By Darin FootballArchaeology.com’s Timothy Brown delves into the history of the word and its previous names.
The History of the “Doink”: From 1870s Posters to Madden Magic
Every football fan knows the sound. It’s that heart-stopping, metallic clank off the upright that can turn a guaranteed victory into a season-ending tragedy. Today, we affectionately (or painfully) call it the “doink.” But as Timothy Brown of Football Archaeology recently shared on the Pigskin Dispatch podcast, the history of this sound is far older—and more formal—than you might think.
Before the Doink: The Era of the “Poster”
Long before John Madden brought his colorful vocabulary to the broadcast booth, hitting the goalpost wasn’t just a bad bounce—it was a rule-breaker.
In 1876, when the Intercollegiate Football Association first established its rules, they borrowed heavily from the Rugby Union. According to Rule Number Five, if a kicked ball hit the crossbar or the goalpost, the goal was disallowed entirely, even if it eventually bounced through. In the parlance of the 19th century, this event was known as a “poster.”
Timothy Brown’s research uncovered that the first recorded “posters” in American football history frequently involved Columbia University in the late 1870s. Back then, hitting the upright meant the play was essentially dead for scoring purposes, a far cry from today’s “friendly doinks” that occasionally rattle home for three points.
The Linguistic Evolution of “Doink”
If you look through old newspaper archives, the word “doink” didn’t start on the gridiron. In fact, early appearances were often:
- Typos: Simple misprints of words like “drink” or “doing.”
- Cartoons: Used in the 1930s to phonetically mimic Eastern European or German accents.
- Onomatopoeia: By the 1960s, it appeared in comic strips (and even the Batman TV show) to describe hollow objects colliding.
The Madden Touch
The word finally found its home in football thanks to the legendary John Madden. Initially, Madden used “doink” to describe a massive, bone-jarring hit between a linebacker and a running back.
However, everything changed during a 1986 playoff game. New York Giants kicker John Schubert was struggling, and when one of his field goal attempts slammed into the upright, Madden punctuated the replay with a perfectly timed “Doink!” From that moment on, the word was inextricably linked to the goalposts. It has since evolved into the “Double Doink”—famously cemented in NFL lore by the Chicago Bears’ 2018 playoff heartbreak—but the DNA of the term belongs to Madden’s 1980s exuberance.
Why We Love (and Hate) the Doink
As Tim Brown noted during the conversation, the doink represents the element of chance that makes football so compelling. In a game of hyper-regimented playbooks and elite athleticism, a season can still come down to a fraction of an inch and a piece of painted yellow aluminum.
Whether you call it a “poster” or a “doink,” it remains the most agonizing sound in sports.
