Football's Rules of 1876 Versus Today
The previous 61 weeks saw a once-per-week article reviewing football's original 61 rules adopted by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. This article finishes the series by summarizing key elements of the original rules and how they differ in today’s game.
Last week, we covered the last of 61 Intercollegiate Football Association's rules adopted in 1876. Unlike the rugby associations in Canada and New Zealand, who adopted England's Rugby Union rules without change, the IFA tweaked a few rules and added two to the mix. The changes were sufficiently minor that a spectator watching an American game would have difficulty identifying how the American game differed from the others. Still, the Americans continued tweaking the rules and customs yearly until the compounding effect resulted in a dramatically different game known outside the U.S. as American football or gridiron football.
The few games played in 1876 under the IFA rules bear little resemblance to today's gridiron game, though the nature of play is also unlike the Rugby Union game played in England and New Zealand today. Both rugby and gridiron football have evolved since 1876, but the changes have been more dramatic for gridiron football. To summarize the differences in the games reviewed in detail over the last 14 months, below are nine rules or concepts that exemplify the differences between then and now.
Timing and Nature of Play
The IFA rules did not specify the game's length, though the tradition in all football-style games was to play for 90 minutes, split by a several-minute rest halfway through. While the clock ran, the play was nearly continuous. One play ended, and another started. Only a kicked goal that flew over the goalposts stopped playing. The ball remained live following missed kicks and when the ball went in touch (aka out of bounds).
Fifteen Players Per Side
Each team had fifteen players participating in an essentially continuous scrimmage (or scrummage) not separated by downs. Rugby tradition was to keep the ball in the scrum or maul, so the game resembled a 90-minute pushing and shoving match like today's Tush Push. Fifteen players per side kept the ball in the maul more easily, though that changed when the IFA adopted the eleven players per side rule several years later.
See # Players
Tackling
Tackling was legal only above the waist and below the neck and was a process rather than an outcome. Tackling or knocking someone to the ground did not end a play. Play ended only when the tackled player was on the ground and held there by an opponent, at which point, the tackled player yelled, "Down."
See #10 Tackle #18 Crying "Down"
Scoring
The IFA referred to the rugby try as a touchdown, but the two were essentially the same. The team kicking the most goals won the game. Goals could be drop-kicked during play or place-kicked under certain circumstances. Touchdowns did not score points -points did not yet exist- but a team earning a touchdown could attempt a free kick from anywhere on the field.
One IFA rule change introduced the notion that four touchdowns were equal to a goal, which came in handy when games ended in ties based on the number of goals scored.
See #7 Scoring
Gutta Percha
Gutta percha is a natural plastic-like material made from the sap of a species of Indonesian and Malaysian trees. The IFA rules banned gutta percha and other hard materials from being worn by players. Instead, they wore lightweight clothing and stocking caps; if their shoes had cleats, they were laminated leather.
None of the protective equipment that plays a large part of football today existed at the game's origins.
See #58 Gutta Percha
Onside and Offside
The concepts of onside and offside were fundamental then and now, but offside in 1876 was akin to its use in soccer today. Teammates of the player possessing the ball who were in advance of that player could not participate in play. They could not block an opponent or receive a forward pass from their teammate. Likewise, when teams lined up for kicks or other set plays, all players had to be on their side of the ball.
Inbounding and Puntouts
Balls that went into touch remained live and had to be recovered by one team or another, and they had five ways to bring the ball back onto the field. He could bounce the ball in the field of play and run with it, punt it, throw it back to a teammate (akin to soccer), or execute a fair (essentially, rugby's lineout today). The fifth option was to walk the ball five to fifteen yards onto the field and set it down for a scrimmage, the approach from which today's hash marks descend.
Teams scoring touchdowns could attempt a kick at goal from a point perpendicular to where the ball crossed the goal line. Alternatively, they could try a puntout, which allowed a player to punt the ball from the end zone (beyond the spot the ball crossed the goal line on the touchdown) onto the field where it could be fair caught for a free kick.
See #32 Inbounding #34 Right Angle Throw Out
Kickouts
Football did not distinguish safeties from touchbacks initially. Teams could down the ball in their goal at any time, after which they drop kicked to the opponent from the end zone. Safeties and touchbacks were identified as separate only after football adopted the rule of possession in 1880 and required the creation of "downs" several years later.
#41 Kickout #42 Kickout Procedure
Officials
Rugby assumed the team captains could make appropriate rulings during play and settle any disputes. The IFA rules had the teams designate a neutral referee to handle conflicts and two umpires to help officiate and advocate for their team when disputes occurred.
Summary
It has become common to describe situations where change occurs slowly and all at once. Football has witnessed both conditions, but slow change has been far more common. Periods of fundamental change in the rules and play on the field occurred in the first decade following the IFA's formation, from 1903 to 1912, and in the decade following the adoption of two-platoon football in 1945. Otherwise, football's rules have meandered based on the time's values, conditions, and preferences.
I covered how and when changes to the game occurred in How Football Became Football, but the effect has been dramatic. It remains easy to see football's rugby origins in the goal posts, the shape of the ball, and its tackling and field position elements. Hopefully, this review of the original 61 rules and how some disappeared and many evolved has provided readers with a deeper appreciation for the game's roots and, perhaps, a sense of wonder about where football may go moving forward.
Click the appropriate link for previous stories in the series:
Intro | #1 Drop Kick | #2 Place Kick | #3 Punt | #4 Goal Posts | #5 Goal | #6 Goal ≠ Punt | #7 Scoring | #8 Dead Ball | #9 Touchdown | #10 Tackle | #11 Scrimmage | #12 Ball Handling | #13 Dead Ball | #14 Scrimmage Ball Handling | #15 Run In | #16 Goal Line | #17 Boundary Lines | #18 Crying “Down” | #19 Maul In | #20 Maul in Pax | #21 Touch-in Goal | #22 Onside | #23 Offside | #24 Return to Onside | #25 Defensive Offside | #26 Throwing Back | #27 Knocking On | #28 Fair Catch | #29 Punt-out | #30 Punt-On | #31 Into Touch | #32 Inbounding | #33 Pushed Into Touch | #34 Right Angle Throw Out | #35 No Fair Catch | #36 Kickoff | #37 Kickoff Timing | #38 Change Goals | #39 Toss Up | #40 Loser Kicks | #41 Kickout | #42 Kickout Procedure | #43 Fair Catch Free Kick | #44 Free Kick Location | #45 Own Goal Touch Down | #46 Try At Goal | #47 Try At Goal Spot | #48 Touched Down Between Posts | #49 Puntout Spot | #50 Heel-In Mark | #51 No Fair Catch OOB | #52 TD Interference | #53 Missed Kicks | #54 Charging | #55 Charge At Once | #56 Charging Locations | #57 Hacking | #58 Gutta Percha | #59 Officials | #60 The Field | #61 # Players
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