Today’s Tidbit… 1876 IFA Rule #12 Ball Handling

This is #12 in a series covering football’s original 61 rules adopted by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. We review one rule each Friday.

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One element of early gridiron football that seems odd to modern eyes is the stand-up stance used by forwards (aka linemen) before the 1890s. The stand-up stance was used in rugby at the time and should remind us that gridiron football evolved from rugby as played in the 1870s, not the modern game, so early elements of the gridiron game reflect those origins.

Like Rule 11, the IFA modified rugby's Rule 12 only by changing scrummage to scrimmage.

Rule 12: A player may take up the ball whenever it is rolling or bounding except in a scrimmage.