From the start of the game, to the turn of the century, very few changes were
made to the game of football. As the game increased in popularity, new offensive
formations were designed. These resulted in a more violent game. A number of
players were injured or killed. This led to a public outcry against the game. A
series of rule changes occurred beginning in 1893 and ending in 1912 that would
forever change the game of football, and make it into the game we know today.
The rule changes of 1893:
The rule changes of 1897:
1. The points awarded for a touchdown was changed from 4 to 5 points.
Beginning in 1905 and ending in 1912, the game of football would be
transformed from a rugby like game to the game we all watch today.
The rule changes of 1905:
The main reason for the changes
was to remove the excessive violence from the game. In 1905, 18 players were
killed Nationally, and in 1908, 33 players were killed, not the mention that
there were some 300 disabling injuries during this time span. The rules changes
following the 1905 and 1908 seasons, and the 1912 seasons resulted in a much
safer game.
Following the 1905 season, a number of schools banned
football; most notable were: Stanford, Northwestern, and Columbia. The Harvard
board of regents had also voted to ban the game. Had the rule changes of 1905
not been adopted, no football would have been played starting in 1906.
The teams that banned football during this time:
Arizona 1906-1907
Arizona State 1907-1913
Baylor 1906
Boston College
1903-1907
Boston University 1898-1904 and 1906-1916
California
1906-1914
Cincinnati 1907
Columbia 1906-1914
Detroit 1905 and
1908
Duke 1895-1919
Furman 1903-1912
Kansas 1899 (Cancelled remaining
season)
Northwestern 1906-1907
San Jose State 1903-1920
South Carolina
1906
Stanford 1906-1918
Tulsa 1903-1911
Wake Forest
1896-1907
In the 1905 Penn. vs. Swarthmore game, Bob Maxwell played the entire game. At
the end of the game, while he was walking off the field a photographer took a
picture of a badly beaten and bloodied man. This picture made National
headlines. President Theodore Roosevelt stated that if changes were not
immediately made to remove the amount of excessive violence from the game, he
would ban the game by Executive Order.
Following the death of a player
in the 1905 game between New York City University and Union College, a series of
meetings were set up between 19 different Colleges and Universities. The first
meeting occurred on December 9, 1905, the second on the 28th, and the final on
January 12, 1906. What resulted from these meetings was the formation of the
Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (This
organization would change it's name in 1910 to the National Collegiate
Athletic Association) and the beginning of a series of rules that would
forever change and save the game.
There main focus was to end the
mass-formation type plays, and much of the on-field fighting.
The rules
they adopted were:
Rules regarding roughness:
1. Tackling out of bounds.
2. Hurdling and piling on after the referee had
called the play dead.
3. Tackling below the knee was a 5 yard penalty.
4.
Defensive players could no longer strike the ball carrer in the face.
5.
Locking legs was prohibited except by the two players on either side of the
center.
6. A play ended when the referee called the play dead instead of the
ball carrier saying "down". Play was stopped when any part of the player, other
than hands and feet touched the ground, and the player was in the grasps of
another player.
7. Foul play carried a penalty of half the distance to the
goal and ejection of the player.
Other rule changes:.
1. Offense had to have 6 players on the line of scrimmage. This rule
change ended all the mass-formation type plays. The game of football would no
longer appear rugby like.
2. Only one player could be in motion before
the snap.
3. No offensive Guard or Tackle could move back to backfield,
unless they were replaced on the line by another player.
4. The game was
shortened to two thirty minute halves.
5. Raised the first down yardage from
5 to 10 yards. A team had 3 downs to make a first down.
5. The scrimmage line
was widened by the length of the ball (neutral zone).
6. Legalization of the
forward pass with many restrictions.
- If the ball touched the ground, the ball became the other teams ball at the
point where the pass was thrown. A incomplete pass was a turnover.
- A pass
completed in the endzone was a touchback for the defending team.
- If the
pass wasn't thrown within 5 yards to either side of the middle of the field, or
hit an ineligible receiver, the ball went to the defending team. (Hash marks
were added to the field five yards either side of the center of the
field).
Following the rules changes, teams devised new offensive and defensive
strategies. Pushing and pulling the ball carrier and the flying tackle evolved.
Still the number of deaths resulting from the game continued to climb reaching
33 deaths in 1908.
The rule changes of 1908:
The number
of deaths from the game dropped following the rule changes of 1908
1. Seven men were required on the offensive line of scrimmage.
The following were barred:
1. Pushing and pulling the ball carrier.
2. Interlocked interference. A
carry over from rugby
3. Crawling.
4. The flying tackle with both feet
off the ground.
It would be another 4 years before the next set of major rule changes
occurred.
The forward pass
1906 to 1912
The first team to use the forward pass was in 1906, the first year it
was a legal play. It was thrown by Wesleyen in the game against Yale. Wesleyen
still lost the game 21-0.
St. Louis University's head coach Eddie Cochem
extensively used the forward pass from 1906 to 1907. In 1907, St. Louis won all
11 games and led the Nation in scoring by using the forward pass. Cochem used
the forward pass as long as QB Bradbury Robinson & Jack Schneider were
there.
The rule changes of 1909:
1. The points awarded for a field goal was reduced from 4 points 3 points.
The rule changes of 1910:
1. The game was divided into four separate quarters instead of two halves.
2. Players leaving the game could return at the start of the next period.
Old rule was if they left the game they could no return.
3. Forward passes
were limited to 20 yards.
4. Onside kicks had to go at least 20 yards.
5.
Introduction of the direct pass.
The last rule change allowed the player receiving the ball to cross the line of scrimmage within 5 yards of where the ball was snapped and receive the ball directly from the snapper in the backfield. The old rule specified that the player initially receiving the ball could not cross the line of scrimmage within 5 yards of where they received the snap and that the snapper had to directly give the ball to the player.
The rule changes of 1912.
The rule changes of 1912 forever
changed the passing game.
1. Teams had four downs to make a first down.
2. The length of the field
was reduced from 110 yards to 100 yards.
3. Value of a touchdown changed from
five to six points.
Passing game:
1. All distance restrictions were removed. The hashmarks remained.
2. A
completed pass into the endzone was a touchdown and no longer a turnover.
3.
An incomplete pass was a loss of down and no longer a turnover.