Pigskin Dispatch podcaster Darin Hayes and I discuss a recent TidBit about bootleg footballs, which were slimmer, more aerodynamic balls than regulation that appeared on football fields in 1928. The NCAA banned the balls but revised its regulations a few years later, which remain in place today. We also cover how balls deflated and had to be replaced at the time.

Click here to listen, or subscribe to Pigskin Dispatch wherever you get your podcasts.

Football Archaeology

Today's Tidbit... Bootleg Footballs and Changing Specifications

We are all familiar with "bootlegs" in football, which entered the game with Pop Warner's 1927 Stanford team when they ran what appeared to be a Statue of Liberty play to the left. Instead, the double-wing fullback faked the give, concealed the ball on his hip, and ran around the right end for a touchdown…

Read more

2 months ago · 2 likes · Timothy P. Brown

Subscribe for free and never miss a story. Support this site with a paid subscription, buy me a coffee (or two), or buy one of my books.

Buy Me A Coffee

My Books on Amazon