One Player playing various positions whole game?

[TuffaNuff]

Is having one player playing the whole game, at various postions (QB, Kicker, TB, RB) a common practice with very many teams?

 

It's true that one player may be athletically inclined, but honestly, how well can he perform if he is totally exhausted? Shouldn't a player learn to excel at one or two positions instead of try to be everything and only do a "half job" at all of those?

From what I saw Friday night at the game I went to, I only noticed one player that never came out of the game. While he is good, exhaustion leaves him faltering while there are 50 other "fresh" players on the sidelines. Is there not ONE guy in that group that is as good as the worn out "star?" From what I am told, the same player plays the whole game in basketball season while his name is not anywhere near the leading scorer. My question is, do other teams do this, and are the coaches truthfully basing this on talent only, or is there parental pull there that is looking for a football scholarship?

 

In the older days when I played baseball, the player that tried to cover the whole field was called a "hotdog."

 

Anyone care to share their opinion?

[raider04]

Some teams don't have the luxury of giving a player too much of a break. They need all of their starters to play the whole game. While I agree that players do play better when rested, some teams don't have the manpower to rest them, although they do the best they can. Serious conditioning gives the players stamina to play the whole game, and they learn to take every little break to their advantage. Inexperienced players may play harder, but one person doing the wrong thing can kill a team. Another thing to take into account is that the other players, including those on the other team, are going to get tired as well. All one can do is stink it up and give it their best.

[Guest viking_te]

I think that nowadays it is pretty common practice in high school, and college but not usually in the NFL. But Antwawn Randle El, Seneca Wallace, and Champ Bailey all play 3 ways, in moderation. Like Chris Gamble (CB/WR) on Ohio State, and DeAngelo Hall of Virginia Tech (CB/WR).

 

The reason they do this is because....

 

1.) As an opposing coach it is hard to game-plan against.

2.) Element of surprise

3.) Total Misdirection.....like when the Pittsburgh Steelers go into Shotgun, with Tommy Maddox, Antwanw Randle El, and Hines Ward, (all played QB in college)..who is getting the ball is it gonna be a screen, option???

 

Just a few reasons there.

[Superman2362]

I agree. Not all teams have enough man power to replace the starter. In these cases, that is where the coach has to step in and do his job. He will know at the first of the season if he is gonna have to play players the whole game or not. Ive he sees that there just isnt enough players that are reliable enough to take the starters spot, then he needs to run them and get the players to play the whole game. And he needs to take any opportunity to get the player rest that comes along, such as kickoffs or other special teams. Use my team as example. Our starting 5 offensive linemen also are starting on defense. It is the same for a few of our backs and recievers. I start at Left Gaurd and Left Defensive End. I am also the snapper for feild goals/extra points and punts. Our starting defense is the punt return team and the feild goal/extra point block. The only time I came off the feild Friday night was during Kickoff and Kickoff return. But, Our coach has done an excelent job of conditioning us and pushing us to get in shape for the season. I did the best I could every play, and got to the ball before the whistle was blown, and I didnt really get tired until the last couple minutes of the fourth quarter, mostly because of our pre-season conditioning, but also, I used my breaks during kickoff/kickoff return, time outs, injuries, and end-of-the-quarter/half time to get liquids in my body. I also drank as much water as possible thursday and friday to make sure I was hydrated. You gotta treat your body like a machine. If ya dont put any gas in the tank.... you aint gonna get far. The coach can only do so much.

[tnvol4825]

Duh that's part of high school football u play to win so u need the playmakers at more than 1 position.

[Baldcoach]

I don't know any teams smaller than 5a that don't have multiple players playing both ways. If you only have 40 kids out and half are underclassmen and 6 or 7 of the upperclassmen are not real good you are only working with 13 or 14 atheletes...