Register All Albums FAQ Community Experience
Go Back   New Orleans Saints Forums - blackandgold.com > Main > Saints > NFL

Norman Sas, inventor of Electric Football, dies at 87

this is a discussion within the NFL Community Forum; I had one of these; I remember mine was noisy as hell and Mom didn't like me to play with it!! The generation that grew up on video games may find this hard to believe, but there was once a ...

Like Tree14Likes

Closed Thread
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 07-09-2012, 04:03 AM   #1
10000 POST CLUB
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Shreveport,Louisiana
Posts: 16,001
Exclamation Norman Sas, inventor of Electric Football, dies at 87

I had one of these; I remember mine was noisy as hell and Mom didn't like me to play with it!!

The generation that grew up on video games may find this hard to believe, but there was once a time when football fans could entertain themselves for hours by playing a low-tech game featuring inch-tall plastic players moving around chaotically on a vibrating metal football field. The game was Electric Football, and it grew so popular that more than 40 million copies of the game have been sold.

Electric Football was the brainchild of Norman Sas, who, according to the Hackensack Record, died on June 28 at the age of 87. Sas invented Electric Football in 1948, but it was in 1967, when he signed a deal with the NFL to put team colors and player names on his tiny plastic players, that the game really took off.

Norman Sas, inventor of Electric Football, dies at 87 | ProFootballTalk

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."
WhoDat!656 is offline  
Old 07-09-2012, 07:40 AM   #2
E. Side Cholo
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: The Barrio, H-town
Posts: 6,089
I understand there was a glitch in the funeral procession, as some of the
pall bearers suddenly darted off sideways in random directions, one actually turning around the opposite way, while some spun in place and seemed to
go nowhere.
skymike is offline  
Old 07-09-2012, 09:18 AM   #3
1000 Posts +
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: NOLA
Posts: 2,336
Just had a little nostalgic moment there. Forgot how many hours my brother and I spent playing on his Electric Football set. Wow, that was a long, long time ago. I especially remember the little felt footballs!

My brother and I had another football game we used to play back then, although it was made up between the two of us. We called it "Csonka". My brother (six years older than me) would get on his knees, with a football, on one side of the room. I would have the entire length of the room (on my feet, mind you) to attempt to bring him down. That was it, and we loved that game, almost as much as Electric football, lol.
73Saint is offline  
Old 07-09-2012, 10:30 AM   #4
Merces Letifer
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 4,161
Originally Posted by skymike View Post
I understand there was a glitch in the funeral procession, as some of the pall bearers suddenly darted off sideways in random directions, one actually turning around the opposite way ...
.. yep, the purple one.
Halo likes this.
Tobias-Reiper is offline  
Old 07-09-2012, 01:32 PM   #5
Site Donor
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Baton Rouge, LA
Posts: 1,739
Funny how many people harbor such fond memories of a game that sucked so bad ... and I can say that, I owned one!

RIP Mr. Sas, you created a legendary - if flawed - relic of many childhoods. Thankfully, Tecmo Bowl was just a few more years away!!!
mutineer10 is offline  
Old 07-09-2012, 11:43 PM   #6
Moderator
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: New Haven Ct
Posts: 23,982
Originally Posted by skymike View Post
I understand there was a glitch in the funeral procession, as some of the
pall bearers suddenly darted off sideways in random directions, one actually turning around the opposite way, while some spun in place and seemed to
go nowhere.
We have a winner !!!!
QBREES9 is offline  
Old 07-10-2012, 06:34 AM   #7
E. Side Cholo
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: The Barrio, H-town
Posts: 6,089
I actually eventually had all 28 teams in dark and white jerseys, with 4 sets of Saints....

No actually, the game is fun, if you do it right. We ditched the bizarre timer wheel, made some necessary rules, for instance, you could stop the action to pass, we passed with a cotton ball, and one guy played referee, which it self was just as fun as playing. We used sewing spools to "kick" field goals, which could be done from any point on the field. had timeouts, 30 seconds per play, unless you could get out of bounds.... we actually had a bunch of fantastic finishes.

Oh, and me and my brother in laws back in the 80s used to play this in our 20s.

skymike is offline  
Old 07-12-2012, 01:23 PM   #8
Site Donor 2015
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Land Mass between LA and AL
Posts: 4,375
Good times there, hadn't thought about that game in decades.
Ashley likes this.
Mardigras9 is offline  
Old 07-12-2012, 09:53 PM   #9
Site Donor
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Colorado Springs Co
Posts: 2,760
WOW! That games was crazy, we use to sprinkle baby powder over it cause we thought it looked like snow!! Talk about a mess ! Ha
Good memories there. RIP
Ashley is offline  
Old 07-13-2012, 04:52 PM   #10
E. Side Cholo
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: The Barrio, H-town
Posts: 6,089
shoot... forgot i still have this.
Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	016_16.jpg
Views:	0
Size:	96.7 KB
ID:	4938  
73Saint likes this.
skymike is offline  
Closed Thread


Posting Rules

LinkBacks (?)
LinkBack to this Thread: https://blackandgold.com/nfl/45491-norman-sas-inventor-electric-football-dies-87-a.html
Posted By For Type Date Hits
Norman Sas, inventor of Electric Football, dies at 87 This thread Refback 07-09-2012 05:31 AM 1


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 06:21 AM.


Copyright 1997 - 2020 - BlackandGold.com
no new posts