World Football League - Rules

Rules

The WFL had several important rules differences from the National Football League of that era, and many were eventually adopted by the older league:

• Touchdowns were worth 7 points, instead of 6.
• Conversions were called "Action Points" and could only be scored via a run or pass play (as opposed to by kick as in other football leagues), and were worth one point. The ball was placed on the two-and-a-half -yard line for an Action Point. This rule was a revival of a 1968 preseason experiment by the NFL and American Football League. The XFL employed a similar rule for its only season in 2001.
• Kickoffs were from the 30-yard line instead of the 40. Before 1974, NFL teams kicked off from the 40; starting in 1974, the NFL moved its kickoffs back to the 35, and twenty years later, the kickoff line was pushed back to the 30. (Beginning with the 2011 season, kickoffs in NFL games will again take place at the 35.)
• Receivers needed only one foot in bounds for a legal pass reception, instead of two feet in the NFL then and now. College and high school football, the Arena Football League, and the CFL have always used the one-foot rule.
• Bump-and-run pass coverage was outlawed once a receiver was 3 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The NFL adopted this rule in 1978, with a 5-yard bump zone.
• The goalposts were placed at the end line (the back of the end zone). At that time, college football goalposts were at the end line, but the NFL had its goalposts at the goal line from 1933 through 1973. Starting with the 1974 season, the NFL also moved its posts back to the end line to curb the then-growing dominance of placekickers.
• Missed field goals were returned to the line of scrimmage or the 20-yard line, whichever was farther from the goal line. The NFL also adopted this rule for its 1974 season, then replaced the line of scrimmage with the point of the kick in 1994. Before this rule, missed field goals were (if unreturned) touchbacks, with the ball placed at the 20-yard line. U.S. college football later adopted this rule, but left the point as the line of scrimmage rather than the point of the placement.
• A player in motion was allowed to move toward the line of scrimmage before the snap, as long as he was behind the line of scrimmage at the snap. This rule had never been used at any level of outdoor American football, but was (and still is) part of Canadian football. This rule is used in the Arena Football League and was used in the XFL.
• Punt returners were prohibited from using the fair catch, although the covering team could not come within 5 yards of the kick returner until he caught the ball. This rule also came from Canadian football, which still uses it, as does Arena football with kickoffs and missed field goals. The XFL also used the so-called "halo rule".
• Penalties for offensive holding and ineligible receiver downfield were 10 yards, instead of 15. Several years later, these became 10-yard penalties at all levels of football; the NFL made this rule change in 1977. Still later, the ineligible receiver penalty was changed to 5 yards (with loss of down).
• The WFL's original overtime system was like nothing used in any form of American football before or since; it was more similar to the system long used in international soccer. Overtime in the regular season was one fixed 15-minute period, divided into two halves of 7½ minutes, each starting with a kickoff by one of the teams. The complete overtime was always played; there was no "sudden death" feature. In 1975, the WFL changed its overtime to the 15-minute sudden-death period, which the NFL adopted in 1974 and still uses today.
• Limited (or no) pre-season games. In 1974 and 1975, NFL teams played six pre-season games and 14 regular-season games (which was changed in 1978 to the current four pre-season and 16 regular-season games). In contrast, the WFL's 1974 schedule called for 20 regular-season games and no pre-season games; in 1975, it was 18 regular-season games and two pre-season games.
• Summertime football. The NFL's regular season started on September 15 in 1974 and on September 21 in 1975; the WFL's regular season started on July 10 in 1974 and on July 26 in 1975 (with the 1975 pre-season starting on July 5). The Canadian Football League, which must contend with colder winters than American leagues, has always played during the summer with a similar schedule.
• Weeknight football (1974). While NFL games were played mostly on Sundays and, from 1970 onwards, a game on Monday night, the WFL's 1974 schedule called for Wednesday night football (with a Thursday night national TV game). This scheduling format was abandoned in 1975. The featured Thursday night game was later adopted as "Thursday Night Football" by the NFL in 2006.
• The "Dickerod". Instead of using a ten-yard chain strung between two sticks for measuring first down yardage, the WFL used a device called the "Dickerod," ostensibly named for its inventor. This was a single stick, 90 inches long, mounted on a base which allowed it to pivot from side to side. The stick was swung down to ground level when a first down was being set, and a marker that slid along the shaft was fixed in place to line up with the nearest gridiron line (the major yard lines spaced every five yards). When that was set, the stick was swung back to the upright position. When a measurement was needed by the officials, the Dickerod was brought out to the ball position, the shaft swung down to ground level, the marker lined up with the nearest gridiron line, and the measurement was taken. (In all other forms of football today, a similar marker is clipped to the standard ten-yard chain, also lining up with a gridiron line.)