Home-Field Advantage

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I was reading an article in the most recent edition of Sports Illustrated, a magazine that I love and swear by. The article was titled “Can’t Beat the Spread.” Writer Austin Murphy chronicles the origins of this fairly new style of offense (The Spread) and how effective it has been for a number of teams.

For those of you who may not know, the “spread offense” incorporates more speed into an offense and the goal is literally to spread your receivers across the field so the defense is also forced to spread, which in turn, creates more open pockets to throw the ball, and also makes it tougher for the defense to disguise blitzes because the blitzing player has to creep up from a farther distance. Enough spreading for you?

Anyways, the article begins great. The title is “spread” across a two page picture (end zone view) of the Florida Gator offense, again, “spreading” the defense of Florida Atlantic. The picture does its justice to show the effectiveness of this offense and the gaps in the defensive scheme where opportunity presents itself, and where receivers are wide open. Murphy goes on to quote players and coaches who have shared in the success of this system and he even quotes Urban Meyer who believes that 80% of high schools are now using the spread. It truly is a great article.

And then it happened. I stumbled across a line by Murphy and immediately put the magazine down. I still have not picked it back up, and do not plan to. Here is what prompted this blog. Murphy discusses how this offense is changing the dynamics of players in the game and how teams that incorporate the spread offense into their game-plan are going with more one-back and empty sets (no running backs in the backfield with the quarterback). Now, Murphy could have left this argument as is but he had to say, “The rise of the spread offense has resulted in a faster and—unless one is a fan of the fullback isolation play—more entertaining game.” Wow…let the blog begin!

I myself occupied this apparently unentertaining, no-need-for position in my playing days throughout high school and college. And I would argue that the fullback position and its bone-shattering, brain-rattling isolation play are in fact quite entertaining. O.K., O.K. I am still trying to get the last bit of “meathead” out of my system so forgive my play-describing adjectives.  

The truth of the matter is—and I can attack Murphy all I want—the fullback is a declining position in the game of football, more so in college. It really does sadden me to slowly say goodbye to the most blue collar position in sports. I couldn’t be a bigger Mike Alstott fan. Anyone who walks into my office—O.K. fine…miniature cubicle…WITH A WINDOW!—is greeted by pictures of the A-Train. It’s a simple reminder to me when I show up every morning that there is a way to approach your profession, and a fullback’s mentality is that way. Get it done, whatever it takes, and don’t expect a pat on the back or a reward because while you may set up every touchdown that goes on the scoreboard, you’re not always—usually never—the one scoring them.

But a football team cannot exist without a fullback. There are certain situations that require one. Who’s going to plow through a 4-man defensive line often averaging well over 12,000lbs, for the couple inches on 4th down that might determine the end result of a game? Who is going to clear linebackers like Ray Lewis and Brian Urlacher out of the way so the other running back can prance his way to end zone and then hold-out the next season for a “more lucrative contract?” Fullbacks make life easy.

But back to Murphy’s point of how fullbacks dumb-down the entertainment aspect of football. This is ridiculous. Fullbacks dish out some of the most punishing hits in the sport. We, the viewer drool just waiting for these highlights. Has anybody ever seen ESPN’s segment “Jacked Up?” It is dedicated to the 5 biggest hits of the week. My point exactly.

But for those fans who are still in support of eliminating the fullback for entertainment purposes, be careful. I predict that getting rid of the fullback will not only change factors on the offensive side of the ball, but on the defensive side as well. If the spread offense fully evolves and more wide receivers and smaller running backs (now being referred to as “scat backs”) are put onto the field, the linebacker position will change as well. It will have to. No longer will there be a need, or a use, for linebackers like Lewis and Urlacher because they are big, tough, run stuffers. Lewis stands at 6’1,” 250 lbs, and Urlacher chimes in at 6’4,” 258lbs. It is hard to see a Raven’s or Bear’s highlight without something being offered by these two, and it is never them chasing someone down from behind for a shoestring tackle, it’s a shell-shocking hit! Does the name Cato June ring a bell? Sure, to us football gurus. But how often does someone sit down on Sunday night to watch the highlights and say, “I can’t wait to see a Cato June highlight!” Yes, the 6,’ 227lb linebacker makes plays. He is great in pass coverage and can cover a large area. He is a valuable asset to the Buccaneers Defense. Cato June is the perfectl linebacker to help stop a spread offense. This is where the linebacker position is headed.

However, the N.F.L. is much slower to the forefront than is college football. While many teams are adding more shotgun and spread schemes to the pages of their playbooks, it is the college game that has already made the spread offense commonplace. Therefore, coaches are recruiting smaller, quicker linebackers to attend their schools. This is shrinking the selection pool of prototypical N.F.L. linebackers like Lewis and Urlacher. Because of this, the N.F.L. is being forced to gradually transition to more of a spread style of play. It is amazing how one position, the fullback, has been effected by this change, and how the new role of a fullback is in-turn changing the game.

Let’s leave the X’s and O’s and come to a realization. There are more memories of fullbacks behind us than in front of us. And that alone is sad because a couple bruisers have recently come to the professional ranks over the last couple years. Try Owen Schmitt on for size. It was rumored that the 6’2,” 247lb rookie for Seattle lifted a car off the ground by himself during his college years. Wouldn’t you love to see this guy run as fast as he can in a straight line and demolish any living particle that attempts to interrupt that path?

Schmitt picking up a car might be a rumor, but one fullback story that is not a rumor is the fact that Cory Schlesinger, the former fullback of the Detroit Lions, once broke 23 of his facemasks. 23 broken facemasks? That is a lot for a career. But Schlesinger did not break 23 facemasks in his career. He broke 23 facemasks in one season!!!

Even if we take away the stories, fullbacks have brought some great nicknames to the sport of football. Mike “A-Train” Alstott. Jerome “The Bus” Bettis, and Craig “Ironhead” Heyward. Find me a position in all of sports that garners so many nicknames.

The college game needs to bring back the position that some N.F.L. teams are struggling to hold on to. Maybe this will happen if old-school coaches like Bill Cowher come out of retirement and win a few more Super Bowls.

All I know is that I am glad I just missed the cut and now, at 23 years old, have my first “good ol’ days” story to tell my grandkids…only for them to respond…”What’s a fullback, Grandpa?”