Football board game - late 1970's

[Michael O'Connor]

I remember when I was a kid there was a football board game that was
called United States Football Game; this was several years before the
USFL and was not affiliated with the USFL. It came in an white
oversized box, roughly 3 foot by 2 foot. I remember playing it with a
friend once and was really impressed with the game, but never saw it
in any toy store or hobby shop. An online search for the game came up
empty. Has anybody here ever heard of this game?

[Mike Muth]

There were a number of decent football games back in the 60's and
70's. I don't recall one by that name, though. These are the one's I
remember:

3M - I don't recall the exact name of the game, but there were two
versions. The older (and much better) version was in a vinyl slip
case which was also the playing field. The later version was in the
standard 3M (later AH) bookcase game box and was (IMHO) inferior to
the earlier version. These games were intended to simulate pro
football.

SI - Bowl Bound. Sheets for the teams, dice for defense and offense
Players select play in secret, then roll dice and cross index
results. This game was purchased by Avalon Hill (AH) and sold in the
bookcase game box. I'm not sure how it was packaged or named in the
SI version. This was a simulation of college sport, I think there was
also one for Pro football.

AH - Can't remember the exact name. Either this or the 3M were
referred to as Thinking Man's Football (most likely 3M). This may
originally have been in a 22" X 28" box like the other early AH games.
Temas modeled on the Johnny Unitas QBed Baltimore Colts. Really an
excellent pro football simulation.

I hope that helped.

--
Mike
_I Eat Vegetarians: Cows are vegetarians, aren't they?_ ISBN:
978-0-615-22203-5 (kindle), 978-0-9841042-1-5 (.pdf) 978-0-9841042-0-8
(mobi)

[Dave Bieksza]

On Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:09:06 -0700 (PDT), Mike Muth
<mi...@unverbesserlich.net> wrote:

>3M - I don't recall the exact name of the game, but there were two
>versions. The older (and much better) version was in a vinyl slip
>case which was also the playing field. The later version was in the
>standard 3M (later AH) bookcase game box and was (IMHO) inferior to
>the earlier version. These games were intended to simulate pro
>football.

I just checked the storage room and found I did have the earlier 3M
version. It's called simply "Pro Football." However, it appears to
be "pro" only in the sense that the goalposts are at the goalline
instead of behind the endzone. (The copyright is 1967.)

The "teams" are identical to each other and are completely generic.
Available offensive plays are pitchout, off-tackle, counterplay,
sneak, and pass. Defenses are labeled 5-3-3, 7-2-2, and pass. (Plays
involving a kick provided a few more options, and "advanced" rules
added some variations like draws and reverses.) An additional twist
was that the defense secretly chose a "shift" card (left, right, or
balanced) which would add or subtract a diceroll modifier based on the
direction of the offensive play. A play was resolved with an item
like a slide rule which cross-referenced offensive play with defense.
Three dice were then rolled. The dice were specially marked so that
some rolls resulted in penalties.

In days of old I played this enough to wear out the penalty markings
on the dice. Though I haven't played any more recent football games,
I suspect "Pro Football" would be too generic for tastes today.
------------------------

David S. Bieksza
bie...@noUCEerols.com.invalid

Replies to the group are preferable to an e-mail
message -- my spam filter list is so long I may
not see a direct reply.

[Michael O'Connor]

There were a lot of great football board games in the 60's and 70's,
and with the advent of video games we're not likely to see too many
more new ones. A few favorites include:

Tudor NFL Strategy - Developed by Cleveland Browns QB Frank Ryan (who
has a PhD in Mathematics), he reportedly took play by play data for
three NFL seasons to develop a realistic game. The game has about 35
offensive formations and 15 or so defensive formations. One of the
few games to not use dice, it instead uses a spring slider to
determine probability.

Paydirt by Avalon Hill - The first to create a different chart for
each team specific to that season based on play by play data. Nine
offensive plays, six defensive plays. Very realistic results. The
pro version of Bowl Bound. The game first came out in 1969, and they
stopped production of the charts after 1992, but fans of the game have
created their own charts for subsequent seasons and past seasons
also. Has been developed into a computer game called Red Zone
Football where you can play teams from different seasons against one
another, or simulate entire seasons.

Ideal All Pro Football - A game with no charts or cards, just a board
with the field blocked off into five yard squares, and you have a
plastic piece for each player. Create your own offensive and
defensive formations. Dice are used only for passing and kicking.
Each quarter consists of 15 plays. Sort of a combination of football
and chess.