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Football History

Football Archaeology Details Football History

The 1922 Rose Bowl
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Football Archaeology Details Football History

The popular football history website founded by Timothy Brown. Tim's FootballArchaeology.com has a daily football factoid that he shares that are really quite interesting in a short read. They preserve football history in a very unique way and we are quite happy that Tim has agreed to join us each week to go over some of his Today's Tidbits. There are also other longer posts and even some links to Mr. Brown's books on football history. Click that link and you can subscribe for free to receive them yourself each evening.

We are so pleased and honored that this scholar of early football spends a little bit of time with us via podcast and video to help celebrate the game we all love, and enlighten us about football's forgotten aspects. These lessons from this esteemed Football Archaeologist provide a framework of respect for our gridiron ancestors in a few ways on enlightenment.

Remembering the past illuminates the incredible athletic advancements players have made. Early football, though brutal, lacked the refined skillsets and physical conditioning seen today. Quarterbacks like Johnny Unitas revolutionized passing accuracy, while running backs like Jim Brown redefined power and agility. By appreciating these historical feats, we can marvel at the lightning-fast speed and pinpoint throws commonplace in today's game.

Secondly, the past offers valuable lessons in the constant evolution of strategy. From the single-wing formations of the early 20th century to the spread offenses of today, the game has continuously adapted. Studying these shifts allows us to see the brilliance of modern offensive and defensive coordinators who devise complex schemes to exploit weaknesses and control the game's tempo.

Finally, remembering the past allows us to celebrate the enduring spirit of the sport. The fierce rivalries, the iconic stadiums, and the passionate fan bases have all been a part of the game for over a century. By appreciating these enduring elements, we connect with the generations who came before us and understand the deeper cultural significance of American football.


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A Report On The Official's Gun

I enjoy coming up with punny Tidbit and article titles, and one of my all-time favorites was When Football Officials Tooted On The Field, which covered the evolution of whistles, horns, bells, guns, and other noisemakers used on the field by football officials. Officials began blowing whistles in 1887, and they initially did so to signal the end of a play and that a foul occurred (in the days before penalty flags). However, players became confused since the blown whistle signaled both that play — www.footballarchaeology.com

Timothy P. Brown brings the scoop on the history of the football official's starters pistol, how it entered the game, and its purpose.

College Football’s Only Triangular Game

Andy Kerr was a football outsider whose innovations led to strong teams at several schools, though he is best known for his success at Colgate. Kerr did not play college football but was Pitt’s track coach when Pop Warner arrived, with Kerr assisting Warner. Warner signed a contract to coach Stanford in 1922, but Pitt would not release him from his existing contract, so he sent Kerr to Palo Alto to be the head coach for two years until Warner’s contract ran out. — www.footballarchaeology.com

Timothy P. Brown bings us a tidbit of information of Coach Andy Kerr playing in what may be the first triangular game while acting as the headman at Colgate.

Facing A One-Year Suspension

Some consider today’s penalty for targeting - disqualification for the current and next half - to be excessive, but that penalty is mild compared to one recommended in 1906. The 1906 rules committee emphasized removing foul play from the game as part of the effort to make football safer. That emphasis was reflected by the rule of the time called for tossing players from the game for unnecessary roughness, including: — www.footballarchaeology.com

TImothy P. Brown brings to light in this Tidbit that season long suspensions were handed out penalties for violations that did not always meet the standards of our modern opinion. Some of these were season long suspensions.

Harvard and The Flying Wedge and Horse's Neck

Lorin Deland, a Bostonian and student of military tactics, borrowed from military tacticians of the late 1800s by creating football plays using miniature figures set up on a tabletop football field. One output of his tabletop generalship was the Flying Wedge, which remains among the game’s most famous designed plays. Harvard sprung the Flying Wedge on Yale when they kicked off to start the second half of their game in 1892. — www.footballarchaeology.com

Timothy P. Brown has an excellent write-up on the tactics of Harvard coach Lorin Deland's Flying Wedge and Horse's Neck scheme of designed plays against rival Yale.

Gamesmanship, the Big Ten, and the Rose Bowl

Fans today recall the Big Ten, Pac-8/10/12, and Rose Bowl partnership as seventy-plus years of marital bliss, interrupted near the end by outsiders sticking their noses into a place they did not belong. But the relationship was strained at times when one or another of the partners said, \"It’s not you. It’s me that’s the problem.\" — www.footballarchaeology.com

Historian Timothy P Brown looks at Rose Bowl history and the annual game's association with the Pacific Coast Conference, Athletic Association of Western Universities, Pacific Athletic Conference, and the Big 10. The informative article includes some stunning photos of early 1960 Rose Bowl ticket stubs and Mr. Brown's insight.

Yard Lines and Lime Burns

I was not there to witness it, but I’ve heard the Egyptians began building their pyramids 5,000 years ago. Somehow, they found the means to cut massive stone blocks, move them from the quarry to the building site, and lift them into alignment where they remain today. Yet, despite humans possessing those skills for ages, Americans in the 1920s sometimes struggled to chalk football fields with straight lines. — www.footballarchaeology.com

Timothy Brown gives a great look back at some of the pitfalls of ingredients used to mark lines on the field and their relation to player comfort.

Knute Rockne and Hire’s Remorse

Over the last fifty years, many top football coaches have jumped jobs, and the same was true in the old days. Heisman, Warner, and others changed positions regularly. Even Stagg had to jump jobs after Chicago forced him to retire following 41 years of service. Then and now, few played at one school and moved up the coaching ladder at their alma mater before becoming highly successful head coaches there. — www.footballarchaeology.com

Timothy P. Brown tells us how in 1925 Knute Rockne almost left Notre Dame to coach at Columbia University.

The Patented Bunny Oakes

Back in July, I wrote about defensive line drills of the 1930s pictured in Bunny Oakes’ 1932 book, Football Line Play. The story, found here, covered the Blow and Step drill and left open a question about the nature or use of the middle piece of equipment in the image below. Additional research now provides the answer to that question, but let’s first look at Bernard F. \"Bunny\" Oakes’ career. — www.footballarchaeology.com

Timothy P. Brown writes about a piece of training equipment that the legendary Coach Bunny Oakes created.

Having Your Prayers Answered, and Other Regrets

I lived in Missouri in 1990 when Colorado benefited from a fifth down play to win at Missouri. Unfortunately, the Buffaloes inappropriately benefited from the call to win the game. Despite a Week 1 tie with Tennessee, a Week 3 loss to Illinois, and a fifth-down win, some buffoons awarded the Buffaloes a shared national championship. — www.footballarchaeology.com

Timothy P. Brown talks about two very famous collegiate fifth-down plays, Colorado Buffaloes vs. Missouri Tigers in 1990, and the Cornell Big Red vs. Dartmouth Indians in 1940.

Herbert Vollmer, The Human Motor Boat, Plays Football

The days are long gone when a swimmer could set three world records in an afternoon and later that year letter as a college football lineman, but that is what Herbert Vollmer did at Columbia in 1916. Called the Human Motor Boat when speed boats were still new, Vollmer was among the top swimmers of the pre-WWI era. — www.footballarchaeology.com

Timothy P. Brown uncovers the amazing history that legendary swimmer Herbert Vollmer, "the Human Motor Boat," played a little ball while at Columbia
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Orville Mulligan: Sports Writer
We invite you to take a ride through 1920's sports history in the audio drama that takes the listener through the sounds and legendary events of the era through the eyes of a young newspaper journalist. You will feel like you were there! Brought to you by Number 80 Productions and Pigskin Dispatch _________________________

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If you like remembering players of the NFL by their numbers then you may also enjoy going uniform number by number in other team sports as well. We have it for you on our other website in baseball, basketball, hockey and more on the Sports Jersey Dispatch. _________________________

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Bears versus Cardinals: The NFL's Oldest Rivalry
Author Joe Ziemba the master historian of football in Chicago has released another beauty. It is titled Bears versus Cardinals: The NFL's Oldest Rivalry. _________________________