Timothy P. Brown's Blog, page 61

Pigskin Dispatch... A Whole Lotta Puntin' Goin' On

Pigskin Dispatch podcaster Darin Hayes and I discuss a recent Tidbit about two games played the same day in 1939 during a Louisiana rainstorm. One game featured 77 punts, while the other had only 65. Click here to listen to the story, or subscribe to Pigskin Dispatch wherever you get your podcasts.

Here’s the original Tidbit:

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Today's Tidbit... When Coaches Promoted Targeting

Football trends come and go. Someone comes up with a new technique or drill, and everyone copies it until someone else comes up with a better solution. Down the road, a third person picks up a routine from the past, tweaks it a bit, and another wave of copiers copy the copier.

Generally, there is nothing nefarious about the copying process. It's just a bunch of people seeking a competitive edge, with targeting being one of those trends. Of course, I'm not referring to helmet-to-helmet hits but to...

Today's Tidbit... Mergers And The Continental Football League

Since the APFA formed in 1920 and changed its name to the NFL two years later, many alternative leagues competed with or chose an orbit a level below the NFL. Generally, leagues founded by individuals with deep pockets tried competing with the NFL in bigger cities, while those with humbler beginnings were content operating as minor league teams, often in "lesser" towns.

The history of both types of leagues shows a consistent pattern of failure due to a mix of two reasons. One occurs when a dimwit...

Today's Tidbit... 100 Years of Football: The 1890s

This is the third in a series looking back at “100 Years OF Football,” syndicated cartoons published by Jerry Brondfield and Charles Beck in 1969. Today's version covers the 1890s.

The 1890s were a decade filled with innovation as the game continued down a separate path from rugby. However, many of those changes made the game more brutal, leading to concerns about its viability.

Brief notes follow each cartoon, primarily so their contents are discoverable from an indexing and search perspective. A...

Today's Tidbit... 1876 IFA Rule #49: Puntout Spot

This is #49 in a series covering football's original 61 rules adopted by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. We review one rule each Friday.

Rule 49 is another instance in which rugby and football rule makers seemed to list the rules randomly at times. Rule 29 described the puntout by indicating that it occurred from behind the goal line, with the ball being kicked to a player on the playing field. It did not tell us where along or behind the goal line the puntout should occur or wh...

Today's Tidbit... The House Of The Setting Sun

An avid reader of Football Archaeology who is researching early pro football sent the following question this morning:

I have been running into almost every [team name] game in 1903 having the first half being longer than the second half. For example, the 1st half will be 25 minutes long and the second half is 20 minutes.

Since they were playing by college rules in 1903, do you have a good explanation as to why?

I've previously covered this topic in bits and pieces, so I'll use this Tidbit to provi...

Today's Tidbit... The Captains of 1898

Stories and images from an 1898 issue of Munsey's Magazine provide insight into football of the period. College football was at the height of celebrating itself as a game played by amateurs, gentlemen in every way, as it was dominated by elite schools in the East that formulated the game. Yes, folks played professionally here and there, but those games involved working men or former college players who should have known better.

Munsey's was a monthly with a circulation of 700,000 in the late 1890...

Today's Tidbit... Football And Vacuum Tubes

This article appeared on Uni Watch a few days ago. Read it here if you did not get a chance to check it out previously.

Over the last year or two, I've acquired a variety of composite football schedules from the 1920s and beyond. The brochures typically provide summary information and list the season schedules for all the NFL, NCAA, or a particular conference's teams for that season. Retailers selling gasoline, auto parts, alcohol, or other products stereotypically purchased by the man of the ho...

Pigskin Dispatch... The Amazing Charlie Trippi

Pigskin Dispatch podcaster Darin Hayes and I discussed a recent Tidbit about Charlie Trippi and the 1947 Sugar Bowl. Following a college season with rosters filled with returning veterans, Trippi starred as a quintuple threat and finished his college career on a high note before doing the same in the NFL.

Click here to listen to the story, or subscribe to Pigskin Dispatch wherever you get your podcasts.

Here’s the original Tidbit:

Subscribe for free and never miss a story. Support this site with a ...

Today's Tidbit... 1935 GoldSmith Sports Equipment Footballs

This is the second article in a series covering the 1935-36 Fall & Winter GoldSmith Athletic Equipment catalog. Preceding each section is a one-page cartoon about the history of that equipment, in today's case, the football. After today, you will see separate Tidbits covering shoes, pants, jerseys, helmets, and shoulder pads.

The football cartoon focuses on two topics: the early history of footballs and a recent change to their specifications. Early footballs were inflated pig bladders that were ...