NFL and Arena Football Have Much More in Common
Scott Reed
Thursday July 5, 2001
After researching many resources a friend of mine, Matt Hof, approached me with a very interesting article. Embedded in the Sports Illustrated “Greatest Football Classics of All Time” by Hank Hersch there was a most unusual NFL game played indoors.
Back on December 18, 1932 the first thread was laid between the National Football League and the yet-to-be-born Arena Football League. Although most football fans are more familiar with Super Bowl XII played indoors at the Superdome in New Orleans in 1978, the championship game between the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth (Ohio) Spartans was redirected from Wrigley Field to Chicago Stadium (then home of the hockey Blackhawks).
Due to an 18-inch snowfall three days prior to the game, a quick-minded George Halas needed to come up with alternatives to hold the game. The game of football was not as glittery or filled with fanfare as today’s Super Bowl prenuptials. But Halas knew that something had to be done to keep the interest in the game since the Great Depression took the number of teams from 18 to eight within the span of ten years. Therefore, if the game couldn’t be played outdoors then how about indoors?
He knew the Salvation Army had just held a circus at Chicago Stadium, which meant that the beginnings of the physical infrastructure were already in place. The next item to acquire was the turf. Sod was transported in and provided a less than glamorous or dimensionally accurate field. The playing surface was 15 feet narrower than regulation and only 80 yards long.
“Kickoffs were taken from the 10-yard line instead of the 40, and when a team crossed midfield it had to move back 20 yards to make the field play at 100 yards. The goal posts were moved from the end lines to the goal lines, which would become the league’s standard setup the following year. And when the ball was downed within 15 yards of the sideline, instead of making the next snap occur alongside a wall, officials spotted the ball 15 yards in from the sideline. Thus, hash marks were born.”
The 12,000 fans that attended the game saw a few of the characteristics of Arena Football in action; balls hitting the rafters and incomplete passes entering the stands.
One style of play that originated from this particular game was the elimination of the 5-yard passing zone. Prior to this game the rules stated that a forward pass could not be thrown within five yards of the line of scrimmage. But after a score by Chicago resulting from such a pass and a heated debate from Portsmouth to protest the play, the referee allowed it and the ‘quick release’ you see at AFL and af2 games were born.
The Bears defeated the Spartans 9-0. Although the score was obscenely low by today’s standards for indoor football an unknowing seed was planted. The beauty of this particular game is that a few of the quirks resulting from this game were adopted into the outdoor game.
The probable working relationship between Arena Football and the NFL will bring many more positive results than negative. Areas such as marketing of merchandise, brand recognition, and a comprehensive set of standards are sure to benefit. An eye needs to be kept on ticket prices, quality of officiating, and over saturation of the game of football. It will work as long as the ‘first family’ (C. David Baker and Mary Ellen Garling) are involved.
Scott Reed was a writer for ArenaFan Online from 2000 to 2002.
