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.
