The NFL has taken a different view of when a runner is down since 1933. Here's that story.
Now I'm wondering what circumstances would cause a ball carrier to cry “down.” After the fifth defender has piled on, perhaps? “I'm down already, for crying out loud!”
That was the only way a player was down in rugby and early football, and why each scrimmage play is a down.
https://www.footballarchaeology.com/p/todays-tidbit-1876-ifa-rule-18-crying?
Now I'm wondering what circumstances would cause a ball carrier to cry “down.” After the fifth defender has piled on, perhaps? “I'm down already, for crying out loud!”
That was the only way a player was down in rugby and early football, and why each scrimmage play is a down.
https://www.footballarchaeology.com/p/todays-tidbit-1876-ifa-rule-18-crying?