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America’s pastime is in full swing, high school and college football enter week two, the NFL kicked off Thursday night, but this column isn’t about the NFL, which still has no idea what a catch or concussion are. This is about high school football.

I can’t speak for women, but for men, hypotheticals are a cornerstone of our discussions. Hypotheticals like getting one more crack at your high school athletic career. You somehow crack time travel and rather than going back and snuffing out Hitler before WWII or preventing 9/11, your trip back in time is spent reliving high school glory days. Does it make sense? Nope but hypotheticals don’t need to.

For myself I’ve never wanted to go back to high school, even to play football or basketball. Why would I want to go back to a time I had no money, I had tests to take and a curfew? I don’t look back on high school with disdain or with a revisionist viewpoint. There were good times, bad times and just times, I have no desire to go back.

Well, that was until I watched my first 6-man football game in Ten Sleep last weekend.

If you have not taken in a 6-man game you need to, immediately. I used to be a part of the camp who thought 6-man or anything not 11-man, was not football. I. Was. Wrong. 

My position started changing over the summer as I did some research and after watching my first game I am all in on 6-man football. 

Six-man football has something for everyone, offense for those who love scoring and fast tempos. Some surprisingly good defensive plays with mano e mano battles. And for those who feel bad for the players who don’t touch the ball, every player on the field can make plays and does. If you’re on the field in six-man you’re a skill player.

The game is like flag football but with the ability to level somebody or like basketball on the football field. 

One of the most exciting plays in football at any level is improvisation by the offense. When a quarterback drops back, makes his reads and sees every receiver covered, but the pass rush is collapsing the pocket, he rolls out, the receivers break off their routes and look for the empty spaces. In the meantime, the QB has put a few defenders on skates, now he’s pointing at a receiver directing him where to go with a defender on his tail and the sideline a few steps away. Moments before he’s hit by the defender he guns the ball toward his receiver who makes a tremendous catch for the first down. 

A play like that happens a handful of times in 11-man game but in 6-man it’s nearly every play. It’s like when you played football during recess in grade school. You tell your buddies what routes to run but more importantly just get open. 

This is why, hypothetically, I wouldn’t mind going back to high school for the chance to play 6-man football somehow, someway. Getting to do my impression of a 2003-2004 Michael Vick is a dream come true. Sure, I know I would be a low rent version of Vick, that was slightly taller while comically less athletic. But if Tim Tebow can romanticize his high school playing days why can’t I? At least I’m not delusional enough to think I can make the pros in a sport I haven’t played since high school.