Tom Brady Predicts NFL’s Future as Flag Football

Tom Brady, 46, will enter the NFL Hall of Fame (EFE)

Tom Brady is an authorized word to talk about American football. The top Super Bowl winner (7) and star quarterback for decades in the American league made a deep analysis this week about the sport in his country and anticipated that the NFL is on its way to being absorbed by a discipline that is growing by leaps and bounds.

According to the former New England Patriots player, the physical contact that exists in American football is counterproductive for its future and that sometimes, to protect the players, decisions are made that are counterproductive for the spectacle: “It is a physical sport, always There is a physical element to all of this from the beginning; Today they give you a penalty that costs you 15 yards for a play that 20 years ago would not have deserved to be penalized. That greatly affects the game,” he commented in statements shared by ESPN.

In this sense, he anticipated: “There are people who want there to be less and less physical contact in American football, that is something closer to the flag football that will be in the Olympic Games in 2028. I think that American football will perhaps become flag football in the future.”

Flag football is a reduced format of American football that has teams of five players in which to stop the opponent, one of the flags or ribbons that each player has on the sides of their hips must be removed without using physical contact. In the United States it is very popular among young people since parents choose it over any other discipline since it is a very dynamic activity that avoids physical friction.

Precisely, this week the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the inclusion of this sport in the 2028 Los Angeles Games and this motivated Brady to declare that in the future, it will replace American football as the most popular in the United States.

In recent years, American football has lost popularity after the case of Bennet Omalu, the doctor who linked head collisions suffered by players with brain injuries. The coroner managed, based on a long study of the brains of dead former professionals, for the NFL to recognize chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) as a problem within the most popular sport in the United States and its immediate consequence has been that millions of Parents have leaned towards other sports when choosing an activity for their children. Thus, traditional football and flag football have grown in popularity and their projections aim to continue adding fans.

How to play Flag Football?

Flag Football, the sport that dreams of being in the Olympic Games

The most important thing to know is that contact between players is not allowed, so you cannot block or tackle an opponent. Consequently, each of the participants has a regulation belt with two ribbons hanging: by removing one of them from the ball carrier, the play will be considered finished. As in traditional American football, the preview of each resumption of play is done through the huddle, the meeting of the team in a closed circle to decide the plan of action.

The down system is the same: up to four opportunities to restart the count towards the opponent’s goal. Another modification is that the fumble, when the ball is forced to fall and the defense has the chance to regain possession, does not exist to avoid disturbances on the ground when picking it up. On the other hand, interceptions are allowed and have the same effect as in traditional American football. The objective? Reach the other end of the field to score a touchdown and add six points for the team with the possibility of one or two extra depending on whether you decide to kick the goalposts or try a new play.

Currently there are several modalities for the new variant. In the United States, players usually wear 3 flags on their belts: one on each side of the waist and the remaining one behind. In Europe, South America and in international competitions there are only two flags on the sides and the game is played 5 against 5. One of the strengths of the discipline is that mixed teams are allowed in any competition. Women can play in the men’s league and, in parallel, there is a women’s-only league, which opens up new possibilities and variables. The advantage of not using so many protective layers by avoiding constant physical contact speeds up the game and improves individual performance.

2023-10-19 15:56:00
#biggest #star #history #NFL #warned #sport #replace #American #football