🏈 The Ultimate Football Card Game for an Unforgettable UFL Season Kickoff! DIY Dana & Max #3
Dana:
“Max, I just read Gracie and Jack’s article about the UFL season starting this weekend, and I have to admit—those two make football predictions sound like a heavyweight title fight.”
Max:
“Right? Jack’s out here throwing Hail Mary predictions like he’s got a magic football, and Gracie’s analyzing stats like a human supercomputer. It’s Spotify vs Apple Music every week.”
Dana:
“Jack and Gracie are good at what they do, but—you and I need a way to prove our own football expertise.”
Max:
“Glad you said that, because I’ve got the perfect way: we’re playing our very own football card game!”
Dana:
“Oh, great. Another excuse for you to talk trash while I systematically destroy you.”
Max:
“See? You get it! And the best part? Unlike overpriced streaming services making you pay for every single football game, this one is completely free.”
Dana:
“And this is where I find out how much you actually know about football strategy.”
Max:
“Well, if I lose, I’ll just blame the refs.”
Dana:
“Max, this is a card game. There are no refs.”
Max:
“Then it’ll be a conspiracy against me.”
🏈 The DIY Football Card Game – Play Anytime, Anywhere!
This game is easy to learn, fast-paced, and perfect for game nights, tailgating, or just proving who’s the real football genius in your crew. All you need is a standard deck of cards and a competitive spirit.
🏈 Football Card Game
Using a Standard 52-Card Deck (Plus Jokers)
Objective:
Score points by stringing together successful plays to sustain the drive and choosing whether to go for field goals or touchdowns, using a combination of offensive and defensive plays represented by cards.
Setup:
Shuffle the 54 cards (52 standard cards + 2 jokers) and deal 12 cards face down to the side; these cards will not be used in this hand. Each hand represents one quarter of a football game.
Each player is dealt 7 cards to start the game. The remaining deck is the draw pile.
Spades represent offensive run plays.
Clubs represent offensive pass plays.
Hearts represent defense designed to stop the run.
Diamonds represent defense designed to stop the pass.
Jokers are turnover cards.
Game Play:
The non-dealer goes first, playing either a Spade (run) or a Club (pass).
The opposing player must play the corresponding defensive card of equal or higher value to stop the offensive play:
For a Spade (run play), play a Heart of equal or higher value.
For a Club (pass play), play a Diamond of equal or higher value.
(After each card is played the player draws a card from the draw pile, the offense draws first, to maintain a hand of 7 cards.)
If the defensive card is lower than the offensive card, or if the player on defense does not have the appropriate suit to stop the run or pass then the defensive player must still play a card and the offense is successful (aka: a first down), and the drive continues.
The offensive player must string together four first downs in a row to score a touchdown (6 points).
After two successful plays/first downs in a row, the offense can elect to kick a field goal (3 points) instead of continuing toward a touchdown.
Scoring Options:
Field Goal: After achieving two successful plays/first downs in a row, the offensive player may choose to kick a field goal worth 3 points. This ends the possession, and the other player begins on offense.
Touchdown: If the offensive player achieves four first downs in a row, they score a touchdown worth 6 points. After scoring a touchdown the offensive player can elect to just accept an automatic extra point for a total of 7 points or they can elect to attempt a two-point conversion.
Two-Point Conversion: After a touchdown, the offense can attempt a two-point conversion by playing one additional card. The defense gets a +2 bonus to their card value on this play to stop the conversion.
If the offense elects to continue after 2 successful plays/first downs and then is unsuccessful on either the Third or Fourth play NO POINTS are scored and possession goes to the other player.
Turnover/Loss of Possession:
If the defense plays a card of equal or higher value than the offensive card, the play is unsuccessful, and possession changes to the opposing player.
If the defense plays a Joker, the offense immediately loses possession, regardless of the offensive card played. A Joker acts as an automatic turnover.
Special Cards/Rules:
The Jack as a Universal Stopper:
The defense can use a Jack to stop any offensive play regardless of its value, but it must match the corresponding suit (Hearts for Spades, Diamonds for Clubs). The Jack is played after the offense plays their card.
The Queen as an Explosive Play:
After achieving two successful plays/first downs the offensive player can play a Queen (of either Spades or Clubs) as an Explosive Play. If the defense fails to stop the Queen (using a Joker or the Jack or higher of the correct suit Hearts for Spades, Diamonds for Clubs), it results in an immediate touchdown after only three successful plays/first downs instead of four.
Two-Point Conversion:
After scoring a touchdown, the offensive player may attempt a two-point conversion. The defense gets a +2 bonus to their card during this play. For example, if the offense plays a 10 of Spades, and the defense plays an 8 of Hearts, the defensive card is boosted (+2) to 10, and the conversion is stopped.
No Offense Cards:
If the player on offense runs out of offense cards (Spades or Clubs) they can no longer sustain the drive. They must play one of the red cards in their hand to signify a punt and the defensive player must also play a card from their hand. It would be best if each player used a lower value card to complete the punt.
Poor Defense:
If the player on defense does not have a high enough value appropriate defense card to stop the drive they are not required to play a defense card. They can choose to play a low value card, offense or defense, and save their higher value cards for another play.
End of a Quarter:
Once the draw pile is empty and both players have exhausted their hands, the quarter ends, and a new hand (quarter) begins.
If the offensive player has begun a successful drive at the end of the first or third quarter that drive will continue where it left off to begin the second or fourth quarter just like in real football.
Example:
The offensive player has had two successful plays/first downs to end the first quarter.
All of the cards are gathered up, shuffled and dealt, the same way that you did to begin the game, and the second quarter begins with the offensive player given the option of whether or not they wish to kick a field goal since they already have two successful plays in a row or try to continue their drive toward a touchdown.
Winning:
The player with the most points at the end of four quarters (or an extra quarter for overtime if necessary) wins the game.
🏈 Dana vs. Max: The Football Card Game Showdown!
Dana:
“Alright, let’s do this. I’m on offense first—9 of Clubs for a deep pass.”
Max:
“Big mistake. 10 of Diamonds! Defense smothers it. Turnover! My ball.”
Dana:
“Fine, let’s see what you’ve got.”
Max:
“First play—7 of Spades, I’m running it.”
Dana:
“5 of Hearts—too low, first down for Max.”
Max:
“Ha! Next play—6 of Clubs, quick pass.”
Dana:
“Jack of Diamonds—Universal Stop! Turnover, back to me.”
Max:
“Okay, that felt personal.”
Dana:
“No, that was football Max. My ball 9 of Spades run play.”
Max:
“I don’t have any hearts so I’ll use a low card, a 2 of Clubs.”
Dana:
“Still my ball! He drops back to pass. 10 of Clubs!”
Max:
“All my red cards are too low! My defense sucks!
Dana:
“That’s two successful plays in a row and I’m going to take the field goal! I lead 3 to nothing Max! Your ball.”
🏈 Final Thoughts – The Best DIY Football Game for UFL Season!
Max:
“Look, we could sit around debating whether Gracie or Jack is better at picking UFL winners, or we could settle it ourselves with this football card game.”
Dana:
“And unlike paying for a dozen different streaming services, this football experience is completely free.”
Max:
“That’s right! So grab a deck of cards, challenge a friend, and prove you’ve got the best football mind around.”
Dana:
“And if you don’t want to hear Max talking trash, just beat him quickly.”
Max:
“Hey! I’m about to mount a comeback!”
📢 Ready for Your Own Football Showdown?
🏈 Grab a deck of cards, set up your own football game night, and let us know who won your football battle!
Mike worked in the radio industry for 35 years which means sarcastic, tongue-in-cheek, satirical, trash talking characters to remind you laughter is good for the soul! Let’s have some fun with entertainment, movies and TV, sports, budget food and games, lifestyle and we’ll get ridiculous.
