Ever Been in a Huddle??

[Harlan Huckleby]

One of my biggest regrets in highschool was not playing football. I played backyard football my whole life growing up, but I was too busy smoking pot and skipping school to play football by the time I was in highschool.

you did the right thing. your lungs recovered from the pot smoking, and you have enough brain cells left to get by. The ex football players are now all limping.

I don't remember football being much fun. Partially this is because I wasn't fast enough to play defense, or skilled enough to touch a football. Offensive line sucks ass. Hitting those damn blocking sleds over and over in practice - yuk.

The big problem with being on a football team is you hardly ever get to play football. Practice is all boring, grueling drills. I remember that everyone in high school was ELATED when the football season was over.

PLAYING football can be a total rush. Especially on defense when you get to tackle people. And I'm sure the star skill players are on cloud nine. But you don't get to scrimmage much in practice because of injury risk. What's the fun of a game if you don't get to play it?

High school football is for the birds. Mothers, Fathers, don't let your kids play football. TERRIBLE sport for participation.

I was just talking to a guy who owns a diner in Madison (the Curve.) He played defensive lineman for the Badgers around 1990, very good player. Both his knees give him trouble, and worst of all, he gets punishing headaches all the time related to neck problems from years of head banging.

My life has been DRAMATICALLY affected by a bad knee surgery from high school football.

Football is a sport best viewed on TV. If you want your kids to be healthy and have a ton of fun, get a soccer ball.

[MadtownPacker]

My life has been DRAMATICALLY affected by a bad knee surgery from high school football.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Bundy

"He is a slovenly character who finds himself constantly downtrodden by life and forever regretful of the turns his life has taken since the end of high school, when an injury prevented him from playing college football."

[FritzDontBlitz]

i played football from peewee through high school. didnt actually play in college but played 5 years of semipro - "semi" meaning we never got paid. got to call the defensive plays as middle linebacker my last year of semipro and pitched a shutout in the first game i called.

my favorite blitz was from the backside end depending on which hand the qb threw with, usually the left offensive tackle side since most qb's were right handed. after a couple blindside hits the qb would usually be reduced to a jittery fool too busy looking over his left shoulder for the blitzer to actually see any open receivers downfield.

a thing of beauty i tell ya....

[CaliforniaCheez]

I was an RB and Safety in High School playing both ways. Smaller school.

I liked Safety a lot more.

As an RB I really hated running sweeps. Eventually the blockers are gone and you get hit and slowed by one guy or 2 guys and then the pursuit gets you. You wind up under 3 or 4 guys.

I would rather run up the middle and hit one or 2 guys than be hit.

Best yet was Safety (LB in Jr high). It was a lot better hitting, tackling, breaking up passes than being tackled.

[swede]

Tar -- Don't lose any sleep over missing a huddle, you ain't missed much. Later in the game a lot of gasping and wheezing, sometimes some bitching, mostly direct and to-the-point play calling without all the rah rah crud you see in the movies.

I've played your game, and I played football up through high school, and I have to say your game is more fun. Better flow, more athletic, more creative, and the hitting is more honest. I ain't sayin you guys are choir boys, 'cause you're not, but it's more shoulder hitting and there ain't nearly as much leading with your friggin head.

Rugby really does seem like a rather fun game, although I can't seem to figure out the rules by simply watching a match for a few minutes. Its ebb and flow reminds me strongly of a game we used to call "Murder the guy with the Ball".

But the high incidence of missing teeth among enthusiasts is one of the reasons I don't go looking for a 40 and older Rugby League.

The shirts are very cool, though.

[MadtownPacker]

I was never involved with any after school stuff. Never got interested in sports until I was a teenager. It just wasnt in the cards I guess but I would have loved to play on a team. I imagine it must be similiar to being in a gang because you work together to defeat your enemy and always watch each others backs. I think I would have liked it.

[Harlan Huckleby]

I was never involved with any after school stuff.

you're selling yourself short, stealing cars and sniffing glue counts.

I don't appreciate your snickering at me & Al Bundy. At least we laced um up and got on that field of play, you never had your day in the sun. Did I mention that Otto Graham once asked me to play football? And more importantly, Al & I have both been inside of a hot, red-headed woman. You've been inside your hot, rosy-red palm, plus a string of scruffy, desperate girls from poor mexican villages. OK, I guess that cousin of yours was actually good looking. Congratulations, Don Juan.

[Carolina_Packer]

I was never involved with any after school stuff.

you're selling yourself short, stealing cars and sniffing glue counts.

I don't appreciate your snickering at me & Al Bundy. At least we laced um up and got on that field of play, you never had your day in the sun. Did I mention that Otto Graham once asked me to play football? And more importantly, Al & I have both been inside of a hot, red-headed woman. You've been inside your hot, rosy-red palm, plus a string of scruffy, desperate girls from poor mexican villages. OK, I guess that cousin of yours was actually good looking. Congratulations, Don Juan.

Going a little NC-17 on us, HH?

[MadtownPacker]

I don't appreciate your snickering at me & Al Bundy. At least we laced um up and got on that field of play, you never had your day in the sun.

I agree. I never have gotten on a field and played a game but where did I "snicker" at you? All I did was post a quote from the link I posted. It just so happens to sound like what you where talking about. You should feel proud that you are compared to Bundy. I bet you never had 4 TDs for Polk High in the city championship. But even if you just had 2 TDs I guess would still have to envy you.

So how does it feel to be an ex-somebody?

[Harlan Huckleby]

I'm still gonna be a somebody. Just biding my time, waiting for the proper moment to strike.

[retailguy]

I'm still gonna be a somebody. Just biding my time, waiting for the proper moment to strike.

Isn't this a Unabomber quote?

[KYPack]

My experience is somewhat similar to some on here. Played high school ball and later, a couple years of semi-pro football. Then I played rugby for a number of years with a local club side. One comment struck me. There is a residual effect from playing all those years of contact sports. I meet with my back surgeon on Dec 7!

Played mostly defense, but had some snaps on O, too. The offensive huddle is where all the action is. A couple things haven’t been touched on. The backs and the holes are numbered. The backs are 1-4 and the holes are numbered odd on the right, even on the left. (These systems can change from coach to coach, system to system) The QB calls the formation, the play call, any blocking assignments, and the snap count. A typical running play would be “ I right 35 lead toss on two” The formation is an I, the TE lines up on the right, the 3 back gets a toss and the up back blocks thru the 5 hole where the 3 back is gonna run after catching the ball on a toss from the QB. The center snaps the ball on the second hut (on two).

Passing plays are more complicated because the QB will tell each receiver what route to run. A typical pass play would be “ Red right 89 flow, x slant, y curl, z streak, 4 rainbow on one” Pass plays take longer to call because there are so many possibilities with the pass receivers. The play calls on offense are more complicated than I have described so it mainly all business in the O huddle. When the QB sticks his head in the huddle, nobody talks. Everybody catches a blow, then the QB makes the play call, then up to the line to run the play. Sometimes guys get rambunctious and yell and swear in the huddle. The QB will holler “Hey, shut the (hell) up in my huddle” Silence follows and the QB re-establishes his leadership.

On D, things are a lot looser, but there still are calls. “43 Over” is a typical call. 4 D lineman with the RT over the center, 3 LB’s. Play standard defense.

“4-3 under, Wanda storm” is a little hairier. The RT lines up in the gap and the Weak side LB blitzes (Wanda storm) the defensive backs all play very tight on the receivers and the weak safety cheats up to cover the weakside LB’s spot.

There’s a lot more cussin’ and fussin in a Defensive huddle. There’s yelling at the other team and guys bitching about different shit. The DB’s make their call as the other team deploys their receivers. The safety will just holler the cover as the guys are running into position.

I didn’t go into audibles, but if anybody cares, I’d be glad to cover that in a different post.

[Noodle]

So KY, what was your take -- did you like playing rugby or organized football better? As I said above, I liked playing rugby a lot more, and I don't think Tar has missed much by not having been in a huddle. But I enjoy watching football more than just about any other sport.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Played HS ball, got to start at WR. It was fun.

Never played in college, too busy hoopin' it up.

Now I play in a 6v6 league. It's just like back when we were kids. One guy is the QB, everyone else tries to get open. Lots of fun.

[Badgepack]

Where is the post of the cornerback that shut down Darin Charles in HS football?