How did YOUR love for football games begin?

[kjcheezhead]

My first football game was a deck of playing cards. On the cards were play selections, something like so...

Right Tackle: 5 yard gain
Right Guard: 3 yard loss
Center: 2 yard gain
Left Guard: 6 yard gain
Left Tackle: Fumble lose possession after 2 yard gain.

Short Pass: Complete for 15 yard gain
Long Bomb: Pass is incomple

Punt: 40 yards
Field Goal: Good

The idea was you would go through the deck once per quarter selecting plays. I would play entire seasons of all 28 teams at the time this way including playoffs. I played that game so much I literally wore out the cards.

When I wasn't playing that, I played a game with my cousins that involved tossing a small poker chip onto trading cards. If the chip stayed on the card when you tossed it, it was a completion. If it landed on a defensive players card it was a pick.

Eventually I got the atari and then the Nintendo, with Tecmo Bowl that included real NFL players. Football gaming had reached it peak when I saw that.

Anyone know the name of that card game? I wouldn't mind getting a copy for nostalgia sake.

[PantherBeast_OS]

Yea my first Football Game I played on a system was Tecmo Bowl NES. I loved it so much. Then came later I played madden 92 on the sega and so on. Back then football was fun when I was young. But now it ain't fun but still fun in a way enough to enjoy. Man those days was good. Time has passed so quickly.

[Shogun613]

My Mom got me "Great Football" for the Sega Master System back in the day... had to be more than 20 years ago. Played that for a while until I got into Joe Montana's "Sportstalk" Series... the serious addiction began with that game.

[RJTurneR]

Being of a younger generation, and being from the UK, I first started playing Madden in 07. My friend came by with a game I had never heard of, with no knowledge of American Football at all. But I loved it. No idea what I was doing, but I couldn't put the game down.

Now I'm a passionate Detroit fan, I hate Soccer (Overpayed to kick a ball), and the NFL is now my main sport. Plus I'm always playing Madden, regardless of any problems with it.

[bcruise]

My first experiences with a football game were the electric football variety, like someone else mentioned. But I really didn't know what the heck I was doing (I would have been about 6 or 7). I think the first video football game I played was probably Tecmo Bowl, though I got it a while after its initial release at a yard sale. I did have some fun with it, but my love for them did not truly begin until 1991, and a little sequel titled Tecmo SUPER Bowl.

I credit that game for a lot of other things too - probably the biggest is starting my CPU vs CPU obsession as I'd watch other teams' games while waiting to play my own again. And it actually worked, because despite the shorter quarters the stats came out very similar to my own games most of the time. It's also probably the only game I've ever kept records on OUTSIDE the game itself. What I mean is, I had this magnetic standings board with helmet logos for each team, and would update that board as the season went on. I also recorded all the injuries including the CPU teams (though this was more out of necessity due to there not being an in-game list of them).

My love of actual football began soon after with the Dallas Cowboys as I started to watch the games on TV (though I had always played as the 49ers in TSB. I mean, come on - Montana to Rice!)

[LILWOYYA]

idk maybe not or maybe so

[carnalnirvana]

nfl gameday 98, man i loved the double spin the first time i saw it. my first football video game... took a break after 99

but madden 2000 ps1 i think really brought me into football on consoles.

them from madden 03 biught them all ever since.....

[PGaither84]

To answer the OP, It was Troy Aikeman Football for the SNES, however, what got me into football was my father being a 49ers fan and the fact that us kids would play two hand touch in he street.

It would average about 5 kids. Any more and we went down to the park as a group and played until it got too dark to see the football in the air. then we called bunch of run plays and then went home for the night. Because of often uneven teams, many times I was the "designated QB." I never had a super strong arm, but as a kid I was somewhat agile/fast and I could make good reads and accurate throws. The kid with the stronger arm wasn't very accurate and didn't like throwing passes that weren't bombs, so people voted my QB. It also helped that I have always tried to be unbiased when put in those situations.

The rules were kept simple and we would quickly go over them to remind everyone. We still play from time to time or get the new generation of kids in the neighborhood to play.

If you care, here they are:

5 count rule to blitz. There are no offensive linemen. You can count Mississippi, Alligator, or "one thousand," and you have to count it out normally, out loud, instead of speed/quite counting.

The QB cannot run past the line of scrimmage until a defender crosses the line of scrimmage. This kept the games fair and competitive. You didn't run streaks and then run with the football ala Michael Vick in Madden 04 long before that game ever came out. The 5 count doesn't mean you get to run, it means they get to blitz you. In a 5 man game it kept the QB from running at all really.

No kick offs. there were far too few kids for proper kick coverage. Games could/would turn into kick return fests with laterals very quickly. It stopped being football. We started each offensive possession at a certain point of the field. Going each way.

We had a few first down markers and three attempts to get the first. 4th down is often the "punt" down. Both teams had one "go for it on 4th" call they could announce per game. teams could "go for it on 4th" if they were down by three scores. Four scores often called the game and we made new teams in blow outs like these.

That was pretty much it. Normally two people in man coverage running routes. Lots of fun. Something that wasn't really a rule, but was understood that if new people wanted to join, we would finish the drive and start a new game if we only had 5 kids. To keep things fair, my friend and I were often captains. When we played on the same team, we would dominate, so that ended quickly. Our non-verbal communication wasn't Manning/Harrison, but the idea was the same. With a look or a nod we knew what each other was thinking/seeing. Good times. [/memory lane]

P.S. Madden 03 and 04 Franchise mode was a big step in my football gaming. 2k5 obviously and Madden 07's franchise mode as well. For me, my "golden age" of football gaming was between Madden 03 and Madden 08. Meaning, Madden 08 on next gen forward has never been the same and not much to talk about.