Timothy P. Brown's Blog, page 4

Adolph Hamblin And The 1935 West Virginia State Yellowjackets

There is little written about HBCU football before the 1960s, and I have not contributed much either. Their stories do not appear in the mainstream publications I frequent, so I don’t stumble across their stories as I do those related to Yale, Texas, or Stanford. I have written extensively about the West Point Cavalry Detachment football teams of the late 1920s and early 1930s, teams comprised of Buffalo soldiers, or Black enlisted men stationed at West Point. I told their tale in a story and ad...

Today’s Tidbit... A Puncher’s Chance To Recover Fumbles

Football instituted a rule in 1929 that prevented defenses from advancing fumbles, a rule that remained in effect at the college level until 1990. They justified the rule as encouraging offenses to attempt riskier laterals, since offenses would not suffer the terrible fate of seeing fumbles scooped up and taken in for scores. The story linked below discusses how the hook-and-lateral and triple hook-and-lateral plays gained popularity after implementing the rule.

However, there was an exception to...

Making History: The CFL's New Rules

Every rule in football or other sports is arbitrary. Their arbitrariness is illustrated by the separate rule books used by American high schools, colleges, the NFL, and other professional leagues. Despite their arbitrary nature, we become accustomed to them, embrace them, and come to believe they are the correct and proper rules.

The NFL followed the NCAA rule book until 1933, when they opted to go their own way. That year, the NFL reversed the NCAA’s 1927 decision to position the goal posts on t...

Pigskin Dispatch Podcast... The Great Divides in Offensive Formations

Pigskin Dispatch’s Darin Hayes and I discuss a 1955 publication, Everybody’s Football, and its focus on six offensive formations that are separated by snapping to the quarterback versus directs napping to a running back. Of course, we have since returned to direct snap offenses focused on passing the ball.

Watch or listen to the podcast here and/or read the original Tidbit.

Football Archaeology is reader-supported. Click here to donate a couple of bucks, buy one of my books, or otherwise support t...

New Release: When Football Came To Pass

I am pleased to announce that my newest book, When Football Came To Pass, is now available on Amazon.

Stewart A. Williams, whom I work with through Reedsy, designed the covers for my last four books. His designs are great, and it's a pleasure to work with him

Here's the official synopsis:

Many in football's establishment opposed legalizing the forward pass in 1906 and worked to remove it from the game for a decade. Despite severe restrictions and an oddball assortment of early throwing techniques, ...

The Huddled Masses #5: Football Lineups

Football history generally focuses on the stars, the winners, and the championship teams from prominent programs. However, most who played the game did so in obscurity, with some leaving a record of their football days in the form of Real Photo Postcards (RPPCs). Despite most RPPCs showing those who played before teams huddled regularly, we refer to them as The Huddled Masses.

Previous Huddled Masses: 1905 | #2 | #3 | #4

When most of us hear someone mention a football lineup, we think of a game’s ...

Today's Tidbit.. A Look at Early Incomplete Pass Penalties

A while back, I wrote a Tidbit about the 1920s and 1930s, a time when football penalized incomplete passes, specifically the second, third, and fourth incomplete pass in a series of downs. The story below did not cover penalties on incomplete passes that preceded the 1920s. Also, it did not cover a separate set of penalties covering incomplete passes thrown into the end zone. Since I received a request or two for more information on this topic, this Tidbit covers the early penalties for incomple...

Pigskin Dispatch Podcast... Extra Points and the Changing Game of Football

Pigskin Dispatch’s Darin Hayes and I discuss the lowly extra point and how differences in its historical point values tell a larger story about the history of the game.

Watch or listen to the podcast here and/or read the original Tidbit.

Football Archaeology is reader-supported. Click here to buy one of my books, donate, or otherwise support the site.

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1909 Chicago Eckersalls vs. St. Louis Cochems

Before there were Lions, Tigers, and Packers roaming Midwestern fields, there were all-star teams of former college players who got together for a few laughs and a good cause. Several such teams played late in 1908 and on New Year's Day 1909.

At the center of it all was Walter Eckersall, the 1906 All-American quarterback at Chicago and, by then, a Chicago Tribune reporter. Eckie decided to get the old gang back together, and rather than play in Joliet, they battled against similar teams in Minnea...

A Hole Big Enough To Drive A Mack Truck Through

I don't know if line coaches still refer to offensive lines opening holes big enough to drive a Mack truck through or to players who are built like Mack trucks, but they did in my day. Both phrases were compliments since Mack trucks were workhorses, best known for their vocational trucks used for cement mixers, dump and refuse trucks, or hauling heavy highway loads.

So it is fitting that the 1918 Draper-Maynard (aka D&M) sporting goods catalog has an iconic cover featuring a Mack truck. With the...