How many average guys would it take to stop Deoin Sanders?

[Maple Leafs]

A time-waster, blatantly stolen from 2+2...

In his prime he returns a kick that he takes at his goal line and the defenders are 180 lb thirty year old decent shape average guys who line up at mid field. How many of them are required to make it less than fifty percent that he will score? Suppose he is accompanied by one NFL expert kickoff return blocker?

[rkmsuf]

10

[st.cronin]

20

[rkmsuf]

20

wrong. the answer is 10.

[KevinNU7]

10 Max. You line up with equal seperation. As he picks a side the line condenses to that side. The Far side also advances and curves the line almost making a candy cane shape to avoid the cut back.

This would also mean keeping the line of players at the 50, no need to advance since the goal is to avoid the TD.

[cartman]

It would probably take just one, as I've never heard of Deoin Sanders.

Now, if it were Deion Sanders... :D

[albionmoonlight]

It took more than 11 guys to stop Bo Jackson in Tecmo Super Bowl, and that would seem to be the analogy that most easily springs to mind.

So my answer is somewhere north of 11.

[Ksyrup]

The more interesting question is how many 5 year olds could Deion take...using only his brain?

[DougWyatt]

I'd say it'd take more than a team. Probably 20-30. I'm getting flashbacks of playing a game when I was a kid (we called it smear the __ ). Anyway, I wasn't anything special, but was a RB in school, and a little bit quicker than my neighbors. I would regularly run back and forth, TD after TD till I got tired - with a small field (50 yards and not real wide) with 5 or 6 guys.

So, I could only imagine that with a whole football field to work with, and a professional athlete with world class speed - the average joe squad would have a helluva time.

Possibly less than 20 - but not much, if team average joe had some time to practice and "game plan".

[bbor]

2/3

[rkmsuf]

Is Deion wearing all his bling?

[JPhillips]

So the field is 160 feet wide. So if you say 10 across, you're saying that each guy has 16 feet to cover initially. Even accounting for the line shifting I think this leaves too many holes.

I would say an average guy can have a three foot area of "very probable tackle", and maybe another two feet on either side of "probable tackle". So an average guy can cover seven feet and have what I would think is at least a fifty percentage chance of stopping him.

There will be some shifting, but given the speed and elusiveness of Deion I wouldn't count on much. So I would guess 17 or 18.

If you can coach them and get them moving as a coverage team I think you can get down to 13 or 14. If they know what they're doing getting them moving will be a big help, but if they don't it will hinder them.

[gottimd]

It would probably take just one, as I've never heard of Deoin Sanders.

Now, if it were Deion Sanders... :D

Maybe he meant

How many average guys would it take to stop Doin' Sanders?:eek:

[rkmsuf]

How many average guys would it take going before you to stop you from doing Summer Sanders?

[gottimd]

Steve Sanders?

[Tigercat]

Like most of these things it depends on the preparation of the "Team." With a full days worth of practice, 10 would do fine, assuming they pick up on instructions well.

Just off the street? I think you would easily have to double it to 20. If they don't work as a unit Deon could outjuke each one individual Tecmo Bowl style. Something a well coordinated defense of decently in shape guys could attack against.

[albionmoonlight]

How quickly could Deion get from the goal line to the 50?

Six seconds? Seven?

That does not give the team much time to prepare for him hitting the line.

[Grammaticus]

How quickly could Deion get from the goal line to the 50?

Six seconds? Seven?

That does not give the team much time to prepare for him hitting the line.

That would be true if Deion hit. That boy don't hit.

[stevew]

I'm guessing close to 30, just cause he was so damn fast. Especially when you factor in the fact that Deion also has a blocker. All it takes is one crease, and he's gone. Plus you figure his side to side speed means he would be hard to stop, even if you forced him east/west.

[cartman]

How quickly could Deion get from the goal line to the 50?

Six seconds? Seven?

That does not give the team much time to prepare for him hitting the line.

Well, considering he regularly ran a sub 4.2 second 40 yard dash, I'd expect him to run 50 yards in just at or a bit over 5 seconds.

[Coffee Warlord]

The more interesting question is how many 5 year olds could Deion take...using only his brain?

Damn, I was gonna start a thread asking how many 5 year olds Deion could take. :)

[SirFozzie]

Watch Pros vs Joes. It's amazing to watch these (admittedly retired) athletes school Joe Average. Or rarely vice versa

The best one was watching a Football Event where the Joes selected one of a number of holes in a wall to run through, with Bill Romanowski waiting on the other side, and try to gain as many yards as possible before being tackled.

One guy went through the whole, saw Romanowski waiting to smack him good, went BACKwards through the hole in the wall, ran to the otherside, through another hole and ran for his life, with a clearly pissed off Romanowski chasing him.. he got the maximum yardage for the down, and slowed up, and Romanowski drilled him into a wall, knocking it over :)

[Maple Leafs]

That would be true if Deion hit. That boy don't hit.
That boy don't hit NFL players.

Against an average couch potato, that boy would run over guys.

[JonInMiddleGA]

10 Max. You line up with equal seperation. As he picks a side the line condenses to that side. The Far side also advances and curves the line almost making a candy cane shape to avoid the cut back.
This would also mean keeping the line of players at the 50, no need to advance since the goal is to avoid the TD.

Still takes more than 10 ... because the example you cite would break down quickly due to the lack of discipline. Considering you can't even get a lot of professional athletes to "stay in their lane" consistently, I can only imagine how quickly what you're describing would turn into a Chinese fire drill.

[DanGarion]

It depends, can I have a high powered rifle? Because if so, I say one. :)

[st.cronin]

That boy don't hit NFL players.

Against an average couch potato, that boy would run over guys.

yep

Very few NFL players could consistently tackle Deion. I'm thinking non-NFL guys wouldn't have a chance. He'd run by em, through em, jump over em, just play with them. The more I think about it, the more 20 seems like a low number.

[st.cronin]

dola: 9 guys plus Carlton Fisk would probably work, too.

[CU Tiger]

if no blocker, I think 10is a good number, assuming they can talk ...remember only got to be better than 50% not perfect.

Now if I can have only former highschool or even DIII college players, Ill say 5

[CU Tiger]

DOLA

As to the 8 yard coverage remember it is only 4 yards between men and each man needs to go left and right (could not say each man needs to go both ways) even as elusive as deion is he can not shift 8 yards while in contact zone...

I would be willing to wager my current starting 11 popwarner team could, pull 70%

[dime]

on his TD runbacks, he would outrun or elude 4-5 guys who weren't blocked, I can't imagine how only ten normal men would be able to get him.

we're all forgetting about the "expert nfl blocker" he has...that guy is going to pancake about 4-5 guys just by himself.

[astrosfan64]

Can you trip him?

[jbergey22]

Unless these 30 year olds are pathetic, i would guess 6-7. With 1 blocker and taking proper angles it shouldnt be to hard, plus starting at the 50 and having to score 50% of the time. I think many in this thread are underestimating angles and numbers.

If Primetime runs a 4.2 and these 30 year olds average a 5.1-5.3 in speed it shouldnt be difficult.

[Bee]

Can the average guys use guns?

[Maple Leafs]

Unless these 30 year olds are pathetic, i would guess 6-7. With 1 blocker and taking proper angles it shouldnt be to hard, plus starting at the 50 and having to score 50% of the time. I think many in this thread are underestimating angles and numbers.
I doubt that an average 30 year old could tackle Deion Sanders (especially at full speed). Even the skinniest NFL players could crush the average couch potato easily. So you'll have to have more than one guy in on the tackle, either a gang tackle of one guy to slow him up and another to bring him down. I'm not sure 6 or 7 guys would be enough to get two guys close to him without having everyone overcommit so much that he could just run backwards at the first sign of trouble and go around the end.

That said, keep in mind that the average guys' job is only to prevent a touchdown -- they don't have to stop him as far upfield as possible like a regular special teams squad. Their best strategy would probably be to try to funnel him to one sideline and then nudge him out of bounds.

Think of how bad NFL kickers look trying to bring down returners in the open field, and then think that the kicker is in way better shape than the average guy.

[albionmoonlight]

Hmmm...

It probably violates the spirit of the competition, but there is no reason that you could not train the guys to blatently violate the rules. Tripping, face mask, holding and pulling down the blocker, etc. would all lead to a 15 yard penalty, but would also prevent him from scoring.

Still, something feels wrong about that.

[KevinNU7]

Watch Pros vs Joes. It's amazing to watch these (admittedly retired) athletes school Joe Average. Or rarely vice versa

The best one was watching a Football Event where the Joes selected one of a number of holes in a wall to run through, with Bill Romanowski waiting on the other side, and try to gain as many yards as possible before being tackled.

One guy went through the whole, saw Romanowski waiting to smack him good, went BACKwards through the hole in the wall, ran to the otherside, through another hole and ran for his life, with a clearly pissed off Romanowski chasing him.. he got the maximum yardage for the down, and slowed up, and Romanowski drilled him into a wall, knocking it over :)
And in that same drill one of the contestants beat Romo everytime and got max yards :D

[CU Tiger]

I 100% disagree that the "average joe" couldnt tackle the smallest nfl player.

Bringing down The Bus is one thing, but tackling a 175-180 primeetime? Please.

Of course this could all depend on your average joe. If I get 10 cubicle farm residents weighing in from 135 to 165...Im probably screwed. But if I get a few blue collar types in the 195-240 range its a different story.

As to the kicker thing...Our highschool kicker is in the NFL as well as a kicker I played with in college.

Neither were athletic enough to play ball in HS much less be better than the "average guy."

Remember 1 out of 10 high scool all americans ever make it to te NFL....there are a lot of good prep and even college athletes walking the street that would qualify for average joe status...

[JPhillips]

Our highschool kicker is in the NFL as well as a kicker I played with in college

Neither were athletic enough to play ball in HS

?

[Maple Leafs]

Of course this could all depend on your average joe. If I get 10 cubicle farm residents weighing in from 135 to 165...Im probably screwed. But if I get a few blue collar types in the 195-240 range its a different story.

There isn't a 240 lb blue collar guy out there who could get within ten yards of Sanders on the open field, so they're irrelevent. Somebody smaller might get close enough to get a hand on him, but even then they'd probably get stiff-armed out of the way fairly easily. Dieon's leg strength alone would let him run over plenty of bigger guys.

[CU Tiger]

?

I shouldn't have to explain this, but kickers aren't players....

There isn't a 240 lb blue collar guy out there who could get within ten yards of Sanders on the open field,

But its not going to be open field, they are going to form a line across the 50 with 4 yards between them...

Also have you seen Deion run over anybody??

I would give Deion a 20 yard head start my feet planted and I would wager that he couldnt "run over" me....

[Logan]

I would give Deion a 20 yard head start my feet planted and I would wager that he couldnt "run over" me....

I wish this was real so I could watch Deion embarrass you and your 9 average buddies.

This is also one of those times where I wish the discussions taking place on this board were actually happening in a conference room at my office. All your money would be mine.

[st.cronin]

I wish this was real so I could watch Deion embarrass you and your 9 average buddies.

This is also one of those times where I wish the discussions taking place on this board were actually happening in a conference room at my office. All your money would be mine.

lol

[CU Tiger]

I wish this was real so I could watch Deion embarrass you and your 9 average buddies.

This is also one of those times where I wish the discussions taking place on this board were actually happening in a conference room at my office. All your money would be mine.


I doubt it...
I played D1 as a lineman...
And I am younger than Primetime...

I couldnt catch deion if I was on a bicycle, but I promise I could plant him if he tried to run over me....

[gottimd]

I doubt it...
I played D1 as a lineman...
And I am younger than Primetime...

I couldnt catch deion if I was on a bicycle, but I promise I could plant him if he tried to run over me....

Isn't the question about a Kickoff Return? I think he would run circles around you, not try and run you over. I assume that the original question isn't relating to a short down yardage situation where Deion is running a draw up the middle, then I could see your point. But maybe I read the question wrong?:rolleyes:

[Bee]

Just to clarify from the first post:

the defenders are 180 lb thirty year old decent shape average guys

And I'm pretty sure Deion was around 200 lbs during his prime playing career not 175-180. There's no way IMO that a 180 lb average guy could solo tackle Deion without building up some momentum and then the speed thing comes into play. Just standing there waiting to try to wrap up someone faster, stronger and bigger than you will result in you getting run over or juked.

[KevinNU7]

Isn't the question about a Kickoff Return? I think he would run circles around you, not try and run you over. I assume that the original question isn't relating to a short down yardage situation where Deion is running a draw up the middle, then I could see your point. But maybe I read the question wrong?:rolleyes:
It has already been covered that the average joes would be spread accross the 50 so he would have to chase Deion.