"On May 2nd, 2023, at approximately 10:05 PM, Roger Goodell and Adam Silver made an agreement to combine their two leagues and sports in order to make history." --Rafi Ponet, 7th GRade
The National Football League (NFL) has been one of the most successful sports leagues of all time and the National Basketball League (NBA) is right behind it in terms of money generated, T.V. rating, and overall impact on the world. The talks of combining the two leagues began months ago, and it has looked like more of a possibility by the day. Goodell and the NFL were trying to sign a contract extension, but could not come to an agreement. Silver and the NBA saw this and immediately reached out. The NBA has always been a little bit behind the NFL in terms of popularity and looked at this as an opportunity to finally be the most popular league in the U.S. The name of this league is the Major Footsketball League (MFL).
The two leagues are now one and have created an entirely new sport. Footsketball takes elements of both sports and puts them together. There is still a hoop, but instead of shooting a basketball into it, you throw a football. Also the rim of the hoop is going to be three to four times larger than the current NBA hoops. The court, once in basketball, is now a field and dribbling is replaced by throwing short passes to your teammate.
There are six players on each team on the field at a time. A pointback, which is the person who initially starts with the football and makes passes up to their teammates. This player is not allowed to score the ball but does have the ability to take five steps down the field every play. Then there are the two forward receivers whose job is to run a route similar to one a wide receiver would, catch the ball and try to score. The running guard, who is able to take 15 steps with the ball, can only have the ball handed to them, not thrown. There are two alley-oopers, whose job is to run all the way down the field, and catch passes thrown only at the rim. These players can not throw the ball farther than the ten yard line into the hoop. Defense is the same as in basketball, meaning there are no defensive positions. The teams take turns being on offense and defense, like football, and have five throws to score the ball. If they decide to attempt to score before the fifth try and miss, their turn will be immediately ended.
With these changes, sports fans have mixed reactions. “I am in disbelief that the NFL and NBA merged. I just don’t know why they would ruin the two leagues,” said Isaiah Kahn, a 7th grader at Oakland School for the Arts (OSA).
“I am intrigued on what it will look like and I’m excited to try playing footsketball,” said Kai Vejsada, another 7th grader at OSA.
One of the problems that the MFL are currently facing is how to make it accessible to play. Obviously, to get players to play in these leagues, regular people train their entire childhood/early adulthood, and the top of these people make the leagues. So over the next five years, the MFL is going to build thousands of footsketball fields across North America and hopes to build some in other continents soon.
Most likely NFL and NBA players will play in other leagues of their respective sport, but some might make the transition to footsketball. Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant said that he is “excited to dunk on people,” in an interview with the Athletic, and is hoping to be one of the alley-oopers.
But some NBA and NFL players are upset at the two leagues' decision.
“I think they are messing up the game we know and love and I think the players for the other sport feel the same way,” said Los Angeles Lakers star Lebron James.
Some players were even more critical of the decision.
“I am not going to play in the MFL no matter what, and I think this is the absolute stupidest thing I have ever heard,” said San Francisco 49er’s defensive lineman Nick Bosa.
This is going to be a big change for the players but hopefully they will get used to the idea.
As far as teams, the MFL is still deciding what cities will get them but Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago all seem like they are going to get one. The MFL is hoping to use fan polls to pick names and cities for these teams, but this will probably not happen for five to ten years. This all means that we could be watching the last five or so seasons of the NFL and NBA and this is very sad, but the MFL might be even better!
Update: the MFL is now considering playing the court on a basketball court instead of a football field.
The two leagues are now one and have created an entirely new sport. Footsketball takes elements of both sports and puts them together. There is still a hoop, but instead of shooting a basketball into it, you throw a football. Also the rim of the hoop is going to be three to four times larger than the current NBA hoops. The court, once in basketball, is now a field and dribbling is replaced by throwing short passes to your teammate.
There are six players on each team on the field at a time. A pointback, which is the person who initially starts with the football and makes passes up to their teammates. This player is not allowed to score the ball but does have the ability to take five steps down the field every play. Then there are the two forward receivers whose job is to run a route similar to one a wide receiver would, catch the ball and try to score. The running guard, who is able to take 15 steps with the ball, can only have the ball handed to them, not thrown. There are two alley-oopers, whose job is to run all the way down the field, and catch passes thrown only at the rim. These players can not throw the ball farther than the ten yard line into the hoop. Defense is the same as in basketball, meaning there are no defensive positions. The teams take turns being on offense and defense, like football, and have five throws to score the ball. If they decide to attempt to score before the fifth try and miss, their turn will be immediately ended.
With these changes, sports fans have mixed reactions. “I am in disbelief that the NFL and NBA merged. I just don’t know why they would ruin the two leagues,” said Isaiah Kahn, a 7th grader at Oakland School for the Arts (OSA).
“I am intrigued on what it will look like and I’m excited to try playing footsketball,” said Kai Vejsada, another 7th grader at OSA.
One of the problems that the MFL are currently facing is how to make it accessible to play. Obviously, to get players to play in these leagues, regular people train their entire childhood/early adulthood, and the top of these people make the leagues. So over the next five years, the MFL is going to build thousands of footsketball fields across North America and hopes to build some in other continents soon.
Most likely NFL and NBA players will play in other leagues of their respective sport, but some might make the transition to footsketball. Memphis Grizzlies guard Ja Morant said that he is “excited to dunk on people,” in an interview with the Athletic, and is hoping to be one of the alley-oopers.
But some NBA and NFL players are upset at the two leagues' decision.
“I think they are messing up the game we know and love and I think the players for the other sport feel the same way,” said Los Angeles Lakers star Lebron James.
Some players were even more critical of the decision.
“I am not going to play in the MFL no matter what, and I think this is the absolute stupidest thing I have ever heard,” said San Francisco 49er’s defensive lineman Nick Bosa.
This is going to be a big change for the players but hopefully they will get used to the idea.
As far as teams, the MFL is still deciding what cities will get them but Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago all seem like they are going to get one. The MFL is hoping to use fan polls to pick names and cities for these teams, but this will probably not happen for five to ten years. This all means that we could be watching the last five or so seasons of the NFL and NBA and this is very sad, but the MFL might be even better!
Update: the MFL is now considering playing the court on a basketball court instead of a football field.