous because the field is just too big for that amount of guys. Those two reasons alone are worthy enough to not have any.
As to punts, we tried that out last season and it didn’t work out so well. In trying to avoid injuries, the limit that could rush was three men, while the receiver could not advance the ball. Gunners were allowed to go downfield in case of a fumble, but no return meant no tackles, meaning nobody gets lit up. Although sound in theory, the Lynx got creative and figured out if they ran a wedge run play out of the punt formation, the limited three man rush could not contain the 5 man wedge. It was a grand idea, but it didn’t stick and overall didn’t have the support to get tweaked around. It was dropped before the season started.
As for FG’s, it’s been noted before that although it didn’t play a huge role during the season, Field Goal kicking gained in popularity as the season wore on. I feel it will be a huge asset to have a dependable kicker from 30 yards away, meaning any redzone drive could result in points. The rules on this are only 3 can rush on an extra point, and 4 can rush on a FG try. Any block during a PAT is a dead ball. Any block during a Field Goal is a live ball. Those two detriments (4 rushers and a live ball) have the tendency to make people shy away from kicking a little. Yet the blocking numbers are still way on the offensive side, with a 6 man blocking line and nobody can touch the center unless he goes to make a block.
The GFL is a family oriented league in which pretty much every player on the field has a ‘day job’, whether that be that of a family man, employee or what have you. The goal in this league is to send guys home able to function come Monday. Now, personally being unable to move on Saturday aside, I feel the league does a good job of protecting its players. My first season there were only 2 or 3 major injuries, and last year I think I only heard of a few more. This is football, one of the few sports where the injury rate is 100%, yet containing that statistic to minor injuries is definitely a priority, and one that makes this league as injury free as possible.
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