The new 7-man football league is betting on security

By Lucas Vola – March 16, 2015 4:21 pm

Like rugby, American football has its version, played with 7 players. In fact, the A7FL (American 7’s Football League) begins its first season on Saturday, which will last …

Like rugby, American football has its version, played with 7 players. In fact, the A7FL (American 7’s Football League) begins its first season on Saturday, with a deadline of June 27.

The league consists of 30 teams divided into two divisions, mainly playing in the Northeastern United States (New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland) and Texas. There will be eight regular season games, three of which must be added before the finals.

On a field narrower than an NFL field (100 × 37 vs. 120 × 53 in the big league), teams have a quarterback, two attack linemen and four qualified receivers.

But above all, the players wore no protection. No helmet, no shoulder. Ryan Dibal, founder and chairman of the league, believes that concussions can be greatly reduced because most of them are due to helmet-to-helmet contact. As always for safety, there will be no bunts or kick-offs this season.

So A7FL may be a way to pass the time (a little) faster while waiting for the NFL to return.