History of the Pass

The first 30 or so years of football, the game did not have a legal element of throwing the ball forward like we are accustomed to today. When the forward pass's potential as an offensive weapon was fully realized many years later the game made a gigantic transformation from where it was at the onset. Historian and author Timothy Brown visits the Pigpen to discuss the history of this most marvelous element of the game, the history of the forward pass.

Timothy P. Brown originally hails from the upper midwest and his love of football came naturally based on the importance of the game in Wisconsin and Michigan. He played at the high school level and even some college ball and the game had a great impression upon him. He even did some coaching at the college level to hone his deep appreciation of the game. At some point the interest of the Rose Bowl games came about and he collected all memorbilia he could about the Grand Daddy of the All.  As he grew older he turned this passion and collection drew him towards the WWI miliatary participation onf the Bowl game and into his writing and has since penned some great books on the history of football including Fields of Friendly Strife and How Football Became Football: 150 Years of the Game's Evolution.

The game of football in its first 30 some years was basically as Tim describes a goal line play almost every down, where the offense would try and overpower  their opposition by pounding the ball relentlessly up the middle. It was a the pounding of man on man, with most results seeing little or no gain. Injuries and even deaths were become more and more prevelant after the turn of the century and cries from many were that the game was too brutal and savage.

To others though the game was a perfect balance of brute strength and will power of men working together as a team for a common goal. In 1906 the President of the United States, a fan of the game  asked the rules makers to refornm their game to make it a tad safer. And they did just that.

A series of suggestion poured in from folks all around the country on how to open up the game. According to Parke H. Davis a proposal by John C. Bell (the father of future NFL Commissioner Bert Bell) of Pennsylvania and Paul J. Dashiell of Navy set the stage for probably the most radical change football ever saw, the forward pass. Other items such as the on-side punt, changes to down and distance and others flooded in to accompany the forward pass as the front runners but the power house teams of the time such as Yale, Princeton, Harvard, Army, Penn and Navy were not big fans of giving advantages to others schools that they had since dominated. The punt and down and distance changes were not too threatening to them but the forward pass, well let's just say that obstacles to use it were incorporated so as to deter its use.

Eventually after a series of tweaks to the rules from 1906 to 1912 the foward pass evolved into what we would recognize today as a vital and extremely entertaining portion of football. Make sure to get more details of the forward pass evolution by listening to the podcast above or visiting Tim's website Fields of Strife or by reading his great book How Football Became Football.

Here is an interesting and entertaining video about forward pass history that is is not associated wth Tim Brown or Pigskin Dispatch but it brings out some of the points Tim makes in his book and discussion in dramatic fashion.

The photo in the banner above come from the US Library of Congress collection and was taken circa 1930 by Harris and Ewing Photography, the subject is a Georgetown football player and is titled simply Football.