Today's Tidbit… IFA Rule #26 Throwing Back

This is #26 in a series covering football's original 61 rules adopted by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. We review one rule each Friday.

Following the scrimmage, the ball is passed back to the half-back as an opponent chases after him. (Johnson, Alexander. “The American Game of Foot-Ball,” The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine, Vol. XXXIV, No. 6, October 1887)

The last several rules covered onside and offside, with the core issue being that offside players, those closer to the...