Timothy P. Brown's Blog, page 11

Today's Tidbit... The Football Blues

Brown or sepia-toned football images take us back to the late 1890s and early 1900s. The images are often team photos that appear warm and inviting, in part because they lack the sharp contrasts of black-and-white photographs. Among my favorite sepias is the image of Penn and Columbia at the Polo Grounds in 1903. Taken during the only season when football used the partial checkerboard field, one team attempts a free kick as the subway passes on the overhead track in the background.

1903 Columbia-...

Pigskin Dispatch Podcast... Marietta's Touchdown Pass of Undetermined Length

Pigskin Dispatch’s Darin Hayes and I cover the story of Marietta College’s long touchdown pass in the last game of the 1906 season versus Ohio. Sometimes claimed to be the first four pass, it likely wasn't in the first 1,000, but it makes for a good story, which we tell in this episode.

Watch or listen to the podcast here and/or read the original Tidbit. Well they had one in one season.

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Today's Tidbit... The Point of No Return

At several points in football's history, the rulemakers have tried to encourage risk-taking by the offense. For example, from the mid-1910s through the 1920s, various coaches sought ways to incorporate more rugby-style lateraling into their offenses.

In the mid-1910s, Canadian rugby combined elements of American football and English rugby. Since it did not yet allow blocking or the forward pass, rugby style laterals were a primary means of advancing the ball on the ground.

The illustration accompa...

Wild Card Substitutions and the Small College Rebellion

College football adopted free substitution in 1941 due to concerns about roster sizes as the U.S. geared up for World War II. Despite the rule change, two-platoon football did not arrive until 1945, when Michigan implemented the practice against Army. Platooning gained popularity in the late 1940s, but college football's rule-makers rejected the two-platoon system in 1953 when they reimposed restrictions on player substitution.

Porsche's longtime slogan, “There is no substitute,” applied to old-t...

Stadium Size, Football Droppers, and Deemphasizers: Wichita State

Wichita State has an interesting football history, with two of its better-known moments occurring in 1905 when the school was known as Fairmount University. One involved an early night game, which some claim to be the first night game west of the Mississippi, although it wasn't, as two Drake-Grinnell Games preceded it. Still, it was the only game I know of in which the lighting came via Coleman lanterns rather than electrical lights.

Fairmount is also known for playing on Christmas Day 1905 in a...

Pigskin Dispatch Podcast... Michigan-Ohio State And Their Savage Connection

Depending on who you believe, C. W. Savage had a role in Oberlin victories over Michigan and Ohio State, despite those wins coming decades apart. John Heisman had a role in the story as well, so if you want to hear about Michigan or Ohio State or both losing football games, here's your opportunity.

Watch or listen to the podcast here and/or read the original Tidbit. Well they had one in one season.

If you enjoy Football Archaeology, consider subscribing or buying one of my books.

Subscribe now

Writ...

Factoid Feast XV

As discussed in Factoid Feasts I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, and XIV, my searches through football history sometimes lead to topics too important to ignore but too minor to Tidbit. Such nuggets are factoids, three of which are shared today.

The Fredericksburg Donkey

It was not uncommon for football teams of the past to include their mascots in team pictures. Small children, dogs, goats, and other domesticated animals often appear. While having a donkey as the mascot was n...

The Big Ten's Comings and Goings

Four new teams joined the Big Ten last year, resulting in the conference having 18 members. One hopes the four newcomers will stick around for a bit, but none of us know how the earth may shift under the newbies' feet or those of the Big Ten members who have been around for a while.

Anything can happen when it comes to conference membership, and history tells us many of those things have already happened or could have happened, including teams seeking membership or leaving the Big Ten. So, here's...

Today's Tidbit... A Heisman Winner Makes The Call

Jay Berwanger was many things. A star football player at the University of Chicago in the mid-1930s, he became the first Heisman Trophy winner in 1935. Berwanger also was the first NFL draft pick, although he never played professional football, as he believed he could earn more money pursuing other endeavors. Still, he loved the game and remained involved by officiating, becoming a Big 10 official in 1940. He continued officiating football until 1955, other than when he was in the Army during Wo...

Pigskin Dispatch Podcast... Carlisle vs. Harvard Law

Pigskin Dispatch podcaster Darin Hayes and I discuss a 1910 game between students at Harvard Law School and Carlisle, coached by Pop Warner. Added to the schedule partway through the season, it was a game that simply could not be played in today's football environment.

Watch or listen to the podcast here and/or read the original Tidbit. Well they had one in one season

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