The Evolution Of Officials Signaling Touchdowns
Unfamiliar actions pop up from time to time when watching vintage football game films. One of those instances arose the other day when David Kinder II of WKYC in Cleveland spotted officials using unusual signals in a YouTube showing several Ohio State touchdowns in 1957. The video appears later in this story, but I had come across similar examples in the past, researched their meaning, and came up empty. This time I figured it out.
An example of this signal occurs at the end of an 8-second video posted on Twitter by Old Football Film. Watch the 1950s Texas fullback score on a 4-yard run and notice the signal given by the Head Linesman wearing the white hat who emerges in the lower left of the video. The Head Linesman appears to signal a first down as the fullback crosses the goal line.
A second example comes from a 10-second video posted by Old Football Film in which a 1950s SMU team completes a pass followed by a lateral and score. As in the first video, a Southwest Conference official wearing the Southwest Football Officials Association's unique uniform makes a similar arm-extending motion as the ball carrier crosses the goal line.
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