NFL Field Change Coming Soon? League Considers A Wider Playing Field


Is the NFL football field in need of a change? League officials have discussed adding a few extra yards to widen the field in the past and they will reportedly revisit the idea this offseason.

According to the Shutdown Corner, the league is talking about extending the NFL football field from 160 feet to 195 feet from sideline-to-sideline. That’s the measurement that the Canadian Football League uses and league officials believe that it could make football a safer game.

Bill Polian, a former competition committee member, told the National Football Post:

“I’m not so sure we shouldn’t think about widening the field. It’s a radical idea, but I think it’s worth thinking about. You would have more space and perhaps a safer game. I say that based on my CFL experience. There are less collisions of that type in the Canadian game.”

But not everyone agrees with Polian. Houston Texans GM Rick Smith believes that a wider field would actually lead to bigger hits.

Smith said: “If you widen the field, you have more high speed collisions.”

The NFL has received a lot of criticism for being a dangerous sport and the league has been working to make football a safer game. A wider field may or may not be the answer but it’s probably too radical of an idea to actually work at the moment.

In addition to safety, the NFL also has to consider space inside football stadiums. More filed space means less seating which means less money. Also, widening the field could drastically change the game of football.

Former NFL quarterback Warren Moon said:

“It would be hard for defenses to stop the offenses. They are having a hard time stopping them now. It would be harder with a bigger field. There would be a lot more scoring, I know that. If you make the field bigger, bigger lanes, bigger areas, it will be tougher for those defensive backs to cover.”

What do you think? Would you like to see the NFL change the football field?

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