Banning the 3 point stance

Removing the 3-point stance would not eliminate concussions but _ as someone stated earlier, the cumulative effect of the head-to-head contact that linemen take is being targeted as the cause of some very serious long-term problems. Think boxing.

The other thing is, I really do think we're seeing the game evolve toward the elimination of the 3-point stance on both sides of the ball.

The spread offense is everywhere. There has never been more emphasis placed on the passing game and it continues to increase. And I say this having watched in person Alabama win a national title game with 6 completed passes. That's the exception that proves the rule.

And it's not uncommon these days for defenses to line up with only one or two players with hands on the ground. Heck the Jets were walking players all over the field before the snap this season. And they're far from the only ones.

I think the 3-point stance will one day go away because of safety reasons combined with strategy that makes it obsolete.

 

That's got to be parody. It has to be. No one is that stupid.

 

You'd be surprised. I knew a guy who said after Super Bowl XXXI he wanted to send Mike Holmgren a bill for the money he lost on his squares because he went for a two-point conversion at one time, as if coaches have some obligation to think about the betting public during the game.

 

The average NFL lineman puts out about 1 horsepower on a given play -- an incredible amount of power for a human being of flesh and bone.

 

I don't think 3 point stance is going away but if it does it will be from evolution of game and not safety.

As you mentioned Alabama just won a National Championship with grind it out old school football. Be interesting to see how many Bama lineman and D line opponents sustained concussions this year.

I believe at youth level not having kids in 3 pt stance makes them more suspetable to injury. There is a tendency to stand straight up and not be in a "football position".

 

The 4-point stance has all but disappeared, but it is not illegal.

There will always be situations in football which call for linemen to get down low on the line of scrimmage, so I can 100.0000 % guarantee you the 3-point stance will never be made illegal.

 

How can you possibly block anyone out of that stance?

 

Looks more like a goal line D

 

From my own glory days on the gridiron, you usually went into a 4-point stance when your primary (and almost exclusive) objective was to submarine the guy in front of you and cause a pileup (i.e. 4th-and-a foot). Almost exclusively on the interior defensive line (although wishbone fullbacks sometimes went into 4-point stances too).

The famous fullback flying-dive play trademarked by Sam "Bam" Cunningham (later used by Walter Payton in the pros) was a response to this tactic. If everybody's lying on the ground, they can't grab a 240-pound fullback sailing by 6 feet in the air.

 

Great photo. That crowd is stuffed in there. Randy Gradishar usually stuffed those.

Brings up another safety idea. Maybe require players to never leave their feet.

 

Walter Payton is gonna come down from heaven and kick your ass for even suggesting that.