American Football[Gridiron] could become apart of Olympic Summer Games by 2024 - Polidicks

[QUOTE=Eluveitie;43145358]Isn't the Olympics for amateurs only? They should do it like soccer(football whatever), and only let each country have 3 professional players in their squad.[/QUOTE] Where the hell did you hear this?

Why would anyone really want to play in an Olympic American football team though? With injury rates being so high, salaries in professional teams so exorbitant and national teams not paying anything why would any great player risk his career and future for such a thing? I mean since the players are drafted from college, a national team and Olympics wouldn't even really work as a proving ground for new players to excel and shine. Granted I am not overly familiar with every aspect of American football, so any clarification on this subject would be great.

American Football is too nuanced to be an Olympic sport. Too much of the game is decided by complex coaching decisions and non-athletic factors on the sidelines, and every slot on the team is a specialty position, meaning teams are huge.

[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;43145045]i think american football is pretty cool but wouldn't it be just like baseball in the olympics, with only 2-3 teams dominating the competition and america always coming out on top?[/QUOTE] Why do you think we want it in the olympics so bad? ;)

[QUOTE=JoeSkylynx;43144884]Quiet a few groups exist, just not as mainstream as Football in Europe. For example, several [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_leagues_of_American_and_Canadian_football]European and Asian countries have their own professional leagues[/url].[/QUOTE] If it's anything like it is in hockey, the skill level in those leagues would be so below an NFL level that an American high school team could probably compete and win there. Unless football catches on around the world, there's no point in making it an Olympic sport because the talent pool is exclusive to two countries.

[QUOTE=Ericson666;43144828]WOO (GRIDIRON) FOOTBALL Is gridiron even widely played outside the US?[/QUOTE] Canada. (We matter)

[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;43146146]Canada. (We matter)[/QUOTE] I'm on board with this idea. We could totally silver in this.

It would just be another free gold medal for the U.S.

Heh, and with it comes Olympic Commercials. Back out while you can, you don't want the commercialism in the games...[QUOTE=Glitchman;43144898] in fact it's just a dangerous as hell sport[/quote] As are all contact sports. The only way you'll make any of them 'safe' is if you stop playing them entirely. [quote]but pretty fun to watch[/quote] Debatable. I find it incredibly boring to watch.

Gridiron? What is this, 1890?

Even if it was only amateurs allowed the U.S. would absolutely annihilate any opposition. The Olympic Games are supposed to be international. American football isn't really an international sport.

[QUOTE=SataniX;43145579]It's a non-sport here. Literally.[/QUOTE] What? I don't understand, that doesn't make any sense. What is it if it's not a sport?

[QUOTE=LSK;43149913]What? I don't understand, that doesn't make any sense. What is it if it's not a sport?[/QUOTE] He's saying that it's played so little that it basically doesn't exist.

First Football, then NASCAR

[QUOTE=Emperor Scorpious II;43149971]First Football, then NASCAR[/QUOTE] they'd call it OSCAR that'd be hilariously great except for British drivers

[QUOTE=Kinversulath;43146397]I'm on board with this idea. We could totally silver in this.[/QUOTE] Bronze. China will materialize a football team in a year and a half that'll end up in the finals, and we'll win Bronze from someone like Kazakhstan.

North Korean American football team. Heaviest+tallest player is 5'4, 160

[QUOTE=maxumym;43145138]Isn't gonna work. Most people don't even know the rules of this thing.[/QUOTE] I don't understand the rules of Rugby or Cricket. Does that mean it shouldn't be an Olympic Sport? (To be fair though, Cricket isn't an Olympic Sport atm, it was at one time however).

[QUOTE=Zambies!;43150522]North Korean American football team. Heaviest+tallest player is 5'4, 160[/QUOTE] I would be 100% for football being included if i got to see a North Korean team.

[QUOTE=Glitchman;43144898]The sport is being widly altered rapitdly due to all those concussion cases however there are more knee injuries now form people having to tackle low in fact it's just a dangerous as hell sport but pretty fun to watch, I don't watch many sports but American Football is always pretty interesting[/QUOTE] bad training, poor plays and using your head as a weapon is the main reason why football is dangerous, veterans from the 60s and 70s don't have brains that are swiss cheese because they didn't tackle with their heads back then, the guys from the 80s onwards however have basically mushed their brains how is baseball not an international sport yet american football is up for consideration? seems a bit stupid when nobody really plays american football outside of...america

[img]http://s3.amazonaws.com/rapgenius/filepicker%2Fg1FkdoTATdqHslJDLBfU_john_madden.jpg[/img]

[QUOTE=bdd458;43150527]I don't understand the rules of Rugby or Cricket. Does that mean it shouldn't be an Olympic Sport? (To be fair though, Cricket isn't an Olympic Sport atm, it was at one time however).[/QUOTE] Rugby Union is the national sport of several countries, and Cricket is incredibly popular across the globe as well. American Football doesn't have that level of support worldwide, as it stands at the moment.

I'd say Canada would probably do pretty good, but pretty much all the best CFL players are Americans.

My personal opinion on Football is skewed because I'm a quite the fan for the collegiate level. Football is a a very enjoyable spectator sport believe or not, either through everyone acting as if their one big family,affecting the game with crowd noise, or hugging each other after winning an important game. It's still enjoyable never the less personal profession football is less entertaining and is played with less effort than compared to the college level. It's very physically and mentally demanding to play believe or not, for a quarterback it's him having to make those passes for big gain or rushing to get the first down. For the offensive line it's protecting the quarterback at any cost so he get those big plays and etc. If you're not prepared mentally you can go down like a house of cards, even the bests teams and suffer mental breaks down and be kicked around by a lesser team, but you never know who will show up for the game or not. But if US football actually had more of a following in other counties aside for the US and Canada it would be in the Olympics, hell they did a demonstration game and A LOT of people enjoyed it but it was never picked up for what ever reason. I'd urge non-football fans to give it a shot by watching some of the games from this season like Auburn and Georgia and Auburn and Alabama. Both are incredible games that demonstrate the talent of two teams and a near break down for them as well.

I like watching football, but baseball is a sport much more relevant to the Olympics, as it is fairly predominantly played in much of Asia and Latin America.