Timothy P. Brown's Blog, page 87
February 20, 2023
Today's Tidbit... 1888 and 1889 Wesleyan Football and A Future President
Although Wesleyan football now plays at the Division III level and is best known for former players and NFL coaches Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini, it once played at the highest level of the sport as an early member of the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA). More accurately, Wesleyan played with teams at the highest level of the sport since they had only a handful of wins over fellow IFA members (Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Penn).
Wesleyan’s 1888 team went 2-7 with wins over Amherst an...
February 19, 2023
Today's Tidbit... Michigan Football, Gerald Ford, and Idealism
Sometimes people and institutions stand on principle. Other times they don’t.
In 1934, with the country in the depths of the Great Depression, Gerald Ford was a senior football player at Michigan. While they were undefeated in 1932 and 1933, the Wolverines failed to score in losses to Michigan State and Chicago to open the 1934 season, with Georgia Tech coming next.
1934 Michigan vs. Georgia Tech football program (Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan)A game that should have attracted...
February 18, 2023
Today's Tidbit... The 1909 Everett (MA) High School Football Team
Acquiring materials, researching, and writing these stories take money and effort. While I would prefer to keep the site free to all, I need more paid subscribers to keep things going. The annual subscription to Football Archaeology costs less than 14¢ per day, plus I’ll send you a copy of my new book. If you are a regular reader, …
Everett High School in Massachusetts had an interesting team in 1909. The school was a football power, winning state championships in 1896, 1897, and 189...
February 17, 2023
Today’s Tidbit… 1876 IFA Rule #18: Crying “Down”
This is #18 in a series covering football’s original 61 rules adopted by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. We review one rule each Friday.
Regular readers will recall the earlier discussion of Rule 10, which states: “A tackle is made when the holder of the ball is held by one or more players of the opposite side.” The discussion of that rule centered around tackling as a process rather than an outcome and discussed how the portions of the runner’s body or equipment legally grasped...
February 16, 2023
Today's Tidbit... Joe Kershella, The Point-A-Minute Man
Acquiring materials, researching, and writing these stories take money and effort. While I would prefer to keep the site free to all, I need more paid subscribers to keep things going. The annual subscription to Football Archaeology costs less than 14¢ per day, plus I’ll send you a copy of my new book. If you are a regular reader, please…
The NFL record for the most points scored in a game by one player is 36, and the NCAA's major college record is 48. Both records are shared by thre...
February 15, 2023
Leroy N. Mill and Kicking The American Football
The annual subscription to Football Archaeology costs less than 14¢ per day, plus I’ll send you a copy of my new book. Acquiring materials, researching, and writing these stories take money and effort. While I would prefer to keep the site free to all, I need more paid subscribers. If you are a regular reader, …
What was it like to be the best canal builder in the 1820s or the best buggy whip maker in 1880? It had to feel good to excel at your craft, not knowing that thirty or forty ...
February 14, 2023
Pigskin Dispatch Podcast: Battling For The President's Cup
Pigskin Dispatch podcaster Darin Hayes and I discuss a recent TidBit about the President’s Cup, donated by Calvin Coolidge and awarded to the nation’s top active-duty football team. Those academy boys were not eligible until they graduated.
Click here to listen, or subscribe to Pigskin Dispatch wherever you get your podcasts.
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Today's Tidbit... Tie Games And The 1932 NFL Championship
The annual subscription to Football Archaeology costs less than 14¢ per day, plus I’ll send you a copy of my new book. Acquiring materials, researching, and writing these stories take money and effort. While I would prefer to keep the site free to all, I need more paid subscribers. If you are a regular reader, …
Following Sunday's post, which included an image from 1954 showing a list of every NFL champion to date, a subscriber who hails from Down Under sent me a note:
I would be inte...
February 13, 2023
Today's Tidbit... Making A Spectacle Of Himself
Football Archaeology requires significant money and effort to acquire materials, research, and write. I prefer keeping it free to all but need more paid subscribers. The annual plan is less than 14¢ per day.
Ed Fischer grew up in Buffalo and then headed to New York City, where he played football at Columbia. A tackle, he captained Columbia's freshman football team during the 1921 season, setting himself up for a position on the varsity in 1922.
As the freshman team captain, Fischer si...
February 12, 2023
Today's Tidbit... The NFL Has Come A Long Way, Baby
Football Archaeology requires significant effort to research, write, and publish. I want to keep it free to all but need more paid subscriptions from regular readers. In the meantime, most new content will require a paid subscription.
With the Super Bowl LVII and all its spectacle upon us, it's time to look back at the days before the Super Bowl, when football fan loyalties shifted from the college game to the pros. To do so, we'll review sections of promotional schedules used as giv...
