The Super Bowl - Who Needs It?

by Robert Giles

I bet you remember the object pictured on the left. It's a paper football. 

The football is made from a standard 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper folded into a tight triangle.

There are various ways to fold a sheet of paper into a football. 

Follow this YouTube link for simple folding instructions --

Simple but Fun Fold

Once you have made a football, you can play a game with a partner. The two players sit opposite one another at a table.  

To score a touchdown, you "hang" a side or corner of the football over the edge of your opponent's goal line (the edge of her side of the table). You have to do this within 4 tries (downs).

If you fail to get a "hanger" within 4 tries or you flick the football completely over the edge of the table (your football goes out of bounds), your opponent takes over on her own goal line and begins to flick the football across to your side of the table (as she would also do if you had scored a touchdown).

A player has to "flick" the football across the table, not "push" it. The finger must not linger. 

A "hanger" or touchdown yields 6 points. When a touchdown is made, the player attempts an extra point. The opponent approximates goal posts by touching his two index fingers point to point with thumbs erect. 

You guessed it. You have to flick the ball through the air and between the opponents "uprights" (thumbs) to score the extra point. Hold the football perpendicular to the table top and flick it good. Technique is illustrated in the following link --

How to Play 

Did I mention that the football is ordinarily flicked while it is lying flat on the table top (it is only held erect when attempting an extra point)?

The game ends when the players decide to quit or an adult intervenes and puts an end to the "nonsense" (or you can set a point limit like 50 or 100 points).

You can play this game while sitting on the floor as long as there are two parallel lines to demarcate the players' goals.

Indulge in as much "trash talk" as you like and never forget, the object of the game is to win at all costs.
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Note: This is the game I learned growing up in Byersdale. As you might expect, there is variation in the rules (we allowed a player 4 downs to achieve a hanger and we did not have kickoffs or the option of kicking a field goal).