Would you rather get $150K, or get a full NFL game to try to pass for 150 yards for $1M? (1 Viewer)

[TLEF316]

Despite having a very good baseball arm as a younger man.....I could never throw a football to save my life. Just could never get the technique. It was quite embarrassing.

So yeah, I'll take a free tunafish sandwich over a guaranteed failure.

 

[-OZ-]

I'm so close to retiring in life. 150k would mean instant retire. If I could wear a red no contact jersey it would be closer.

Plus it would be nice to walk off to retirement instead of being carried off.

Yep. I don’t need Myles Garrett, AAron Donald, or TJ Watt to give my wife the million dollars from my life insurance.

 

[TwinTurbo]

Reminds me of the time, in my mid-20's, when I joined a men's flag football team. Now, just to put this in perspective, I considered myself to be a pretty decent athlete. Not D-1 or anything, but I played D-3 hoops, as well as baseball growing up, and at the time that I joined this league, was pretty active in things like softball, rec hoops, as well as both indoor and sand volleyball. And, in college, a few of the basketball players had put a couple of intramural flag football teams together, and we did OK. Not world beaters, but we held our own against MOST of the other teams.

Back to me in my mid-20's. Long story short, about 15 guys who were mostly in the same boat (some more athletic than others, but we all had some sports background, whether it be rec/HS/college) decided that we would put a team together. A couple of guys had been pretty solid high school football players, and the rest of us had played more than our share of, at the very least, some form of football (even if that was just playing for hours on end with neighbor kids and my brothers growing up).

Well, it was an eye-opening experience, to say the least. Let me just put it this way. We found out pretty quickly that there were three types of teams. 1) Teams like ours. Mostly athletic/formerly athletic guys who just assumed that, because they had played football before, they would be able to compete in organized flag football. 2) Teams that had obviously played together for a while. They weren't necessarily any bigger, faster, or stronger than we were, but you could just tell by the plays that they ran that they had put some time and thought into how to run a flag football offense. That might sound silly, but it's a different animal. Short, crisp plays designed to get the ball out of the QB's hands in 1-2 seconds tops. Nothing deep, for the most part. And, guys just played their part. Quick guys move the ball and make the "tackles," and the bigger guys just knew how to effectively block for that 1-2 seconds to spring someone free. 3) The third group was really just one team. There was a professional arena football team that had joined the league, just for the sake of something to do in their off-season.

There weren't many teams like ours. If I had to guess, I'd say there were one or two other teams that we competed with pretty well. Teams in the #2 category ran circles around us. Where we were scoring maybe a TD or two per game, they were scoring on every drive EXCEPT maybe one or two. Not devastating blowouts, but not close games either. 34-12, 24-6, etc. As for the pro arena team, I've never experienced that type of humiliation in an athletic event in my life. The closest I can think of is playing in an AAU tournament in Vegas when I was 17. We played a team from Dallas that probably had 25-30 dunks against us in one game. That was both frustrating and amazing at the same time. This might have been worse. I think they had six touchdowns before we completed a pass. At one point, somebody on our team commented that we had thrown more pick-six's than completions. I think that was mid-3rd quarter.

I only bring this up because, when I think back to playing against that team, there is zero question in my mind that, while I can throw a football, I would stand no chance of racking up 150 yards against ANY NFL defense. They're just too good. They would literally toy with us and make it a game of who could pick one off and take it to the house. And, by game's end, at least a handful of them would have done so. It would get ugly, for sure.

Just think about when Denver had to have a 5th string WR play QB a couple of years ago during Covid. What did that guy complete? Ten passes? Maybe less? Most of us would be 100 times worse than that, whatever that amounts to.

That reminds me of the time I played pickup basketball against a team with Barry Sanders. Not football....basketball. The rest of his team was a bunch of YMCA tryhards. It didn't matter.
In this case, even if the entire defense was guys from the practice squad, it wouldn't end well.

 

[Snotbubbles]

#2. But there would have to be a few conditions. The environment would have to be controlled where the weather is perfect and I get to pick my OL, WRs and RB. To be honest, it wouldn't even be that hard.

Instead of handing off the ball I would use the shovel pass. Then I would do a bunch of screens. I wouldn't even have to throw the ball past the line of scrimmage.

You’d be carted off by the 5th play and because the defense would know you couldn’t throw it 3 yards downfield they’d stack the box. You would gain no yards.

Who said I can't throw it down the field.

 

[Capella]

#2. But there would have to be a few conditions. The environment would have to be controlled where the weather is perfect and I get to pick my OL, WRs and RB. To be honest, it wouldn't even be that hard.

Instead of handing off the ball I would use the shovel pass. Then I would do a bunch of screens. I wouldn't even have to throw the ball past the line of scrimmage.

You’d be carted off by the 5th play and because the defense would know you couldn’t throw it 3 yards downfield they’d stack the box. You would gain no yards.

Who said I can't throw it down the field.

Me. You couldn’t against nfl defenders.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

#2. But there would have to be a few conditions. The environment would have to be controlled where the weather is perfect and I get to pick my OL, WRs and RB. To be honest, it wouldn't even be that hard.

Instead of handing off the ball I would use the shovel pass. Then I would do a bunch of screens. I wouldn't even have to throw the ball past the line of scrimmage.

You’d be carted off by the 5th play and because the defense would know you couldn’t throw it 3 yards downfield they’d stack the box. You would gain no yards.

Who said I can't throw it down the field.

Me. You couldn’t against nfl defenders.

It would be like 3 flies up on every play for the secondary.

Meanwhile any one of us would be lucky to get the pass off before looking out our earhole.

 

[ILUVBEER99]

Who are the 6% of delusional people on this board?

If someone was a previous D1 QB under 40 maybe. Otherwise zero point zero chance.

 

[Wrigley]

Considering I can throw a ball over them mountains

$1M easy

Me warming up

 

[TVT 0 N S T A]

Does interception return yardage count toward my 150 yard total?

Who is my halfback, because that guy is a must start in all fantasy formats if I'm quarterbacking.

Realistically, I don't think I could hit a WR in the NFL. I have a decent arm and build 6'6 235lbs but... I'd be getting intercepted left and right.

Edited to say this is the last year in my 30s and if this question was posed 10 years ago, my answer would still remain the same.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Considering I can throw a ball over them mountains

$1M easy

Me warming up

Go get em uncle Rico.

 

[TwinTurbo]

Considering I can throw a ball over them mountains

$1M easy

Me warming up

The other 6.9% of people in this thread warming up

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

I’m not sure if the 6.7% thinks they can do it, if if they’d just be willing to make the gamble.

I can understand the latter. I don’t condone it, but I understand it.

 

[Wigglytuff's Gruff]

If you put me in a peak hall of fame roster, greatest players of all time across the O-line and lined up to receive passes, vs a selection of the worst players to ever grace the game, pure waster bums, I still don't think I could get it done.

 

[Deamon]

If you put me in a peak hall of fame roster, greatest players of all time across the O-line and lined up to receive passes, vs a selection of the worst players to ever grace the game, pure waster bums, I still don't think I could get it done.

I think I could if this was the case. Best OL of all time vs the worst players to ever grace the game, I think you'd probably have unlimited time in the pocket. Like 10+ seconds each time, and I think some players could get wide wide open 10 yards away and I could hit them with a pass.

I'd basically just focus on 5-10 yard passes, some tosses out to a RB and hope he breaks one. Then if I ever got to 4th down, I'd purposely throw a Pick-6 so I could get the ball back right away.

 

[hamsterdam]

There are actual NFL QBs who don't throw for 150 yards on a bad day. Anybody who thinks they could accomplish this is delusional.

It is like to saying your average person could put up 10 points against an NBA player or wouldn't strike out vs an MLB pitcher. Not gonna happen.

 

[Dr. Octopus]

I knew there would be at least one delusional weekend warrior in this thread.

 

[Mitchie]

which would Trey Lance choose?

 

[pecorino]

Voted 1. Joe’s got it right. I have a buddy who knew Dan Turk, punter from forty years ago. Got invited to hang out at their special teams practice. They lined up with long snapper and punter, told my buddy to rush and try to block the punt. No blocking, zero resistance. So he’s on the defensive line, just off-center from Turk to minimize the distance to the punter, hears a woosh as the spiraled snap jets to the punter and, boom, the kick is gone. I think he advanced maybe two yards before the kick was away. It was like super heroes toying with civilians. Now imagine you’re dropping back to pass with, oh I don’t know, even an average edge rusher bearing down on you before you land on your plant foot to throw, assuming you have some notion how to quarterback. You’re going to throw a pass without getting trucked? Good luck.

 

[harveyking]

Give me the $150k. No way I'm passing for 150 air yards against NFL pros.
That's just asking to get flattened!

 

[TheWinz]

Can my entire line be eligible receivers every play?

 

[Dr. Octopus]

There may be a few games where CJ Stroud doesn’t throw for 150 yards.

 

[socrates]

I think I would pay the $150,000 to not have to face an NFL defense.

 

[Rubi]

Given my age,current athletic ability,arm strength,unstable knees. Show me the money. Then I'll invest it and go for the million.

 

[msudaisy26]

Give me the 150k, then find me three 20 - 1 bets that I like and bet 50k on each. Guaranteed million dollars.

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

Kendall Hinton says hi

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

So does George Plimpton

 

[BobbyLayne]

So does George Plimpton

great minds....

here's the 1964 SI article that was the basis for the book. IIRC Plimpton got five plays under the lights in front of TC fans. on the first play his own pulling guard (John Gordy) ran him over bc he was too slow turning to hand the ball off lol.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Give me the 150k, then find me three 20 - 1 bets that I like and bet 50k on each. Guaranteed million dollars.

A true degenerate gambler. My man.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

To the 8 who voted for #2: do you actually believe you could succeed, or are you just willing to take the gamble?

Genuinely curious.

 

[eighsse2]

To the 8 who voted for #2: do you actually believe you could succeed, or are you just willing to take the gamble?

Genuinely curious.

7*.

I recanted due to the details.

 

[FarFromHome]

To the 8 who voted for #2: do you actually believe you could succeed, or are you just willing to take the gamble?

Genuinely curious.

One thing we can assume is they are all liars. Bad people. Like sell drugs to children bad people.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

To the 8 who voted for #2: do you actually believe you could succeed, or are you just willing to take the gamble?

Genuinely curious.

One thing we can assume is they are all liars. Bad people. Like sell drugs to children bad people.

Legit lol’d

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

So does George Plimpton

great minds....

here's the 1964 SI article that was the basis for the book. IIRC Plimpton got five plays under the lights in front of TC fans. on the first play his own pulling guard (John Gordy) ran him over bc he was too slow turning to hand the ball off lol.

Yes, I read that article (not at the time it was published) and the speed was the thing that stuck with me. I also remember my dad mentioning Plimpton in reference to Ross Perot during the 1992 election. His point, which I still think about often and in many different types of situations, is that it's easy to forget just how good top professionals are at their job, and how if you think you can just waltz in and do it yourself, you're almost certainly mistaken.

I think the real question is whether there is anything jamokes like us could do in an actual NFL game. Run for five yards? Catch a pass over the middle? Kick a FG? Serve as FG holder (almost certainly not). Special teams gunner?

There probably are a couple that, with enough training, a regular guy could pull off. But as a rule, I'm definitely taking the under

 

[JohnnyU]

Bird in hand…..

 

[FreeBaGeL]

To the 8 who voted for #2: do you actually believe you could succeed, or are you just willing to take the gamble?

Genuinely curious.

I don't like to talk about it, but there was a time when I was a legit D1 QB prospect before a major elbow injury wrecked my career.

I was already on the weak end of tolerable arm strength. My strengths were always a natural touch throwing the ball and ability to read the field. A lot like Danny Wuerffel, who I worked with at times (and I realize Wuerrfel never had any NFL success himself).

But already being on the weaker end of the arm strength spectrum, a few years lost and an arm that would forever be even weaker was the end of it. I worked with the UF football program and student athletes for a while. Dan Mullen (UF OC at the time) took an interest in me from a coaching perspective, and even let me call the plays for a drive in the Spring Game one year (TD drive, btw!). I could have pursued that, but honestly it was too painful to be so close to the game without actually being able to play, so I decided to just get away from it entirely.

I eventually rehabbed my arm enough to at least throw a football reasonably (nowhere near NFL levels) and became QB of one of the type of team's from @Golden Gopher's flag football example back on page 1 of this thread. We were good. We might have been one of the teams he talked about spanking him. We would regularly compete in tournaments against teams full of ex-athletes from relatively major D1 programs (University of Louisville, some Alabama players, etc) and absolutely spank them. Without hyperbole, scores like 63-0 at times. We won Southeast Regionals (toughest region) twice and qualified for Nationals several times.

I'm now 40, with an aged, surgically repaired, and already weak arm, so I have little faith in my ability to throw for 150 yards or anywhere near it. But I'm also at a point in my life where $150k isn't life changing (still a lot of money, don't get me wrong!) and I would pass it up for a chance to play in an actual NFL game, and at least give those 150yds a try.

 

[Lansdowne]

I can’t pass for sheeot, gimme that $150K. If Trevor Lawrence, one of the best QB prospects in recent memory, can have four games with under 150 yards passing, what makes me think I can do better?

 

[Deamon]

I knew there would be at least one delusional weekend warrior in this thread.

I voted no. No chance I could in a regular NFL game.

I think I'd try to do it if my OL was the best 5 OL of all time in their prime with the best WR's of all time in their prime, vs the worst DL/Defenders in NFL history like that one post I was responding to mentioned. I bet you wouldn't get hit a single time if those were the OL/DL.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

To the 8 who voted for #2: do you actually believe you could succeed, or are you just willing to take the gamble?

Genuinely curious.

I don't like to talk about it, but there was a time when I was a legit D1 QB prospect before a major elbow injury wrecked my career.

I was already on the weak end of tolerable arm strength. My strengths were always a natural touch throwing the ball and ability to read the field. A lot like Danny Wuerffel, who I worked with at times (and I realize Wuerrfel never had any NFL success himself).

But already being on the weaker end of the arm strength spectrum, a few years lost and an arm that would forever be even weaker was the end of it. I worked with the UF football program and student athletes for a while. Dan Mullen (UF OC at the time) took an interest in me from a coaching perspective, and even let me call the plays for a drive in the Spring Game one year (TD drive, btw!). I could have pursued that, but honestly it was too painful to be so close to the game without actually being able to play, so I decided to just get away from it entirely.

I eventually rehabbed my arm enough to at least throw a football reasonably (nowhere near NFL levels) and became QB of one of the type of team's from @Golden Gopher's flag football example back on page 1 of this thread. We were good. We might have been one of the teams he talked about spanking him. We would regularly compete in tournaments against teams full of ex-athletes from relatively major D1 programs (University of Louisville, some Alabama players, etc) and absolutely spank them. Without hyperbole, scores like 63-0 at times. We won Southeast Regionals (toughest region) twice and qualified for Nationals several times.

I'm now 40, with an aged, surgically repaired, and already weak arm, so I have little faith in my ability to throw for 150 yards or anywhere near it. But I'm also at a point in my life where $150k isn't life changing (still a lot of money, don't get me wrong!) and I would pass it up for a chance to play in an actual NFL game, and at least give those 150yds a try.

Great story. Sorry to hear about the elbow.

 

[General Malaise]

I'd be surprised if footballguys ever had one member post on this board in the last 20+ years with an NFL caliber arm. NFL QBs throw a football 60 MPH. That's 99 for a baseball.

Not one person that's ever posted here can touch that.

 

[eighsse2]

Oh I also did not notice it said air yards. 200% out.

Actually, I've thought about it, and air yards doesn't create too much of a problem. So I'm back to only 100% out. If (1) I could gameplan with my team to winning the challenge, and not to winning the actual game, and (2) the other team is attempting to score points rather than prevent me from winning the challenge specifically, then I maintain that I would have a realistic shot at making it.

But I understand I don't get either of those things, so that's why I'm still 100% out. But not 200%.

 

[BassNBrew]

Assuming no red jersey, everyone on this board should take the offer of doing nothing if it was $15.

I assume you didn’t watch much of injured Cam with Cmac

Not because #2 isn't tempting to think about (for a few seconds

Oh, it’s super tempting to think about. Just very, very unlikely to achieve by anyone here.

You of all people should know this is possible with Cmac and Deebo. I’m throwing screens to Cmac and shove passes to Deebo. Once the defense moves up I’m throwing jump balls down field to Kittle.

There are actual NFL QBs who don't throw for 150 yards on a bad day. Anybody who thinks they could accomplish this is delusional.

It is like to saying your average person could put up 10 points against an NBA player or wouldn't strike out vs an MLB pitcher. Not gonna happen.

Actual QBs are trying to win the game. Since I don’t care about Ints or the score it’s an entirely different game.

For the record, I’d take the $150, but this is much more achievable than getting 10 yards in 10 plays on the ground

 

[eighsse2]

You of all people should know this is possible with Cmac and Deebo. I’m throwing screens to Cmac and shove passes to Deebo. Once the defense moves up I’m throwing jump balls down field to Kittle.

You did realize that it's air yards, right? If you're depending on the downfield shots later, that's fine, but the screens will just be negative even if they get YACs.

 

[BassNBrew]

I think you guys are underestimating how much of the work/effort you could put on the backs of your teammates.

Will Grier shows you how to do it. https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/201912220clt.htm#all_vis_starters

 

[ignatiusjreilly]

Does interception return yardage count toward my 150 yard total?

Who is my halfback, because that guy is a must start in all fantasy formats if I'm quarterbacking.

You'd be lucky to get the handoff to him before the DL was on you

 

[KingPrawn]

Reminds me of the time, in my mid-20's, when I joined a men's flag football team. Now, just to put this in perspective, I considered myself to be a pretty decent athlete. Not D-1 or anything, but I played D-3 hoops, as well as baseball growing up, and at the time that I joined this league, was pretty active in things like softball, rec hoops, as well as both indoor and sand volleyball. And, in college, a few of the basketball players had put a couple of intramural flag football teams together, and we did OK. Not world beaters, but we held our own against MOST of the other teams.

Back to me in my mid-20's. Long story short, about 15 guys who were mostly in the same boat (some more athletic than others, but we all had some sports background, whether it be rec/HS/college) decided that we would put a team together. A couple of guys had been pretty solid high school football players, and the rest of us had played more than our share of, at the very least, some form of football (even if that was just playing for hours on end with neighbor kids and my brothers growing up).

Well, it was an eye-opening experience, to say the least. Let me just put it this way. We found out pretty quickly that there were three types of teams. 1) Teams like ours. Mostly athletic/formerly athletic guys who just assumed that, because they had played football before, they would be able to compete in organized flag football. 2) Teams that had obviously played together for a while. They weren't necessarily any bigger, faster, or stronger than we were, but you could just tell by the plays that they ran that they had put some time and thought into how to run a flag football offense. That might sound silly, but it's a different animal. Short, crisp plays designed to get the ball out of the QB's hands in 1-2 seconds tops. Nothing deep, for the most part. And, guys just played their part. Quick guys move the ball and make the "tackles," and the bigger guys just knew how to effectively block for that 1-2 seconds to spring someone free. 3) The third group was really just one team. There was a professional arena football team that had joined the league, just for the sake of something to do in their off-season.

There weren't many teams like ours. If I had to guess, I'd say there were one or two other teams that we competed with pretty well. Teams in the #2 category ran circles around us. Where we were scoring maybe a TD or two per game, they were scoring on every drive EXCEPT maybe one or two. Not devastating blowouts, but not close games either. 34-12, 24-6, etc. As for the pro arena team, I've never experienced that type of humiliation in an athletic event in my life. The closest I can think of is playing in an AAU tournament in Vegas when I was 17. We played a team from Dallas that probably had 25-30 dunks against us in one game. That was both frustrating and amazing at the same time. This might have been worse. I think they had six touchdowns before we completed a pass. At one point, somebody on our team commented that we had thrown more pick-six's than completions. I think that was mid-3rd quarter.

I only bring this up because, when I think back to playing against that team, there is zero question in my mind that, while I can throw a football, I would stand no chance of racking up 150 yards against ANY NFL defense. They're just too good. They would literally toy with us and make it a game of who could pick one off and take it to the house. And, by game's end, at least a handful of them would have done so. It would get ugly, for sure.

Just think about when Denver had to have a 5th string WR play QB a couple of years ago during Covid. What did that guy complete? Ten passes? Maybe less? Most of us would be 100 times worse than that, whatever that amounts to.

If that's long story short, I'd hate to read the long story

 

[rockaction]

Yeah, I was reading FreeBaGeL's post, and the first thought that went through my head when I heard the naysayers absolutely say that it couldn't be done was that whenever you're assuming things about a group where you don't know everybody, don't. Just stop and listen. Because we don't know **** about people like we think we do.

I was on the cusp of being a D1 hockey player and speed was not a problem for me. I also ran a 4.6 in college. If you posed a question about NHLers, I played with and against them growing up.

I can tell you if you asked if you put me on Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri's line in their prime and mine and asked if I could get an assist, I just might have said yes. Humility would lead me to say no, but damn if I wouldn't have thought I could have. A lot of good players could easily notch an assist.

Don't assume **** about people you don't know. That's how we get our comeuppances and bar fights that go sickly awry (I've seen those, too). Don't ever.

 

[rockaction]

If that's long story short, I'd hate to read the long story

Jeez, that's not very nice. I appreciated the effort and the story.

But

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

Yeah, I was reading FreeBaGeL's post, and the first thought that went through my head when I heard the naysayers absolutely say that it couldn't be done was that whenever you're assuming things about a group where you don't know everybody, don't. Just stop and listen. Because we don't know **** about people like we think we do.

I was on the cusp of being a D1 hockey player and speed was not a problem for me. I also ran a 4.6 in college. If you posed a question about NHLers, I played with and against them growing up.

I can tell you if you asked if you put me on Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri's line in their prime and mine and asked if I could get an assist, I just might have said yes. Humility would lead me to say no, but damn if I wouldn't have thought I could have. A lot of good players could easily notch an assist.

Don't assume **** about people you don't know. That's how we get our comeuppances and bar fights that go sickly awry (I've seen those, too). Don't ever.

a** | u | me

That’s why I asked if people actually thought they could do it, and why.

I’m sure *someone* at FBG could. Or at least I’m sure that someone at FBG thinks they could.

I still think it would be exceedingly difficult.

It would be like asking you if you thought you could D up Gretzky & prevent him from scoring in your prime in 10 tries. No offense, but if I were a betting man I’d bet on Gretzky scoring 10x.

 

[rockaction]

I still think it would be exceedingly difficult.

It would be. 150 yards passing is no joke, and I'd bet 99.95% of us reading this would have no prayer. It's the .05% I'm talking about in my example.

That’s why I asked if people actually thought they could do it, and why.

Yeah, that wasn't directed really at anybody, especially you. I don't think you were certain about it and you certainly seemed to be playing it for humor. It was more towards that definitive "no" attitude when we don't even know who is reading or commenting on the hypothetical. Hell, I've been on the board for ten years and never told anybody that I played hockey in the same league with Olympians and several big-time D1 captains growing up.

And I get that there's also a difference between a person who might actually be able to and struggle doing it and a bunch of truly Average Joes that think they can -- and the difference is funny. There's always that guy who overestimates his own abilities and it becomes a source of humor or agony, depending from whose vantage point you're looking at it from.

So I'm not trying to take the fun out of this. I just read FreeBaGeL's post and it just drove the "don't ever assume because you just don't know" point home again for me.

 

[Hot Sauce Guy]

And I get that there's also a difference between a person who might actually be able to and struggle doing it and a bunch of truly Average Joes that think they can -- and the difference is funny. There's always that guy who overestimates his own abilities and it becomes a source of humor or agony, depending from whose vantage point you're looking at it from.

Tbh I’d love to try with a red shirt and zero money on the line.

I’ve played a lot of madden, and I can throw a nice spiral from years of tailgating at candlestick.

Put me in, coach!