Today's Tidbit… IFA Rule #23 Offside

This is #23 in a series covering football's original 61 rules adopted by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. We review one rule each Friday.

We reviewed Rule 22 last week, which established the rule covering onside and its complement, offside. Unfortunately, I jumped the gun and described how offside players were not supposed to participate in the play. That is what Rule 23 tells us, cited here:

Rule 23: Every player when off side is out of the game and shall not touch the ball in an...