Oh, and treis is right about the improbability of none of us ever getting seriously injured.
Hell, one of the guys I played with was a soccer phenom, once voted the best high school player in the U.S. He went on to grace the cover of the North American version of a FIFA Playstation game and was on the last two American World Cup teams. If I’d have nailed him on a brutal tackle, none of that would have happened.
Same exact rules in the burbs of Chicago. There’s one more “me too” for ya.
Harry Stone Recreation Park near Bryan Adams HS. Where is John Ireland field?
Our coaches usually forbid the kids from playing pick-up sports for exactly this reason–which means a lot of sneaking around and claims they were just “watching”. Oddly enough, we see more real injuries in frisbee than football–football bruises them up, but somehow frisbee leads to broken wrists, sprained ankles, concussions . . .I really don’t know what they are doing out there.
John Ireland elementary school in Pleasant Grove. Not really a “field”, just what we called it.
When it rained you didn’t even have to make the call, just show up - everybody else did!
Count me in on Raft People’s rules. We always had at least 10 guys show up, and at least a 70 yard field to play on (we preferred 100). The only time we played touch is if it was on the street. But, you can still count on gettng “touched” into a garbage can or someone’s yard. Our games were still pretty strategic and competitive that we had punting if you couldn’t score. Only, if you declared a punt, you had to punt. There was no holding, and pass intereference was only called if it was so obvious. If the ball wasn’t thrown to your side of the field, there’s a good chance you were in a fence or on the ground, if you weren’t watching yourself. You could also run, lateral, non-foward pass yourself down to the goal line, but you wouldn’t get yourself a first down if you didn’t complete 2 completions.
When we got into high school and had more people show up, we would have a line, but offensive line could move, just not out of place (there was no set position). Also O-line could receive, however, there was blitzing every down, and it didn’t have to be called (but punting still had to be declared). We also scored 6 on a TD. 2 yards out (which we measured by walking two paces) was the 1 pt extra try. 10 yds out was the two point conversion. Oh, and in both instances, we kicked off via punt, just in high school, it was two hand touch on the kick off (you could seroiusly kill someone out there if it weren’t).
In college, we had the same rules, but two hand touch all the time. We were too big at this point to tackle all the time.
A bloody lip? That’s it?
We played a variation of touch - two-hands-anywhere - and in my time I got a broken thumb, a dislocated shoulder, sprained ankles, pulled hamstrings, and a bunch of other stuff I’ve long since forgotten.
I STILL play backyard football every week. We’re lucky enough to have a brand new High School field in the neighborhood so we play on regulation fields. If we have enough people, we’ll play the full field, but usually 5 on 5 or 6 on 6 we play from one hash to the opposite sideline, or approximately 2/3 of the field. Usually no first downs on a 50 yard field or a first down at the 50 on a 80-100 yard field.
QB can’t rush unless he is rushed, you can rush anytime you want, double passes/trick plays are encouraged. Full tackle, but if a star athlete from one of our schools teams is playing, he gets a “no killshot” tag.
We also invented this amazing rugby variation called Ultimate Rugby which is essentially football with no rules. You can pass the ball in any direction at any time anywhere on the field, you can hit anyone you want any time you want, tackle=turnover. Play doesn’t stop until someone scores. It’s unbelievably fun.
Pretty close. Our only differences were the property line (we played in the front yard with our neighbor kids) was the only 1st down, and the offense could run at any time.
When I was in Boy Scouts, we held our summer meetings outdoors, and spent the time playing some sport, usually softball or football. We had access to a field that was probably about regulation-size, but with no markings, so the four corners of the field were marked by miscellaneous objects (often scout handbooks or softball mitts).
A possession was four downs, just like in regulation, and three complete passes marked a first down.
Laterals were allowed, but we rarely used them.
We tried tackle a few times, but with such a range of age and size (boys from 11-18, plus adult leaders), we usually played some variant of touch, most often (IIRC) two hands, below the waist.
The defense had to count to five before rushing the quarterback. I think it was only one guy who could do so, but I’m not certain. Once per possession, the defender could call “Blitz”, and rush without a count.
The quarterback was allowed to run on any play he wanted, but this was rare, since passes could get a first down, but running couldn’t.
Total time was two hours, minus however long it took us to organize (decide what sport we’re playing, pick teams, etc.), since the meetings were 7-9 PM.
Touchdowns were the only way to score. I think we went by single points, not sevens, but in any event, they were always worth the same (no conversions).
We kicked for kickoffs (practical since we had a large field), but I don’t think we allowed punts (most of the guys couldn’t do a decent drop-kick anyway).
We didn’t have a halftime, but the directions changed after every touchdown (so if Team 1 scored a touchdown at the east end of the field, they’d then switch to the west end).
One time a bunch of my Scout buddies and I happened to be out on the field outside of meeting times, and we played some other neighborhood guys in a true unorganized pickup game. We took about 30 seconds to agree on the rules: I think they were used to using the same rules as us anyway, so we basically just had to recite them and all the guys nodded. They beat us soundly, largely due to their extensive use of laterals, which none of us were very used to.
Since the answers can only be “this is how we did it,” let’s move this to IMHO.
samclem GQ moderator
I was going to chime in, same in the city of Chicago, growing up in the 80s.
When we got to high school, we played closer to regular football rules, just without the pads. There were no field goals or conversions, but there were down markers, running plays, offensive and defensive lines, blitzing anytime, etc. However, we would play tackle on kickoffs and punts. We continued playing tackle through college. I’m still amazed that none of us ever suffered broken limbs or concussions. I do remember getting steamrolled a few times myself, but I never managed to hurt myself somehow.
The common rules applied in Baltimore in the mid 80’s as well.
You’re lucky. We played tackle well into our 20s - past them, for a brave few of us. Among our victims were two ACLs (including one of mine), a couple of broken arms and legs, and more than a few concussions. For the life of me, I can’t figure out why we never gave it up. I guess concussions really do affect your decision-making ability…
Pretty much the same in suburban/rural New England as well. Often we’ll limit how many first downs you can get one one drive, depending on how long the field is. I still have a bunch of friends from high school that I get together with the day after Thanksgiving every year - we’re all getting towards our mid-20s now, so the games are a lot more brutal than they were back then. Shockingly enough, while there’s almost always a ton of bruises and a bloody nose or two, I don’t think we’ve ever had someone break a bone or had anything else major go wrong. It’s best when there are large amounts of mud or snow involved, and worst when the ground is frozen and you might as well be playing on pavement. Don’t wear clothes that you’re particularly attached to, don’t expect to come out and not be sore for the near future, and beware the girls - they might not be as big as the guys, but they play rough and they have no problem going at your legs to bring you down.
Good times 
We had a large grassy park nearby, so we played tackle football, like many others here did. But unlike many others, we actually played three downs to make ten yards. (It was Toronto in the early 1970s so we based our game on Canadian football rules.) The biggest kid would pace off “yards” from the line of scrimmage for advances up the field, loss of yards, and penalties, which were mainly tripping and pass interference. If making ten yards for a first down looked hopeless, you’d punt on third down.
The QB snapped the ball to himself. One of the opposition would “count steamboats” to an agreed number, then he could rush the QB. Passing plays were most popular, though laterals were used as well. Good “surprise” value in laterals.
Strangly enough, it was hard to make ten yards. Often, nobody would be in the clear and so the QB would be rushed. If the QB was sacked, well, his team lost yards. Or passes would be intercepted. But some great passes were completed, and some great touchdown runs made. Touchdowns were always worth seven; there were no kicks for extra points and no field goals.
We had sort of a Kennedy-like family tradition game on every holiday. We even had traditional names for each side - the Junk Yard Dogs and the Wounded Ducks. It was all pretty much under the direction of my older brother and we did this well into our forties. Eventually someone finally said, “We’re too old for this. It’s time to retire.” Thank God for that.