Football History Rewind Part 45

In this edition of the Football History Rewind Part 45, we discuss the elimination of the punt-out, scoring after a touchdown as well as the legendary Cornell team of 1921.

The roaring twenties are often remembered as a time of great things in America (at least the early years of the decade are anyway). Football shared in this same period of growth and joy that the rest of the aspects of American life did. It is a great example of the old adage “art imitates life” as the game became a solidified staple of American recreation.

The NCAA had to keep up with the times and roll with the waves of change in order to keep their beloved game of the gridiron fresh and current to the times. The crowds were getting bigger every season and the rules makers knew that besides the element of player safety that they must also focus on fan entertainment when revising rules.

They did just that before the 1921 season by abolishing one of the strangest concepts of the game by modern views, the “punt out.”

The punt what?

Yes it is written correctly above, the punt out. This name is foreign to us due to the fact that it was eliminated in both use and name in 1921. We will try and fully explain its use and methodology and what it did but remember it has been extinct for over 100 years and might be as difficult to conceive as dinosaurs, because we simply have never experienced seeing it.

According to author Tom Perrin in his book Football a College History, the punt out was a concept by which after the score of a touchdown the team that scored could opt upon a punt by one of their own players from behind his opponent's goal line. Other players from the scoring team would be out in the field of play at the five yard line and tried to prevent their opponents from interfering with a clean fair catch as a player of the scoring team had to make a fair catch of the punt out. The scored upon team would line up for the punt on the goal line. 

The other option for the scoring team would be that of attempting the try for point via place-kick from the point where the ball carrier crossed the goal line at any distance back the kicker chose. This was the much more preferred option but the punt out was for those sideline runs where the angle for a kick was less than desirable. The side line run score could force a kick to be made from the twenty or thirty-yard line near the side line which gave the defense a much smaller angle to the goal to defend. A score on the left sideline made a kick for a right footed kicker darn near impossible thus the punt out was the only viable option in some cases.

The new rule in 1921

The 1921 NCAA Foot Ball Rule X stated that A kick after touchdown was that:

After a touchdown has been scored , any player of the side scoring the touchdown may bring the ball out from the opponents’ goal line to any point in front of the opponents’ goal. After indicating to the Referee the spot of his selection, which shall not be revokable, a try for goal may be tried from that spot.”

This kick must be a place kick and had to be held by a holder while touching the ground (no tees or risers) while the kicker put foot to ball. This differed to the field goals or goals from field which could be scored via drop kick or place kick.

The punt out option shows up no where in the 1921 NCAA Football Rules but Perrin still credits the change occurring in 1922. Needless to say no matter what the year of revision it was still a considerable revision to the rules of football.

Mr. Perrin does point out though that in 1922 the teams were give the option of running or passing for points after the touchdown from scrimmage as well as kicking the ball over the cross bars. A success at any of the options of try after all scored the same one point in those days. There was no predetermined measure of the point where the try could be attempted though so a team could conceivably want to attempt their try via a run from inside the one yard line should they so choose.

The rules were getting quite a bit closer to what they are today but there were still many debates, deliberations and revisions that needed to occur to have the hybrid rules on the try for point after a touchdown.    It is very fascinating how far the rules have come and how different the appearance of the game was less than a century ago. Please join us soon for the next installment of this series where we will explore other changes to our beloved game.

A couple of episodes ago we spoke of how history has recognized six teams in college football that are considered tied for the National Championship of 1921. One of thosewas the Cornell Big Red football team guided by Head Coach Gil Dobie.

Coach Dobie had some great success about a decade earlier at the University of Washington in Seattle where his teams there posted a flawless record of 58-0-3. Washinngton went on a 40 game win streak at one point durung that run. He then left during World War I to coach the US Naval Academy where his teams sports a respectable 18-3 record. After the war is when he arrived at Cornell guiding the Big Red to three consecutive National Titles from 1921 through 1923.

The 1921 squad outscored their opponents 392  to 21 with a stellar 8 wins and no losses or ties. The closest game they encountered that year was a 14-0 blanking of  Springfield College's Red and Whites. In other less competitive games they blew out Western Reserve 110-0 and the Penn Quakers 41-0 at Phildelphia's Franklin Field.

Some of the players from that team included;

• Fullback Eddie Kaw who was a consensus first-team selection on the 1921 All-American football team.
• Tackle Wilson S. Dodge was the team captain. 
• Quarterback George Pfann received All-Eastern honors.
• Halfback Floyd Ramsey received All-Eastern honors.
• Halfback G.P. Lechler received All-Eastern honors.
• End Charles E. Cassidy received All-Eastern honors.
• Guard Leonard C. Hanson received All-Eastern honors.
• End David Munns received All-Eastern honors.
• Guard Leonard C. Hansonreceived All-Eastern honors.

If you remember back in our birthday celebration of George Pfann in the October 6 Football History Headlines we noted that Pfann maybe the only quarterback in college football history that can claim that they were never beaten and never tied in their varsity career. He was honored in 1957 when the National Football Foundation selected his career for inclusion into the College Football Hall of Fame.

The picture in the banner above is from the Wikimedia Commons public domain collection of ta 1921 Cornell game program cover.