The NFL is reportedly reexamining a proposal to widen the dimensions of the field to promote a safer game environment, which would give the NFL a field width more similar to the CFL, according to Dan Pompei.
NFL considered CFL-style field widening, according to report
In order to promote a safer game environment, the NFL is reportedly considering widening the playing field, such as in the CFL.
Michael Heiman
The CFL field is 35 feet wider than the NFL’s 160-foot wide field. There was no apparent discussion about the length of the field, which is 30 yards longer in the CFL.
The proposed advantage of a wider field would be that the player would be unable to build as much straight-line momentum, an advantage former competition committee member Bill Polian, who built CFL teams before moving to the NFL in the late ‘80s, supports.
“The farther a player has to run in terms of contact, the less ferocious the contact is going to be,” Polian told CBS Sports. “We know the most ferocious hits come from guys who are 10 yards apart and lay each other out. You have fewer higher power collisions in the Canadian League than here.”
Members of the NFL’s competition committee, which reportedly discussed the same proposal last year, will reportedly examine the idea before next month’s scouting combine.
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