Category: Alternative Football

The email I got from the Canadian Football League on Sunday did not find me well. In fact, it made me quite apprehensive.

It heralded a Monday news conference in which commissioner Stewart Johnston would make “a major announcement regarding significant changes to the game.”

Uh oh.

I’m a huge fan of the CFL because of its cool rules, everything from three downs to make a first down to 12 players to a side.

“Don’t screw it up,” I muttered. “Please, please, please … don’t screw it up.”

Well, no lies were told – they did make significant changes to the game. Turns out, though, I think I might like ‘em.

Beginning with the 2027 season, the playing field will be decreased from 110 yards long to 100, and the end zones will be shortened from 20 yards deep to 15. The goalposts, currently located on the goal line, will be moved to the back of the end zone.

And starting in 2026, scoring a rouge (or single point), won’t be as easy. Currently a team is awarded a point if a missed field goal attempt goes wide of the goalposts or a punt or kickoff goes through or rolls out of the back or sides of the end zone without being touched by a returner.

Next year a team can score a rouge only if a punt, field goal or kickoff settles in the end zone and the returner either fails to run it out or takes a knee to down the ball.

Johnston says moving the goal posts should provide a significant boost to offenses.

“This will allow passing offenses to target the middle of the end zone, rather than defaulting to the sides to avoid goal posts,” Johnston said during Monday’s news conference. “It’ll make going for a touchdown instead of settling for a field goal more attractive. It will deliver more unobstructed sight lines for fans, viewers and television cameras, allow quarterbacks and punters, when operating from their own end zone, to play more freely. It will improve player safety, because while collisions with the post may not be commonplace, the risk is clear.

“It’ll mean a touchdown pass will have to be stopped by a defender and not the occasional upright or crossbar. By moving the goal post back, we project a 10 percent increase in completed passes in the end zone, and 60 more touchdowns each year.”

As for the changes to the rouge, Johnston says the criticism that it “rewards failure” will no longer be valid.

“This removes the possibility that the Grey Cup or a playoff matchup – or any game, for that matter – will be decided by a missed field goal or a punt or a kickoff through the end zone.”

The commish also stressed that the major changes didn’t come unilaterally.

“It is important to note that this package of changes was approved unanimously by the CFL Board of Governors, which includes team owners and chairs,” he said. “And I want to recognize their boldness and decisive action. They understand that we can and must advance our game, not by abandoning what makes it so great and unique, but by building upon our game’s legacy to make it more exciting, more entertaining and better for our fans.”

I’m gonna miss being able to use phrases like, “They have first and 10 at the 55,” but as long as the field remains 65 yards wide – and it does – I don’t think the 10 yard shrinkage in the field of play is that big a deal.

I liked the 20-yard deep end zones, but now that offenses don’t have the goalpost obstruction, it’ll seem like just as much if not more real estate to work with.

When Johnston first started talking about the rouge, I was afraid it was about to be axed. Thankfully, it lives on.

As much as I get a kick out of seeing a team grab a 1-0 lead, awarding points for a missed field goal always seemed a bit … participation trophy-ish.

“A team settles for a long field goal instead of an exciting third down gamble, because the goal posts on the goal line as well as the safety net of a potential rouge encourage them to play it cautiously,” Johnston said.

There will also be a 35-second play clock and team benches will be required to be on opposite sides of the field, but those won’t get people talking.

The other rule changes, though, will serve as quite the conversation starter as the league moves forward.

And while I appreciate the CFL the way it is – and perfectly understand traditionalists who hate these changes – I’m pretty sure I’m gonna continue to appreciate it once it undergoes its makeover. After all, it’s still quirky and different.

And who knows? By 2027, it might be better than ever.

My fascination with field goal kickers began when I was roughly 10 years old.

I marveled at New Orleans Saints kicker Tom Dempsey, who set an NFL record with a 63-yard three-pointer in 1970 – despite being born with no toes on his right (kicking) foot.

And Pete Gogolak of the New York Giants and Jan Stenerud of the Kansas City Chiefs wowed me with their new-fangled “soccer-style” approach.

We had an old American Beech tree in the backyard, and one of its low-hanging limbs served as a natural crossbar. I’d spend what seemed like hours placing the ball on a plastic tee and attempting to use my trusty right leg to win games for either the Alabama Crimson Tide or New York Jets – depending on whether it was a Saturday or Sunday.

I made a bunch … and as fate would have it, the ones I missed I got to do over because the defense was called for offsides. Funny how that always happened.

Anyway, while throwing or passing for the winning touchdown was the dream of most offensive-minded kids, I longed to split the pipes on a 50-yard field goal to lead my team to glory.

A half century later I remain a leg man, and these days I’m living vicariously through Dallas Cowboys kicker Brandon Aubrey – who effortlessly drilled a 64-yarder against the Giants last Sunday to force overtime in a 40-37 Dallas win. His 46-yarder in the extra period won it.

Now, before I go any further, please note that I don’t cheer for the Cowboys. Hell, I usually cheer against them. I’ve had no affection for the team in the turquoise-gray britches since Lee Roy Jordan was making tackles for them.

Still, that’s where Aubrey plays, and I have a bit of history with him.

Back when he was with the Birmingham Stallions in the modern USFL, I got a one-on-one interview with. He had established himself as one of the best kickers in the spring league, but his story was even better because of all the layers. He was a former professional soccer player who hadn’t played American football since high school until leaving his job as a software engineer and signing with the Stallions.

The interview went much longer than I intended because the dude was so friendly and engaging. With a degree from Notre Dame and success in the business world, he was going to be fine with or without football.

But his enthusiasm for the game – and his desire to see if he could make a living at it – made him someone you find yourself rooting for.

“I kind of burnt out of soccer,” Aubrey told me back in May, 2023. “Transitioning from an attacking player to a defensive player, I really wanted to do something where I could get out there and score some points. I’ve been watching football my whole life. I’ve loved football and obviously I would have kept playing football as a high schooler if I had the option. So, I just wanted to go out and see if I could make football work.”

As a Stallion, he made 32 of 36 field goals over two seasons and nailed 57 of 59 extra points – and all 35 PATs he tried in 2023.

That was good enough to get a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys.

The rest, as they say, is history.

He kicked a 65-yarder in 2024 and the 64-yarder last week – as time expired in regulation  –  would’ve been good from beyond 70.

He followed up with the game-winner in the last second of O.T. It was the first time in NFL history a kicker had made field goals as time expired in both regulation and overtime in the same game.

“I think that’s the first walk-off field goal I’ve had,” Aubrey said in the postgame gaggle. “So I did it twice (Sunday), which was pretty cool as time expires, once to enter overtime and once in overtime. So, pretty cool moment.”

Now in the third season of his NFL career, Aubrey has been good on 82 of 91 field goal attempts (90.1 percent) and 85 of 88 extra points.

That’s almost unbelievable.

He connected on his first 35 field goals as an NFL player – that had never been done before – and last season he set a league record for most successful field goals of 50 yards or longer with 14.

“I have a job to get the ball through the uprights,” he said. “They (the offense) have a line that they want to get to, and they’ve got to find any way possible to get there.”

Justin Tucker currently holds the NFL regular season record for longest field goal, that coming from 66 yards in 2021 when he was with the Baltimore Ravens.

During the 2025 preseason, Jacksonville Jaguars sidewinder Cam Little hit a 70-yarder.

Look, I’m way too old to tee the ball up and try to clear a limb for an imaginary victory. But Aubrey, at age 30, has the time – and the leg – to make history for me.

My hope is that he gets a chance to stand alone in the record books before the 2025 season is done.

I’m pretty sure he hopes so, too. His next chance comes today when Dallas travels to Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears.

“I believe I’m the best kicker in the league,” he said. “So, there’s no better spot to be. It’s an opportunity, so go have fun.”

I realize most of you are experiencing a tingling sensation in your special regions since this is the first full Saturday of a new college football season. But for all of my fellow alt-football nerds, today is also a day to raise a glass and pour one out for the Chicago Winds. And while you’re at it, maybe do the same for the World Football League.

On this date 50 years ago the Winds played their final game, and three days later the franchise folded. This caused even the most optimistic WFL fans to realize the end was nigh for the struggling circuit. (The league went cleats up on October 22).

First, some background …

After a disastrous 1974 season – one dripping in red ink and resulting in two teams folding and two more relocating – the original WFL actually folded. It was replaced by New League Inc., doing business as the World Football League.

The 1975 reboot began with 11 franchises – the Birmingham Vulcans, Charlotte Hornets, Winds, The Hawaiians, Jacksonville Express, Memphis Southmen, Philadelphia Bell, Portland Thunder, San Antonio Wings, Shreveport Steamer and Southern California Sun.

The WFL was missing the top media market – New York – so it was vitally important that Chicago, Philadelphia and the Anaheim-based Sun provide a “major league” boost.

But Chicago was iffy from the get-go.

According to the Associated Press, when the franchise was formed (replacing the 1974 Chicago Fire) “certain partnership documents and other ownership arrangements” were not completed. Two of the Winds’ backers placed their investments ($175,000) with the league, pending clarification and finalization of ownership documents.

WFL commissioner Chris Hemmeter had devised a strict financial plan for the league, one that required minimum capital requirements for members. And his “Hemmeter Plan” was designed to make sure teams made payroll. Players would earn one percent of gate receipts while “stars” requiring greater compensation had to be paid through money placed in an escrow account.

Chicago’s ownership group reached an agreement with the WFL to supply enough money to assure a full season’s operation, so the Winds were admitted in the hopes they could be the bellwether franchise.

They could not.

In March of 1975, there was talk that the Southmen’s Big Three – Larry Csonka, Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield – might be sent to Chicago from Memphis owner John Bassett in an effort to “save the league.”

That never happened.

And in April, the Winds took their biggest swing when they tried to lure Joe Namath away from the New York Jets. But whether or not the man who helped boost the American Football League to prominence could do the same to the WFL became a moot point after Namath opted to stay in the NFL.

Babe Parilli was coach and general manager of the team up until late July, then he was released to make room for Abe Gibron and Leo Cahill.

Cahill had served as GM of the Southmen before heading north to his native Chicago.

Gibron was fired a year earlier by the Chicago Bears after going 11-30-1 over three seasons, but was brought in to assume the same role with the city’s WFL club.

“I can only promise it will be an aggressive team both physically and mentally,” Gibron told AP.

The franchise did manage to sign John Gilliam away from the Minnesota Vikings, and hoped the battery of quarterback Pete Beathard to Gilliam would put wins on the ledger and butts in the seats.

It did neither.

Chicago opened with two games on the road – a 10-0 loss to Birmingham and 38-18 drubbing at the hands of Shreveport.

The Winds’ home debut at Soldier Field drew a crowd of 3,501, who watched the hosts log a 25-18 overtime victory over Portland.

Game four was a 28-17 loss at the Hawaiians, and on August 30, 1975, the Winds traveled to Memphis.

The Southmen won big, 31-7, but that was the least of the Winds’ woes.

Remember that thing about clarification and finalization of ownership documents?

“There were continuous delays regarding those documents and other representations which they had made that were not fully clarified,” Hemmeter said on September 2 after learning the two original investors pulled out. “That brought the Winds below minimum capitalization requirements. We agreed from day one that kind of violation would not be tolerated.”

So, just three days after falling to 1-4, the Winds were done.

Hemmeter suggested the move to drop to 10 franchises would actually help the WFL.

“From a business standpoint, it is certainly a more responsible act to shut down a potential problem than to allow the potential for future problems to exist,” he said in an AP interview. “We are not willing to gamble on the future of the league.”

In reality, though, the WFL had no future.

There was no national TV contract, and attendance was terrible in most markets. Philadelphia averaged just 3,500 per game, with its final home contest drawing 1,293. Portland was bringing in less than 8,000 customers per home date.

Even Birmingham, whose WFL champion Americans averaged nearly 40,000 per home date in 1974, dipped to 24,100 in 1975.

While the league managed to hang on for another seven weeks after the Winds’ demise, Chicago’s exit was a harbinger of the World Football League’s doom.

“There wasn’t any single overriding factor in the decision,” Hemmeter said in a prepared statement announcing the end of the WFL. “When you go into any business venture, you realize there’s an upside potential and downside risk. As responsible people, we realized the risk had become too great.”