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Long
before the "X Games" or the " X F L "
there was
flag football ...
the ORIGINAL
EXTREME SPORT !
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The modern game of American Football is tame compared to its
early roots when in the early 1900's President Teddy Roosevelt
threatened to ban the sport because of plays like the
"Flying Wedge." The play involved a number of
offensive lineman with suitcase handles sewed onto their pants
forming a wedge with lineman holding on to the player in front,
and a ball carrier safely positioned in the middle. As the
"wedge" rumbled down the field the opposition players
went "flying" and were left in a crumpled mass on the
ground in it's wake. With so many broken bones and other serious
injuries- even deaths, safety rules had to be applied. Thus
helmets, shoulder pads and other protective equipment now define
the modern game of football.
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But not Flag Football ... no helmets and shoulder pads allowed ... |
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The game of
American football has been played since the mid-1800's. The
first College game occurred between Princeton and Rutgers on
Nov. 6, 1869. And the professional game has been played in some
form or another since 1895.
top
The game of Touch and Flag Football has been around nearly
as long as tackle football. It was probably developed first as a
way to practice the game without risking serious injury and
later into a sport by itself as a game that everyone could play
without expensive football gear and rigid rules.
The first remembrance of organized Touch and Tail Football being played
was in the 1930's. Flag football developed on military bases
in the early 1940's as a recreational sport for military personal. Recreational leagues soon developed in the
late 40's and early 50's. They were patterned around the softball league
format and the game we know and love today was born.
As a freshman in 1973 at
Washington University in St. Louis, I was introduced to touch and flag football.
At that time St. Louis already enjoyed a long history of
organized league play. St. Louis is the birthplace
of the first national flag football organization - the National
Touch Football League. It was formed in the 1960's and played a
national championship game from 1971 to 1988. It also produced the first
standardize rulebook and it's Hall of Fame for flag football
players has been adopted buy other national organizations.
The college intramural game of the 60's and 70's was a 7 man
contact game that in no way resembles the non-contact
"screen flag football " game played today. The annual National Collegiate Flag
Football Championships are played each December at the University
of New Orleans. There has been a National College Champion crowned
on the UNO campus every year since 1979. The first non intramural screen
flag national championship game was first played in 1981. For several
years the tournament was held in Shreveport, LA.
The first major competition to the NTFL was formed in
1988 as an outgrowth of the NTFL when it's regional director Mike Cihon
broke free to create the United States Flag Touch Football League. The USFTL National Flag
Football Tournament in Orlando is the largest non college tournament in
the nation. It drew 175 teams in January 2002 and crowned 11 National
Champions.
In 1988, the United States Flag Football League Semipro
was incorporated in North Carolina by Tim Langdon and Jerry
Sorrel. The concept
was to have teams represent a franchised city and it offered
cash awards for players at tournaments. Nearly ten years later it would become
the basis for the first professional league.
The AFTFL
was formed in 1991 by George Higgins after a dispute between Higgins and
USFTL director Mike Cihon. The league has grown from it's Long Island
roots to host a competing national championship tournament.
Many other "national organizations" have formed
since the mid 90's to take advantage of the more than 20 million
players participating in flag football programs around the
country. As the list grows, there have been many attempts to
"unify" flag football. The drive to crown just one national
champion is elusive and will never be realized until league and
tournament directors put the game and players first and their
egos second.
In 1997, an attempt was
made in this direction with the formation of the Professional
Flag Football League, Inc.. The directors of the USFTL, AFTFL and
the USFFL met in Cleveland, Ohio and agreed in principal to have the top
nine man teams in the nation participate in four regional tournaments in
the summer of 1998. The events were played in Cleveland, Raleigh, Pittsburgh,
and Albany. The winners of these four events would take home $2,500 in
cash and play a single elimination "Pro Flag Bowl" on the Hall
of Fame field in Canton, Ohio. The Cleveland Gibbs team won three of the
events and $7,500 in cash. They met in Canton with the Baltimore
Cowboys, the Metro Chiefs from Washington, DC, and New York's LoMonico's. Cleveland played a Baltimore team that featured former
Virginia QB Shawn Moore and Maryland QB Brian Cummings in the
Championship Game. Cleveland won a hard fought game and added a Pro-Flag Championship Ring to their long history of flag football successes.
Cleveland Gibbs - 1998 Pro Flag Bowl Champions
Cutters - 1999 Pro-Flag Challenge Champions
In 1999, the PFFL
played the first ever professional flag football travel schedule with
teams in Buffalo, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Indianapolis.
The games were played in regulation format. Cleveland won the
regular season with the best record overall. But with three teams
folding before the end of regular season play and a failure of the
Buffalo team and Cleveland team to play the scheduled league
championship game, the league was deemed only a partial success. The
failure of league play was overshadowed a successful six event Pro-Flag
Challenge Tournament series that saw a great Cutters team from Maryland
win the 2nd Pro Flag Football Championship in Atlantic City.
Will there be an
attempt to unite the leagues again ... the final history of flag
football has not been written, but chances are slim. The
answer may be in the NFL and
it's program to develop youth leagues around the country. As
those players mature they will continue to play flag football
and, as the NFL hopes, support the pro game. Will there be a
demand to unify the game that comes of this?
Take
for example the Carolina
Panthers of the NFL ... For three years now they have hosted
a 4 on 4 tournament in Charlotte, NC each April. Within weeks of
announcing the inaugural event in 2004 a full 128 teams had
signed up to play. Its draw may be the chance to play in
Panthers Stadium but the tournament is well organized and well
run.
The format for a unified National
Flag Football Championship could come in the way of each NFL
city hosting a flag football tournament similar to what the
Panthers are doing with the winners advancing to a national
championship game.
Copyright - Tim Langdon - All Rights Reserved
History of Women's
and Girls Flag Football
Sign the petition to have Hall Of Fame flag football members
included in Canton.
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