Cole came back from his first football practice and announced that Coach has decided that he is a linebacker. Now, admittedly, I'm happy that Cole is playing football for two reasons: I love the game and I can practice action shots outside this Spring. Then I realized, I love the game more when it's other people's children being crunched!
I have been watching football for what seems like forever. It is a great game with plenty of great stories, really great stories. Great motivational quotes, I love Vince Lombardi, he's helping me raise my kids! I lived in Buffalo through the Marv Levy/Jim Kelly years of making it to the Super Bowl but never winning. Plenty of larger than life personalities and I've met some wonderful men who played the game (Bruce Smith, Dan Marino, Don Meredith) I've also met some crazies (Conrad Dobler, O.J. Simpson, Thurman Thomas) and every personality in between.
Most of my memories of football are of sitting with my dad watching college and NFL games while growing up. He is a huge sports fan and loved the game, the flash and personality of it all, as well as knowing every rule and how each game was played. It wasn't until I went to University that I got my first dose of Canadian football with all kinds of new rules, no marching bands, no cheerleaders, and freezing cold temperatures! It was there that I learned to love the Canadian game.
The differences are small, but significant. The Canadian field is bigger, some positions play a bit differently and there are three downs as opposed to the American four-down rule. If you're interested, go here to read a pretty comprehensive comparison: Wiki.
Now, I love football, but I haven't watched anything but the Grey Cup or SuperBowl in years. So, as I do, I didn't want to rely on my vague recollection that in my youth, Dick Butkus and Lawrence Taylor were Linebackers and they were tough and mean. I've met Mr. Butkus and he is lovely, though I doubt he was on the field! I wanted to educate myself a bit and found this write-up online:
Linebackers are a special breed. They like to torture small animals, drink blood and eat children for breakfast. Linebackers are often quite famous: Ray Nitschke, Dick Butkus, Lawrence Taylor, Mike Singletary, Ray Lewis. These guys are the "enforcers" of the defense. Their job is to make sure that nothing good happens for the offense in the middle of the field, and that the running back has trouble sleeping tonight due to his many bruises and pains.
There are three linebackers, each with a slightly different job. The middle linebacker, is the quarterback of the defense. It's his job to make sure all the other defensive players are lined up correctly and know what scheme they're going to use on the next play to try to stymie the offence. The middle linebacker will also be responsible to see that the running back has no success running between the tackles. In the passing game, if the running back or full back comes into the middle of the field to be an outlet receiver, the middle linebacker's job is to disrupt the pass and make the back regret every coming into his territory. Middle linebackers rarely have all of their teeth. To a middle linebacker, this is a point of pride. The middle linebacker is often called "Mike," where M is for middle. A middle linebacker will typically weigh 245 to 255 pounds. He has to be a very good runner, as his responsibility on a running play is to be where ever the ball is, either making the tackle or helping. (Famous middle linebackers include Mike Singletary, Dan Morgan, Ray Lewis, Brian Urlacher, Dick Butkus, Jack Lambert, Zach Thomas, Tedy Bruschi, and Ray Nitschke.)
The strong side linebacker, is to help contain the running back on the strong side of the field. To do this, he must take on the tight end on nearly every play. The strong side linebacker is also responsible to see that the tight end never catches a pass, or if he happens to he winds up regretting it. The strong side linebacker will typically be about as big as the middle linebacker, about 245 to 255 pounds. The strong side linebacker is often called "Sam," where S is for strong side. (Famous strongside linebackers include Jack Ham, Shawne Merriman, Bill Romanowski, Willie McGinest, and LaVar Arrington.)
The weak side linebacker, is normally a bit lighter and faster than the other two linebackers. He does not wrestle with 265 pound tight ends, or 250 pound straight-ahead running backs like the Sam and Mike linebackers do. His job is to contain cut back running backs who come over to the weak side. He will also help out with coverage in the passing game. Frequently a running back or fullback will come out of the backfield as an outlet receiver. In this case, it will often be the weak side linebacker's responsibility to cover this guy and prevent a pass, or at least tackle the guy immediately. The weak side linebacker is often called "Will," where W is for weak side. (Famous weakside linebackers include Lawrence Taylor, Junior Seau, Takeo Spikes, Julian Peterson, Derrick Brooks, Lavar Arrington, DeMarcus Ware and Joey Porter.)
Holy smokes!
Torture small animals?
Drink blood?
Eat children for breakfast?
Ah well, I guess someone has to do it! Cole quite enjoyed his first practice and is looking forward to the next one. He's never played the game before and joined so he could spend some time with one of his buddies, so I'm pretty sure we'll be making a trip to Blockbuster to rent some football movies, or even old games, I'm sure we can find some on line! LT in his prime, maybe? He's already asking about how to go about sacking the quarterback. Hmm. Maybe this is a good sport for him!
Photo of Lawrence Taylor found here.
