There are so many of these. They're either redundant, silly, completely unnecessary, unintentionally racist, or just really stupid.
Feel free to add. I want to see an exhaustive list.
Possession Receiver. Think "area rug." Redundant, silly, self-explanatory, possibly racist. All receivers are, by definition, possession receivers. Otherwise they'd be playing somewhere else. This is a term that came into being to describe really slow white guys who could be counted on to actually catch the ball and do little else with it.
Game Manager. Just a really stupid term. Refers to a QB who can take plays from the sidelines, convey said plays to team on field, line them up in a huddle and hand the ball off or complete an easy pass - basically just get the ball out of his hands and into a good football player's hands as quickly as possible. You're not going to ask nor expect this guy to do anything exemplary. He manages the game, Jack, and that's why you pay him the big bucks. Catch-all term for painfully average quarterbacks. Let's just start calling them what they are.
Special Teams. We've let this one go on for far too long. In the real world, "specialists" are generally highly-skilled and highly-trained folks who demand higher compensation than their run of the mill contemporaries. In football, most special teamers are the dunces who aren't good enough to play normal football, so they're relegated to punt and kick coverage, which rewards their ability to run and tackle sometimes. The kickers and punters actually do have a specialized skill, but they're also largely fungible, and are normally the lowest paid starters on any football team. Most recruiting services cap out the star rankings for these guys at 3. 'Nuff said.
"High Pointing." This one has gained a lot of traction over the past couple of seasons in both NFL and college. One color guy heard another color guy using it and it spread like ebola. No one in any classification of American Football is truly capable of high pointing a football. It's not humanly possible to catch or defend a pass at its apex. It would be mankind's greatest achievement to do this consistently. Do not forget the difficulties of wind resistance, the mu (coefficient of friction) and the fact that the high point of the parabola is almost always at the halfway point of when the ball is thrown to its intended target.
Uncatchable Ball. This, of course, refers to the rule which disallows a pass interference call when the referee judges the ball thrown during the play to be uncatchable, therefore making the PI foul of little consequence. Have we already forgotten that we apparently have WR/DB/TE types in this game who can regularly "high point" these thrown balls? This is so contradictory. If we can high point, there is no such thing as an uncatchable ball, unless your game manager spikes the ball on 3rd down to kill the clock, because he's so heady and aware of things around him.
H-Back. I'm completely clueless here. No idea why this position came to be known as such. My working hypothesis is Harvin starts with "H." It could also be "Hell if I know."
Quarterback/Halfback/Fullback. What sort of messed up ordering system is this? Are we counting from the line of scrimmage? Or to the LOS? The fullback is always lined up behind the quarterback and in front of the halfback. Why is there no three-quarterback? Shouldn't the center then be known as the "back?" Or maybe he would be the front.
Please add. Or, if you have a better explanation for these, share away.
Feel free to add. I want to see an exhaustive list.
Possession Receiver. Think "area rug." Redundant, silly, self-explanatory, possibly racist. All receivers are, by definition, possession receivers. Otherwise they'd be playing somewhere else. This is a term that came into being to describe really slow white guys who could be counted on to actually catch the ball and do little else with it.
Game Manager. Just a really stupid term. Refers to a QB who can take plays from the sidelines, convey said plays to team on field, line them up in a huddle and hand the ball off or complete an easy pass - basically just get the ball out of his hands and into a good football player's hands as quickly as possible. You're not going to ask nor expect this guy to do anything exemplary. He manages the game, Jack, and that's why you pay him the big bucks. Catch-all term for painfully average quarterbacks. Let's just start calling them what they are.
Special Teams. We've let this one go on for far too long. In the real world, "specialists" are generally highly-skilled and highly-trained folks who demand higher compensation than their run of the mill contemporaries. In football, most special teamers are the dunces who aren't good enough to play normal football, so they're relegated to punt and kick coverage, which rewards their ability to run and tackle sometimes. The kickers and punters actually do have a specialized skill, but they're also largely fungible, and are normally the lowest paid starters on any football team. Most recruiting services cap out the star rankings for these guys at 3. 'Nuff said.
"High Pointing." This one has gained a lot of traction over the past couple of seasons in both NFL and college. One color guy heard another color guy using it and it spread like ebola. No one in any classification of American Football is truly capable of high pointing a football. It's not humanly possible to catch or defend a pass at its apex. It would be mankind's greatest achievement to do this consistently. Do not forget the difficulties of wind resistance, the mu (coefficient of friction) and the fact that the high point of the parabola is almost always at the halfway point of when the ball is thrown to its intended target.
Uncatchable Ball. This, of course, refers to the rule which disallows a pass interference call when the referee judges the ball thrown during the play to be uncatchable, therefore making the PI foul of little consequence. Have we already forgotten that we apparently have WR/DB/TE types in this game who can regularly "high point" these thrown balls? This is so contradictory. If we can high point, there is no such thing as an uncatchable ball, unless your game manager spikes the ball on 3rd down to kill the clock, because he's so heady and aware of things around him.
H-Back. I'm completely clueless here. No idea why this position came to be known as such. My working hypothesis is Harvin starts with "H." It could also be "Hell if I know."
Quarterback/Halfback/Fullback. What sort of messed up ordering system is this? Are we counting from the line of scrimmage? Or to the LOS? The fullback is always lined up behind the quarterback and in front of the halfback. Why is there no three-quarterback? Shouldn't the center then be known as the "back?" Or maybe he would be the front.
Please add. Or, if you have a better explanation for these, share away.
