My Cornhole Boards NFL-Style Experiment
So, football season was coming back, and I got this itch to mix my love for watching the games with actually doing something fun outside. I remembered those Cornhole boards people play at tailgates. Figured, why not try playing Cornhole, but tweak it a bit with some NFL rules? Made sense for me, a big football fan looking for a simple outdoor activity.
First thing was digging out my old Cornhole boards from the garage. Dusty as hell! Gave ’em a quick wipe down and slapped on some new team decals – gotta have team spirit, right? Found the bean bags too. One set looked faded, so I grabbed some different colored fabric scraps and sewed up two new sets. Took a bit longer than expected, but hey, hands-on.
Figuring Out the NFL Rules Angle
Now, regular Cornhole rules are cool, but I wanted that NFL feel. Here’s what I ended up doing:
- Scoring Like Touchdowns & Field Goals: Decided landing a bag clean on the board equals 1 point (like a Field Goal). Sinking it straight through the hole? That’s 6 points, baby! Full touchdown!
- Tackles? Penalties? Nah, kept it simple. But I did bring in the “down system” a little. Each “drive” is just 4 throws per team. You chuck all four bags, add up the score for that “drive,” then the other team takes their turn.
- Game Length: Instead of playing to 21, I split the game into four “quarters.” Each quarter, both teams get two full “drives” each (so, 8 bags per team per quarter). Add up the points from all four quarters for the final score. More strategic, felt like managing a game.
Getting Outside and Actually Playing
Board distance? Kept the standard 27 feet apart for adults. Measured it with my shoe like 15 times cause I didn’t have a tape measure handy. Good enough! Grabbed my buddy Dave – another football nut – and dragged him outside.
Alright, first quarter was rough. Throws were all over the place! Bags sliding right off, missing the hole completely, weird wobbles. Trying to aim for that “Touchdown” hole-in was trickier than it looked. Dave laughed at my first few lame attempts. We were basically scoring field goals left and right, touchdowns felt rare and awesome.
But you know what? We slowly got the hang of it. Found that nice, smooth underhand arc worked best. Stopped trying to chuck it like a football quarterback – that just pissed me off when it sailed over everything. Second quarter started getting better. Actually sunk a few touchdowns! Got competitive quick.
By the third quarter, we were trash-talking like we were actual coaches. “Third and goal situation, Dave!” “Gotta go for the hole on this drive!” The simple down system made each set of throws feel way more important, like every possession counted. Even the scoring felt more exciting – getting a touchdown was a legit fist-pump moment, way better than just counting points.
Fourth quarter, we were sweating and totally into it. Final drive, scores close, all came down to the last couple of bags. Mine slid agonizingly close to the hole but didn’t drop. Dave’s last shot was short. Huge groans, then big laughs.
Final whistle blew. Added up the points from all four quarters. Dave snuck the win by a measly two points! Felt just like a nail-biting Sunday finish.
Honestly, it was a hell of a time. Keeping track of quarters and drives definitely gave it more of that football-game feeling than regular Cornhole. Super accessible too – you don’t need NFL player skills, just a board, some bags, and a love for the game. Took a bit of trial and error to settle on the exact rules, but the down system and touchdown/field goal scoring made it click. Definitely doing this again for the next tailgate or just a lazy Saturday afternoon. Grab a friend, maybe some cold drinks, and give it a shot!
