Teams are allowed three timeouts per half, and two per overtime period if regulation ends tied.
American football is a very different gridiron code than that of Australian rules football played in the Australian Football League (AFL). Since 2017, other indoor leagues have described themselves as "arena" leagues in their name without official endorsement from Gridiron Enterprises, such as the National Arena League and American Arena League, but still do not use many of the previously patented rules. The clock also stops for any change in possession, until the ball is marked ready for play; for example, aside from the final half-minute of regulation or overtime, time continues to run down after a touchdown, but stops after an extra point or two-point conversion attempt.
The league was initiated by a merger between Arena Pro Football (APF) and the Can-Am Indoor Football League (Can-Am), although it claimed only the APF history after the former Can-Am founder left the league. Following an initial undistinguished NFL career, being released or unsigned for four seasons out of eight, quarterback Tommy Maddox would revitalize himself with the AFL's New Jersey Red Dogs for one season before going on to quarterback the Los Angeles Xtreme to the XFL championship win and eventually return to the NFL for five seasons, retiring with a Super Bowl ring after the Pittsburgh Steelers won Super Bowl XL. Arena football is distinguished from the other indoor leagues by its use of large rebound nets attached to the side of each goalpost, which keep any missed field goal or overthrown ball in the field of play and allow the ball to remain live; the rebound nets were the only part of the patent that was upheld until it expired. The league was formed by the strongest independent teams in the region, including the Memphis Tigers, who claimed the "national pro championship" in 1929, after beating the NFL champions the Green Bay Packers. The Myrtle Beach Sharks appeared to have rejoined the APF mid-season; however, it was for away games only and the team called the Sharks were wearing the defunct Myrtle Beach Freedom uniforms.
For two-way players "dead" time is one quarter. The other indoor football leagues never reached the heights of media exposure that the AFL had garnered and operated on a more limited budget.
The second, the Spring Football League, was founded by several ex-NFL players (Bo Jackson, Drew Pearson, Eric Dickerson and Tony Dorsett) but failed to attract big investors because of the tech-market crash of 2000, and was cancelled after only two weeks.
The Cape Fear Wildcats were later postponed to a presumed 2018 season. The Arena Football League ceased operations after the 2008 season and was liquidated in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2009, also forcing the closure of af2. When it came back, the league was based entirely in Europe, was reduced to six teams and re-branded as NFL Europe. In the early 2000s, the league appeared to have financially strong team ownership including NFL owners, as well as major names in the entertainment world. Alas, the league collapsed mid-2012 season, failing to pay the bills after most investors stepped out. [citation needed] The other two 1987 teams were the Chicago Bruisers and the Denver Dynamite, (the ArenaBowl I champions). For the video game, see, Other leagues and reorganization of the AFL. [26][27], In 1934 the American Football League was the first true attempt to establish pro football in the American South and Southwest regions. Although in the end the league was unsuccessful, it suggested an interesting wrinkle that future leagues will use, as the players were assigned to teams base of the region where they played in college (hence the league name).
Other prominent leagues were the Anthracite League (Pennsylvania), Eastern League of Professional Football (Pennsylvania and New Jersey), Ohio Valley League, Midwest Football League and the Northwest War Industries League (Washington and Oregon).