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The coin toss in football has run its course. It's practically been a part of the game since its inception. Still, we leave way too much to chance on the coin toss, especially in overtime. In all seriousness, if we decide to keep the coin toss, it should only be used before kick-off. Still, for overtime, it's time to find something else to determine who gets to decide possession of the football. We could do a few things to replace the coin toss to amp up the excitement of the game.
Coaches put a lot of stock in a player's arm strength and how far they can throw the football. It sometimes matters in games, but accuracy is all that really matters. This is the chance to actually show off arm strength. We should have the Quarterbacks or even just a designated player start out in one of the end zones (maybe the visitors can at least pick which endzone) and throw it as far as they possibly can. Whichever player throws it the furthest via yards gets to decide how to handle possession of the game. I can't imagine any human being having the strength to throw it all the way to the other endzone, so we'd be able to measure precisely how far based on where the ball lands. If it were to land out of bounds or the player crosses the endzone line, consider that a penalty, and by default, the other team wins the toss-off. This is my favorite proposal, but there are others that could work.
I haven't ironed out all the details on this idea, but maybe have a pop-a-shot style with the field goal kickers be given one minute on the clock to kick as many field goals as possible from the 40-yard line (50 yards). These teams would have the best and fastest kickers and some disciplined holders to get the ball set up perfectly. I know part of the kicker's role is to set them up so they get the kick off the way they want but screw it, let's add some speed to their role. There could be some historic records set from this idea. But imagine also seeing a "not top 10 SportsCenter" clip where a kicker missed all of his field goals; that would be a sight for sure. Admittedly, this idea had the slightest thought put into it, but I'm sure there are some ideas where kicking field goals could be a factor.
Football is all about tackling. Why not see the biggest linemen go at it, and whoever gets bodied down or a knee touches the grass loses their decision of possession. Imagine if this was in place with the 80s Bears and William Perry (The Fridge); they'd never lose overtime the rest of his career. Who the hell wouldn't want to see a matchup between Aaron Donald vs Brian Burns? This kind of thing allows two players on defense or offense who would never see each other on the field to finally go at it. The players would get insanely hyped up for this one. Whoever wins this probably would win the game based on the momentum from that drill. I like this one a lot but probably not the most practical.
Every year, someone at the combine runs the 40-yard dash at a record-breaking pace that ups his draft stock, but in the end, that doesn't really matter. Well, maybe it's time for that to be relevant in a game. Have each player start at the 50-yard line and have them race into the endzone and whoever crosses first wins the decision. I'd say the designated runner would have to be either a receiver, corner, safety, or the ball returner of the game, so teams don't have to scout out actual Olympic runners. Not the top of my list, but it actually brings relevancy to the runners and their speed.
This would be wacky and unrealistic, but why not throw a diaper at the wall? Trivia would certainly test these players and how well they know the football game's history. Let's be honest; most of these players are knuckleheads and likely couldn't tell you who was drafted number 1 overall in 2005. These teams would have to scout out a nerd on the team that has a deep knowledge of the NFL. These shouldn't be softball answers either, but some challenging ones perhaps only Jeopardy contestants would know on the spot.
At this point, I'm not taking it seriously anymore but let's play around with this idea. Have each team start a bid at $10,000 and auction off the possession. Whichever team has the higher bid gets to decide who gets control. The NFL and NCAA would eat this up because of all the money that would funnel into their pockets and can claim it went to "charity." Still, we all know those fines go into the commissioner's bank account. It would tell you just how much a team is willing to spend to win and which franchises and schools are the cheap bastards that are too greedy. This would undoubtedly put the owner and presidents in a place where they can get involved in the game but put them severely on the spot.
I'm sure there are other ideas with definitely more serious ones that could practically be implemented. The coin toss was fun to bet on for the Superbowl. At the very least, we can keep it at the beginning of each game since the stakes aren't that significant. Still, it's time to stop leaving it up to chance to determine overtime.
