Cheerleader Projectiles
When trying to block a field goal, why doesn’t the defensive team launch each other into the air like cheerleaders? If football players are too heavy to launch, why not hire male cheerleaders that serve as lightweight, durable projectiles?
"This is a great thought experiment. Let's actually run the numbers. A typical field goal is kicked at ~70 mph (~103 ft/s) at roughly a 40° launch angle from 7 yards behind the line. So at the LOS: Horizontal velocity: 103 × cos(40°) ≈ 79 ft/s; Time to reach LOS (21 ft): 21 ÷ 79 ≈ 0.27 seconds; Ball height at LOS: 66 × 0.27 − ½(32.2)(0.27²) ≈ ~16 feet. Elite basket tosses launch flyers about 18–20 feet (measured at the feet). A 5'6" flyer with arms extended gets their hands to roughly 23–25 feet. That clears the ball's 16-foot crossing height with room to spare. So yes, it works geometrically — a launched cheerleader absolutely reaches the ball. The height math checks out convincingly. The real problems: (1) Timing is brutal. Snap-to-kick is ~1.3 seconds. A basket toss dip-and-launch takes ~1.5 seconds and the flyer peaks ~1 second after release. You'd need to start loading before the snap and guess correctly. Miss the timing by 0.3 seconds and your human projectile is either not airborne yet or already falling. (2) Precision is microscopic. The ball crosses through roughly a 1-foot window at 79 ft/s. The flyer has essentially zero horizontal steering once airborne. (3) And the fatal flaw: it's explicitly illegal. NFL Rule 12, Section 1, Article 5 — no player may use a teammate as leverage to gain additional height to block a kick. The league specifically anticipated creative boosting schemes. 15-yard penalty. So the physics actually supports the concept — the math is surprisingly favorable. The NFL rules committee just got there first."