By Jordan Long
The United States Football League (USFL) is going to start up on Saturday, April 16th ending on Sunday, July 3rd. The teams playing are in two divisions, the North and the South. In the North Division, the teams are the Michigan Panthers, New Jersey Generals, Philadelphia Stars, and Pittsburgh Maulers. The South teams include the Birmingham Stallions, Houston Gamblers, New Orleans Breakers, and Tampa Bay Bandits. When the season begins the Birmingham Stallions take on the New Jersey Generals. There are going to be different rules than the NFL for this league.
According to foxsports.com, Mike Pereira, USFL Head of Officiating said, “Fans are the USFL’s top priority, so our rules are designed to give fans the traditional physical play they know and love while adding some modern fast-paced elements. Overwhelming majority of rules that govern gameplay in the USFL are standard at the professional or collegiate level. But we are incorporating a few unconventional ideas that we’re convinced will add offense, alter some coaching decisions and strategy for the better, and make it easier to get major penalty calls correct. Collectively, these changes will be good for the game of football and keep fans more engaged and entertained.”
The first difference is the PAT (point after touchdown). A team can go for one by kicking the football through the uprights when the ball is snapped at the 15-yard line. They can go for two from the 2-yard line. This is the same as the NFL. The one change they are going to do is a team can try for 3. They will have one offensive play from the opponents’ 10-yard line. If they score it’s worth 3 points. This encourages teams down by 10 after a touchdown to go for 3 to make it a one possession game. Teams may not be out of games, which could make for exciting finishes.
When it comes to onside kicks, sure they can try a regular onside kick from the 25-yard line. The ball still has to travel 10 yards for it to be recovered. However, there is an alternate way for a team to keep the ball. The kicking team can put their offense out on the field to try a 4th and 12 from their own 33-yard line. Convert and they maintain possession of the ball. However, if they fail, the defensive team gets the ball wherever they are tackled. It is a gamble but at least they have an opportunity to keep the ball on an offensive play, most likely a pass rather than a kick. The odds might be better to convert on a 4th and 12 from the 33-yard line rather than an onside kick.
Another rule is from the college game. In the NFL stoppages during the last 2 minutes of the 2nd and 4th quarter is the two minute warning to stop the clock. In the USFL they will not use this. Instead, the clock will stop to move the chains for first downs under two minutes left on the game clock.
Now overtime is a little different than the NFL and College football. If a game is tied and goes to overtime, each team will have three chances to score from the 2-yard line. The only thing is after every play they switch. This will happen for 3 plays. Each time the offensive teams scores it is worth 2 points for their team. If tied then it is sudden death which means the next offense to score wins the game. This to me doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It would be to have the same format from the 2-yard line but instead of the 3 tries, make it 1. If team A scores then Team B gets a chance but if one of them fails the game is over. If tied, keep going until there is a winner. They don’t need to do a shootout much less sudden death after 3 tries if tied. At least the USFL is giving both teams a chance with the football which seems fair.
The USFL kicks off on Saturday, April 16th when New Jersey takes on Birmingham at 5:30 PM Mountain Time. The game will be broadcasted on FOX and NBC. The other networks carrying the games are FS1 and USA. Hopefully this league is successful and people can get their football fix in during spring and into the summer until NFL training camps open.
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