the tabata method would definately help your anaerobic conditioning that you need for football....i think you would be fine using tabata as your main form of conditioning as long as you are strength training as well.....however you need to do at least 4 exercises, 8 intervals of each to get enough benefit out of it for football.....
i would also recommend using whatever football drills you might need ( updowns, sprints, several plyometric movements for both your upper and lower body [ clapping pushups, depth jumps, tuck jumps, several differnt kinds of medicine ball throws] ) as part of your regular tabata workouts and you should be on top of your game during the season