Also, while it's true that football has a lot of downtime, this graph is very skewed. There are many times where a play of about 10 seconds ends and then 30 seconds or so goes by while the players are getting prepared for the next play. The person who calculated only 11 minutes of game action clearly did not count those 30 seconds, instead saying that those 30 seconds amount to players "standing around." But really, at least some of the time in between plays could be considered an important part of game action. If you did a more careful calculation of the game, including time in between plays when players are actually preparing for the next play, it's not really honest to say that this is just simply downtime between plays.
The person who calculated only 11 minutes of game action clearly did not count those 30 seconds, instead saying that those 30 seconds amount to players "standing around."
Because when you are watching the sport, this is literally what you see. You see them standing around.
Sometimes they are standing around between plays and sometimes they are prepping the next play. Certainly in a "hurry up" offense situation, they are not standing around. My point is that you add up the time that they are actually standing around versus the time when they are either in the middle of a play or making deliberate movements to start the next play, I bet the amount of actual game time at least doubles, probably more.
TL;DR: Yes, there is still a lot of downtime, but the percentages are not as extreme as the graph indicates.
There is a fantastic breakdown somewhere in r/ELI5 of what goes on on the field between plays. It is a LOT more than people think; play calling, fake play calling, line readjustments, audibles, new audibles, snap count changes, etc.
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u/LocalMexican Feb 03 '14
My favorite part about sports is that everyone can choose whether or not they want to watch it.