“I’m not so sure we shouldn’t think about widening the field,” former competition committee member Bill Polian told the National Football Post. “It’s a radical idea, but I think it’s worth thinking about. You would have more space and perhaps a safer game. I say that based on my CFL experience. There are less collisions of that type in the Canadian game.”
Concerns over the prevalence of injuries and hard collisions have led to the discussion, as the NFL looks to make the game as safe as possible, while not decreasing the toughness essential to football. Although the National Football Post argues that a larger field would allow players to gain more speed, thus leading to even more violent collisions. Additionally, players like quarterbacks who duck out of bounds to escape large hits, would have an even more difficult time reaching the sidelines.
Widening the field could potentially also lead to more of a spread offense type-game, as quarterbacks could throw the ball much more easily to speedy targets across the field.
Logistical issues must be taken into account however before any change is made, as most new NFL stadiums have been built to house a 160-foot wide field. A larger field may not fit in certain stadiums, or sidelines would be precariously close to walls and infrastructure. Changing the size of the field would be a drastic change to the NFL game, and most likely would not occur anytime soon. The NFL has made known over the years though, that they are taking player safety very seriously, and will make the necessary policies to achieve a safer game.
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| NFL field dimensions |
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| CFL field dimensions |
As a Canadian CFL fan (Go Roughriders!) I have to say that while the NFL attracts the best players because they can pay better, the CFL game is more exciting in part because there is so much more room for the skilled players and fast players! The bigger field also lends itself to a different body type - a lighter, smaller player can excell because the bigger bulky guys can not contain they so easily... Any arm strength weakness in a quarterback is magnified on the big field too - the wide side is an extra 15 to 20 yards further away!
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