This is a classic piece of "rack toy" nostalgia: a 1987 Touchdown Game manufactured by Smethport Specialty Co. Smethport was a well-known American toy company (based in Smethport, Pennsylvania) famous for creating inexpensive, impulse-buy toys often found in pharmacies, grocery stores, and five-and-dime shops. They are perhaps most famous for inventing the "Wooly Willy" magnetic drawing toy.
Key Game Features Mechanism: It’s a gravity-fed "flipper" or "pitch-and-catch" game. You use the metal lever at the bottom right to launch the small red bead (the football) into the various plastic pockets.
The Pockets: Each pocket represents a different football play:
Pass: +30 Yards
Reverse: +20 Yards
Rush: +10 Yards
Screen Pass: +10 Yards
Sacked: -20 Yards
Fumble: This causes a turnover, as noted in the rules.
The Yardage Tracker: On the right side, there is a green felt-like strip with a sliding brown football marker. This allows players to track their progress down the field toward a touchdown.
The Rules (Summarized from the back) The game is surprisingly faithful to actual football logic:
Possession: You start on your own 20-yard line.
Downs: You have 4 shots (downs) to advance at least 10 yards.
First Downs: If you gain 10 yards or more, you get a fresh set of 4 downs.
Punting: On the 4th down, if you don't think you'll make it, you can "punt" by manually moving the ball 40 yards downfield and handing possession to your opponent.
Scoring: Crossing the opponent's goal line scores a touchdown.
Collector's Context Model No: 192-3.
Art Style: The illustrations feature generic players (Red #85 vs. Blue #30), which was common to avoid paying expensive NFL licensing fees while still capturing the vibe of the era.