Street football (American)
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Street football, also known as backyard football, is a simplified variant of American football primarily played informally by youth. It features far less equipment and fewer rules than its counterparts.
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[edit] Main game
An organized version has seven players to a side, playing both sides of the ball; however, such organization is rare and players per side can range from as few as one ("one on one" football) to dozens. Games are played on fields generally ranging from as short as 10 to as large as 50 yards, with the occasional game being played on a full-size regulation 100 yard field. Generally, the larger the field, the more players that can be incorporated into the game.
[edit] Rules
- See also touch football (American), which has similar rules.
The teams organize each other at the beginning of the game; if there are no pre-selected teams, a draft is held on the spot from the available players. In the event of an odd number of players, one player will serve as an "all time quarterback," who plays on offense the whole game and cannot run the ball past the line of scrimmage.
The two teams organize on opposite sides of the field for the kickoff. Because of skill, field size and other issues, this is usually not a kickoff but rather a punt-off or a throw-off.
As in regular American football, each team has four downs. In order to achieve a first down, backyard football requires the team with the ball to complete two passes. This structure encourages passing plays over running, as does the lack of offensive and defensive lines. Play continues until there is a turnover on downs (i.e. the offensive team fails to complete two passes in four downs), an interception occurs, or the team on offense scores a touchdown. Touchdowns are worth 6, 7, or 1 depending on the rules set out before the game.
Field goals and extra point kicks are nonexistent (streets and backyards have no goal posts), although punts can frequently happen, usually during "4th and 2" situations where the offensive team cannot earn a first down.
In the event a touchdown is scored, the team on offense will normally stay in the end zone in which they had just scored and the other team will go into the main field and field the subsequent kickoff. Thus, until an interception or turnover on downs, both teams defend and attempt to score on the same end zone.
Rules greatly vary from neighborhood to neighborhood, and are customarily set before each game. There can be a rush on the QB depending on the rules set out before the game. Usually if rushes are allowed, there are 2 rules that are applied; Call rush and blitz count. Call rush is the first rule of rushing the QB in street. This is where the defense calls "QB rush" in a loud voice before the offense calls the next play, signifying that they will rush, but there is also a counter effect with this. The QB can get out of the pocket and run without having to touch another player with the ball. The second rush QB rule is Mississippi rush (a blitz count), so called because the blitzing player must insert the word "Mississippi" between numbers so as not to allow the player to count ridiculously fast and effectively give the quarterback no time to throw. The other option to handle a rush is to use an offensive lineman or center to block any pass rush. A line is rare in street, and the act of a center snapping to a quarterback is completely optional.
Conversions after a TD usually aren't applied and they can only be attempted from the 6 (or occasionally 7) point TD system, but if they are, there are several conversion systems, including "pass-run," yardage and "runback." Pass run is used in some midget leagues and awards 2 points for a pass and one point for a run. Usually all pass-run conversions are attempted from the 1 or 2 yard line. The second conversion system is the yardage system, similar to that used in the XFL playoffs. The yardage system is formatted like this: 1 point conversions are attempted from the 1 or 5 yard line, and 2 point conversions are attempted from the 2 or 10 yard line. The runback is the most rare of the conversion rules. In this version, the play does not end once the ball crosses the goal line; instead, the player with the ball must change direction and advance it all the way back to the other end zone for two points.
The game ends when a pre-determined number of touchdowns or points has been scored, or an arbritrary time is reached (for instance, dusk or the start of school).
Penalties are rare and are usually only enforced in the most egregious cases, such as serious injuries.
[edit] Variations
Several even cruder games involving a football are also played in streets and backyards.
Smear the Queer (also known occasionally as the more politically correct "bull in the ring" or "Crush The Carrier" or "Kill the Man" ) is an every man for himself free for all. The concept is simple. Whoever has the ball tries not to get tackled; if he is tackled, he has to give up the ball. All players without the ball try to tackle the player with the ball and get the ball for themselves. There are no winners and the game can continue ad infinitum.
There are also games like Jump off, in which there is one QB on each side and they throw the ball anywhere they like; the wide receiver with the most catches wins.
[edit] References
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