Field Size
 

I did a search and didn't find any thread on this topic. This has always bugged me, must be my OCD.:D We all know the field is 100' long. The yard lines are measured from the front edge of the respective goal line. The yard lines are all 4" wide. This is all fine and dandy until you get to the 50' line. In order to maintain the measurements from the goal line, the 50' line would need to be 8" wide, but it's not. Where do the extra 4" go?

This topic has been mentioned before on the forum. The 4" are sucked into the stats of those RBs who have 55+ yard runs (50+ yard runs in the US).

The same issue happens in Canada, at the 55 yard line, commonly called Centre Ice, since the CFL plays when hockey is in the off-season.

As a hockey side bar, it was 20 years ago that Gretzky was traded away from Edmonton. Gretzky is still the world's best hockey player to have ever played the game.

I know this dates me but Gordie Howe and Big Frank are my favorites along with Yvan C.

Great question
 

That's a great question. One I've never thought of, but I think you have it backward. The 50 should diappear altogether. Consider, it's 5 yards from the goal line to the 5 yd stripe. then it's 4 yards and 32 inches from the back of the 5 to the 10. And so on. At the 45, go 4 yards and 32 inches and stop. Put a piece of string on the ground. If you then go to the other goal line and do the same thing, you end up at the same string -- the 50 should be infintesimally thin.

The one I've never figured out is the impossibility of a 100 yard run. If the ball is snapped 2 inches from the goal and the runner scores, it's counted as a 1 yard run. So if 0 to 1 = 1, why doesn't something snapped from inside the 1 at the other end of the field (99 to 100) = 100?

It's been said that anything from inside the 2 is a 1 yard play, but that doesn't make sense. That's 71 inches that can all be counted as 1 yard.

Sounds like the limit of an integral approaching zero... Now you're making me recall high school and college calculus. Brain cramp! :eek: ;)

I've observed two artificial turf fields being installed over the past 15 years with the major stripes sewn into the turf.

All those white strips are 4 inches wide. The starting point was the 50 yard line, right smack dab in the middle of it. Moving 5 yards in either direction, they inserted another 4 inches wide strip with it's center 5 yards from the center of the 50.

Once you get down to the 5 yard line (it's center point) 5 yards from that center point is the goal line front edge. Remember, the goal in is entirely in the end zone. It has no overlap in the field of play.

So, from the front edge of the goal line to goal line is 100 yards (300ft).
From the front edge of the goal line to the center of the 50 yards line is 50 yards (150 ft). got it?

When officials spot the ball on the 20 after a touch-back, some place it right in the middle. Some place it with the nose just at the front edge. Right in the middle is 20 yards from the goal line. Otherwise, the ball is really only 19 yards 34 inches from the goal line. I know, whoopee doo, who care. Only a mathematician would care or maybe a surveyor. I certainly don't, but I do spot it in the middle.

Right. Front edge of goal line to front edge of opposite goal line is 100 yards. All other yard marks are measured from the middle of the line. The measurement from the edge of the goal line to the nearest edge of the 10-yard line is 9 yds, 2 ft, 10 in.

Hmmm, interesting.

So, where do you place the back stake?

Does it say to do it this way in the rulebook field diagram?

The field diagrams I've seen measure from goal line to goal line. If you start marking the field from the edge of one goal line to the nearest edge of the 10-yard line, then 20-yard line and so on until you reach the opposite 10-yard line you'll be left with 9 yds, 2 ft, 8 in between the back edge of the opposite 10-yard line to the goal line.

On the NOSE of the ball, whereever it might be placed.

It sounds reasonable to place the tip of the ball on the edge of the line farthest away from the direction they are heading, because that's the point on the line, 10 yards away, that they are targeting. If they get far enough, that's the edge of the goal line that is their ultimate destination.

Isn't the rule pretty clear? :confused:

5-3-3c
To start a new series of downs, the inside edge of the rod nearest the goal of the team which is to snap the ball is set on the yard line through the ball's foremost point. To start a new series of downs after:
A safety or touchback, the foremost point of the ball is placed on the 20-yard line.