Let's play American Football!

Let's play American Football! (アメフトやろうぜ！, AMEFUTO yarouze!) is the second episode of Eyeshield 21 anime series. It was aired in April 13, 2005.

Plot

Sena may be on the Deimon Devil Bats football team, but he realizes that he doesn't know anything about the game of Football. Can Sena learn how to play, or will he give up before the Spring season?

Detailed Synopsis

Mamori is shocked as she learns that Sena has joined up with the American Football Club, even after warning him about Hiruma. However, Sena assures her that his position is adminsitrative, and he won't be taking part as a player. When asked why he was going to school so early, Sena replied that he was going to a team planning meeting. However, when he gets to the clubhouse, he is immediately grabbed by Hiruma and is forced to take part in the early morning training session.

The two come across Kurita, who has been deligently practicing his tackles against a training dummy since 2:00 AM, after being so excited at having 3 members in the club. The force of his tackles causes the training dummy to break apart, making Hiruma angry, though he immediately blows it off, thinking that he could blackmail the principal into buying a new one. Kurita then begins to explain the basics of football training with the ladder, and though Sena tries to resist, he finds himself unconsciously practicing the movements.

The three then decide to test their running speed in the 40-yard dash. The normal time is between 5-6 seconds. Anyone who could do it in 4.8 secs or less would be considered an ace. Hiruma stated that the best time in high school currently was 4.4 sec, set by Ojo White Knights' Linebacker Shin. Kurita's time was measured at 6.5 secs, while Hiruma's was 5.1 secs. However, when Sena was forced into the test, his time was only 5.0 secs. Hiruma hacks into the school records concerning Sena's athletic ability and was able to deduce that Sena had gained his rocket start due to running errands for bullies, but his speed lets up afterward. By using a dog biscuit slipped into Sena's jersey and introducing him to Cerberus, (Hiruma's vicious dog), Sena's top speed was found to be 4.2 secs, which was considered to be the best of pro athletes.

The Deimon Devil Bats then must get ready to play their first game, which was scheduled to be the next day. However, the team must have eleven members, so the Devil Bats needed to recruit nine more from the other sports teams to act as support players. Hiruma, Sena and Kurita set out to recruit them, and Deimon's quarterback threatened to invoke a 'penalty' to the member who brought in the fewest. Sena sees this as an opportunity to display his management skills, but is immediately shot down by the other teams, due to Hiruma's intimidation. Kurita fares no better, though Hiruma is easily able to force others to play due to his Devil's Book of Threats.

On his last attempt, Sena tries the Track and Field Team, and meets up with Tetsuo Ishimaru. Ishimaru initially agrees to play, but then turns Sena down, stating that he had to deliver magazines during the day of the game. By using his speed and determination, Sena took over half of the route and in gratitude, Ishimaru agreed to play football against Deimon's first opponent.

At the end of the day, Sena manages to bring one player in, while Kurita had none. Seeing that Hiruma had already recruited seven, it seemed that the Devil Bats were short one player. As Sena was about to suggest that he would play in the game, Hiruma arrives and tacks on several more players to his quota. The two are overjoyed that the Devil Bats had enough participants, Hiruma gets mad and states that he did all the work and the loser must now face the 'penalty.'

Football Clinic

Q: How many meters is 40 yards?
A: Its about 36 meters. American football players usually test their speed with 40-yard dash!