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Today's Tidbit... 100 Years of Football: 1906-1910
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Today's Tidbit... 100 Years of Football: 1906-1910

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Football Archaeology
Oct 07, 2023
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Football Archaeology
Today's Tidbit... 100 Years of Football: 1906-1910
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This is the fifth in a series looking back at “100 Years OF Football,” syndicated cartoons published by Jerry Brondfield and Charles Beck in 1969. Today's version covers the period from 1905 to 1910.


As noted last week, the 1900s were the most important decade in football’s history. The brutality of the game and resulting deaths led to a demand for change, resulting in critical new rules, most notably, the forward pass, ultimately leading to a dramatically different, wider-open game.

(Brondfield & Beck, '100 Years Of Football,' News-Item (Shamokin, PA), October 13, 1969. )

The forward pass was a dramatic change, but the rules and most football authorities’ imaginations severely restricted its use. Eddie Cochems at St. Louis U pioneered its effective use with the overhand spiral pass. The spiral pass spread quickly, but passing still saw limited use for nearly ten years.

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