Today’s Tidbit… 1876 IFA Rule #18: Crying “Down”

This is #18 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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Regular readers will recall the earlier discussion of Rule 10: “A tackle is made when the holder of the ball is held by one or more players of the opposite side.” The discussion of that rule centered around tackling as a process rather than an outcome and discussed how the portions of the runner’s body or equipment legally grasped while tackling changed over time.

Rule 18 defines how plays ended after being tackled:

Rule 18: In the event of any player holding or running with the ball being tackled, and the ball fairly held, he must at once cry down, and there put it down.