Stratomatic football game

What it offers is something else: power and control. Leaning heavily on statistical accuracy, down-by-down matchups and situational strategy, wannabe coaches and general managers are tasked with making the call on every offensive and defensive snap of the game. It's not easily mastered, either. In the Bengals-Patriots game above -- which I played online against my emotionless, cold desktop computer -- I found myself slamming the desk in frustration as Brady picked me apart play after play.

I felt like Rex Ryan, tearing my hair out, cursing the earth. You're going to find other games that feel like football. You're going to find other games that play fast," Guzzo said. When you add the satisfaction of knowing that you had an effect on the outcome because of the strategy, it's very addictive.

Thousands of hours go into the creation of each new season. For years, Richman was responsible for hand-crafting the thousands of player cards for Strat-O-Matic's baseball, football, hockey and basketball games, among others.

Today it's Guzzo, the former editor of The Denver Post and author of Strat-O-Matic Fanatics , who does the bulk of the football-card work in place of the year-old Richman. Tasked with creating each new season -- which includes more than 1, player cards -- Guzzo's job is to mold lifelike recreations of every star player, subpackage contributor and third-string guard.

They're all here. We have our analytics, then we use the analytics that are available in the marketplace. In addition, we have our own source that we pay for data and deeper analytics. We want to know such things as how many balls plus yards in the air did a quarterback complete? How many balls 20 yards in the air did a receiver catch? Or 30 yards? Is this guy truly a deep threat, or did he just have a good average because he broke tackles?

Strat-O-Matic cares enough about the process to work side by side with pro scouts, especially in the baseball world, where it isn't tough to find past gamers who understand how Strat-O-Matic works. We do a ton of reading," Guzzo said. So we find beat writers, national writers, I look at NFL. This guy is not playing because of this.

This guy is better pass blocking than run blocking. This guy is the best run blocker on his team. We're conscious, as well, of awards. Strat-O-Matic allows participants to engage in straightforward, intuitive football game planning, as evidenced by this basic playing card from the board game.

The job has Guzzo entrenched in a day study of today's NFL players and team trends in a quest for the most true-to-life game play around. And that when you play the game, you can see this team come to life. For me, I not only have to know every offensive lineman -- I have to know their backups! I'm rating 50 to 55 guys a team. So it's a bit sick, you know, in its own way, to say, 'Well, I've got room in my brain for this.

If Madden offers flashy graphics and uproar, what sets Strat apart is the lifelike way teams and players perform. Guzzo, for instance, hinted that the new Philip Rivers card wouldn't resemble his cards of old, saying: "Rivers, who certainly can throw deep well, didn't throw deep as often [last] year.

That's going to be reflected in Strat-O-Matic's cards. While fantasy dynasty leagues have bloomed in popularity, Strat communities have been drafting their own teams dating back to the late s.

One of the oldest known leagues, The Autumn Wind, was formed in and currently fields 30 individually owned teams, having moved from the board game to online. Unlike fantasy, Strat requires owners to draft players at every position on the field, meaning The Autumn Wind includes almost every available NFL player.

But this? You have to know every single player. It forces you to be much more knowledgeable about the NFL and rosters, in general. While deciding whether to add Marcus Mariota or Jameis Winston when last season's cards are released, dynasty players must also follow the careers of hundreds of players who might not bloom for another season or two. You keep players for years. Said Crowley: "You have a set of elite coaches that are in it for the long haul.

They love it. They have the same kind of addictive personality and addiction to the game that I do, and you know they're going to be there year after year.

I discovered Cooke through a series of YouTube videos in which he serves as the league's play-by-play announcer, offering insights and anecdotes while calling games between SOMIFA's top coaches. Like so many others, Cooke found Strat-O-Matic in his younger days and was instantly hooked. We took 16 teams -- we each took eight teams -- and we played.

We drew up a game NFL schedule and we played. And we still remember, over 30 years later, what teams we had and guys getting injured and who won the Super Bowl. It's the time that you spend. The time you spend with your brothers, the time with a friend, and I have very strong memories of dice and cards with Strat.

Unlike traditional fantasy football, Strat-O-Matic requires participants to make decisions at every position on the field.

Cooke himself went on to serve in the military, where he suffered a life-changing injury that left him paralyzed. I was stationed in Berlin and I was hit by a drunk driver. That's what paralyzed me," said Cooke, who has found a world of friends online he never would have met otherwise.

So, today, I use the computer with adaptive equipment. Because there I can compete like anybody else and I can do everything that any other person is doing and with not really any disadvantage at all. Really, for me, even just getting out of bed is kind of a pain in the ass.

Added Cooke: "It's comradery with people that you care about, meeting new people and sharing a passion for football and learning a lot more about football -- unless you want to go every year. There are plenty of Strat players with similar stories to tell. Many of them, though, belong to an aging demographic. What becomes of Strat-O-Matic when this wave of lifelong players fades away?

So this hobby is focused on our generation -- I'm 49 -- and there's players in their 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. But I'm wondering what will happen if they don't attract a new audience, if this is going to continue on. I'd love to see it grow, because it is such a fascinating game and such a rewarding game.

Said Guzzo: "It's a challenge for the company as the audience ages. It's a challenge for a lot of companies in a lot of different industries. I'm aware of those many industries and can tell you the recurring theme is, How do we get younger people? Well, certain products are created for younger people. Strat-O-Matic was first created for year-olds, but the year-olds have now been kidnapped by visual games and hand-eye-coordination games, and that's fine if they gravitate that way.

Guzzo confirmed that Strat-O-Matic is already developing an initial mobile offering for the more popular baseball game. If that draws well, football could receive similar treatment down the line. We're not the only ones," Richman said. Most of their people are over 40 years old, too. That is a problem. We're working on it.

For Richman, though, it's impossible not to look back and ponder what has bloomed from the board game he created more than half a century ago. I've contributed something to the mainstream of the country, and I never thought that would happen.

That this thing would become that big. Richman is open about the embattled relationship he shared with his own dad. Little did he know the games he created would go on to enrich so many father-son connections over the years -- perhaps its most enduring quality.

But I'm very happy, very satisfied and very gratified with what's happened. NFL cornerbacks have a demanding, unforgiving job. Failure is inevitable, mistakes are magnified and the heat is constant.

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It's a question Jim Trotter asked several prominent people in and around the game. Draft and trade players, manage your salary cap Be the Manager! Create lineups, pitching rotations, strategies Compete in a game season and the playoffs Create a private league for your friends, or join a public league Play All-Time Greats, the Season, and more Games are simulated nightly.

Draft Your Team Draft the best team of 25 players you can fit under a salary cap! Choose from hundreds of players and ballparks! Crush your opponents with power. Stomp 'em with pitching and defense. Manage Your Team Set the greatest lineup ever.

Assemble a rotation that spans all eras of baseball history. Scout your opponents. Set your managing style. Everything a real-life manager has to deal with - it's all here. Review Your Games Every morning, study the recap, boxscore and play-by-play of last night's games. Who's leading the league in homers? Which slugger has the highest batting average versus lefties? Which pitcher gets the most run support? Track over 60 stat categories throughout the season.

Strat-O-Matic's attention to detail is unparalleled. Other player sets available include single-season sets such as , , , , , and other mystery card sets such as Back to the '60s, '70s, '80s, '90s, and s.