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

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.

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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.