Expert: Don - 4/5/2011

Question
I recall a non-electric football board game my brother and I used to play more than 50 years ago.

I do not recall its correct name; nor have I been able to find it online or in antique stores.

It involved a football-field looking board with a removable cardboard barrier you would place at the 50 yard line so you couldn't see the other player's side of the field.

The person on defense had 11 player tokens; he would have to decide which of more-than-11 circles (about 18?) he would cover with the 11 players.

A line ran from each circle under the barrier to circles on the offense side. When the defense was ready, the player on offense would use his one token to select a circle, then remove the barrier.

As an example, from memory, if the offensive player happened to place his token on an off-tackle run and the defender had not covered either of the two off-tackle circles on his side, the runner would gain 8 yards; if one circle was covered, the runner gained 4 yards; if both were covered, the runner lost 4 yards. (I cannot swear to these numbers). You kept track of the movement of the line of scrimmage on a sideline marker.

If you had fourth and long, you picked "punt" and the defense got the ball 40 yards from the line of scrimmage.

Any tips on how I might find the game or at least its name? Thanks.

Answer
Hi Paul,
Thanks for your interesting request including your very specific description.  I have been recently working on other football game searches as well, which made this search much easier to respond to.  Unfortunately,  after having done a lot of recent football game searches up to this point, I don't remember seeing anything like this game,  however I will include your request into my current searches and will notify you when and if I am able to determine the title.  I want you to know that I really enjoy being on a mission for this type of thing and will do my best.
Best regards,
Don