For more than a decade Kats offensive lineman James Baron has grown along with the Arena Football League, maturing as it has morphed.
He's seen the elimination of overtime and the sidelines. He's dealt with changes in play clock control and player motion rules.
But Baron has never experienced something as significant as this season's decision to implement free substitution.
It will alter the AFL's two-way "Ironman" style of play, the calling card of the league.
The change debuts Thursday when the Arena Football League kicks off its 21st season with a game between the Nashville Kats and the Columbus Destroyers at Gaylord Entertainment Center.
Baron isn't particularly pleased.
"This game was built on Ironman football and everybody couldn't do it," Baron said. "You had to have a special kind of player come in and play this game. They took that uniqueness away."
As the president of the AFL Players' Association he was involved in the rule change discussions this summer.
He said the only group that wanted the change was the owners, and they made the switch without the backing of the players or the coaches.
"We have a sub-committee that (the rules and competition committee) takes into advisement and (free substitution) was voted down unanimously in the sub-committee," Baron said. "But management had a different idea about it and the way our league is set up they can pretty much change the rules how they want to."
The way it was
In past seasons, coaches were limited to one substitution per position per quarter ? a rule adopted because of the teams' small roster sizes.
The result was squads packed with players who competed on both sides of the ball and lineups sprinkled with one-way "specialists."
Kats Coach Pat Sperduto estimated that a roster that used to have 15 two-way players will now have six or seven, almost entirely eliminating the need for a receiver who is also a defensive back or a lineman who can play both ways.
"This might be the biggest rule change in the history of the game," Sperduto said. "Because you are really going into the unknown."
The reasoning
The rules were changed to offer coaches the freedom to put the best talent on the field for every play and allow them to select players from a larger talent pool. Part of the desired result is that better talent will draw more fans.
It has also been suggested that the change will make the AFL more of a feeder for the NFL because the arena game is now more similar to the one played outdoors.
"I remember back to when I first started watching Arena Football and the difficulties I had understanding certain aspects of the game," said Colorado Crush co-owner John Elway, chair of the rules and competition committee that recommended the changes.
"The AFL is a different game, so that was the goal of the committee to make Arena Football more like traditional football, just indoors."
Backlash
Baron said the integrity of the game is based on two-way football and that changing that was an "injustice to all the guys who played before me and all the guys who played in the league up to this point."
"It wouldn't be so bad if they had some hard data behind it," Baron said. "Maybe if you polled some people and had different things to indicate they wanted this change, but it was more like, 'We feel like doing this.'"
There are other ways to draw interest, Baron said.
"The game wasn't the reason people weren't watching or why they couldn't get ratings on NBC," said Baron of NBC's decision not to renew its contract with the league. "To me it was the marketing and how you handle your business and how it is being managed as opposed to the game itself."
Advantage: One way
There are certainly those who will benefit from the changes.
Kats offensive lineman Julius Franklin hasn't played defense since high school. Linebacker Howard Hodges hasn't seen the offensive side of the line since his Pee Wee days.
Normally, that could spell disaster for two rookies.
"I have played the offensive line most of my life, so it's more of an advantage for me to come in and play offensive line," Franklin said.
"If I was to have to play defensive line now it wouldn't take away from my talent, but I would go on that side and maybe not play as well and maybe they would look at me less."
The future
Kats General Manager Bob Flynn believes the new substitution rule will be good for the league.
"The NFL is always trying to figure out what their true scouting league is. They have college, they have NFL Europe, this is a great way where some of their players can get some seasoning in the AFL," Flynn said. "Now you can actually look at our linemen, our backs, our wide receivers and say, 'Hey this has more of a transition to the outdoor game.'
"Every position is going to be upgraded. It will reduce the number of players that go both ways, no doubt about it, but if we get the best we can and make the game that much better and if people can understand it better there is nothing wrong with that.
"I am an old-time arena guy. I love the old game, but if this is what's best for the league then great."
He's seen the elimination of overtime and the sidelines. He's dealt with changes in play clock control and player motion rules.
But Baron has never experienced something as significant as this season's decision to implement free substitution.
It will alter the AFL's two-way "Ironman" style of play, the calling card of the league.
The change debuts Thursday when the Arena Football League kicks off its 21st season with a game between the Nashville Kats and the Columbus Destroyers at Gaylord Entertainment Center.
Baron isn't particularly pleased.
"This game was built on Ironman football and everybody couldn't do it," Baron said. "You had to have a special kind of player come in and play this game. They took that uniqueness away."
As the president of the AFL Players' Association he was involved in the rule change discussions this summer.
He said the only group that wanted the change was the owners, and they made the switch without the backing of the players or the coaches.
"We have a sub-committee that (the rules and competition committee) takes into advisement and (free substitution) was voted down unanimously in the sub-committee," Baron said. "But management had a different idea about it and the way our league is set up they can pretty much change the rules how they want to."
The way it was
In past seasons, coaches were limited to one substitution per position per quarter ? a rule adopted because of the teams' small roster sizes.
The result was squads packed with players who competed on both sides of the ball and lineups sprinkled with one-way "specialists."
Kats Coach Pat Sperduto estimated that a roster that used to have 15 two-way players will now have six or seven, almost entirely eliminating the need for a receiver who is also a defensive back or a lineman who can play both ways.
"This might be the biggest rule change in the history of the game," Sperduto said. "Because you are really going into the unknown."
The reasoning
The rules were changed to offer coaches the freedom to put the best talent on the field for every play and allow them to select players from a larger talent pool. Part of the desired result is that better talent will draw more fans.
It has also been suggested that the change will make the AFL more of a feeder for the NFL because the arena game is now more similar to the one played outdoors.
"I remember back to when I first started watching Arena Football and the difficulties I had understanding certain aspects of the game," said Colorado Crush co-owner John Elway, chair of the rules and competition committee that recommended the changes.
"The AFL is a different game, so that was the goal of the committee to make Arena Football more like traditional football, just indoors."
Backlash
Baron said the integrity of the game is based on two-way football and that changing that was an "injustice to all the guys who played before me and all the guys who played in the league up to this point."
"It wouldn't be so bad if they had some hard data behind it," Baron said. "Maybe if you polled some people and had different things to indicate they wanted this change, but it was more like, 'We feel like doing this.'"
There are other ways to draw interest, Baron said.
"The game wasn't the reason people weren't watching or why they couldn't get ratings on NBC," said Baron of NBC's decision not to renew its contract with the league. "To me it was the marketing and how you handle your business and how it is being managed as opposed to the game itself."
Advantage: One way
There are certainly those who will benefit from the changes.
Kats offensive lineman Julius Franklin hasn't played defense since high school. Linebacker Howard Hodges hasn't seen the offensive side of the line since his Pee Wee days.
Normally, that could spell disaster for two rookies.
"I have played the offensive line most of my life, so it's more of an advantage for me to come in and play offensive line," Franklin said.
"If I was to have to play defensive line now it wouldn't take away from my talent, but I would go on that side and maybe not play as well and maybe they would look at me less."
The future
Kats General Manager Bob Flynn believes the new substitution rule will be good for the league.
"The NFL is always trying to figure out what their true scouting league is. They have college, they have NFL Europe, this is a great way where some of their players can get some seasoning in the AFL," Flynn said. "Now you can actually look at our linemen, our backs, our wide receivers and say, 'Hey this has more of a transition to the outdoor game.'
"Every position is going to be upgraded. It will reduce the number of players that go both ways, no doubt about it, but if we get the best we can and make the game that much better and if people can understand it better there is nothing wrong with that.
"I am an old-time arena guy. I love the old game, but if this is what's best for the league then great."
