Today's Tidbit… 1876 IFA Rule #33: Pushed Into Touch

This is #33 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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(Frederick Remington, Yale vs. Princeton, Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, 1890)

Rule 31 told us the ball remained live when it went out of bounds and became dead only when touched down by a player on either side. Rule 32 describes the procedures for bringing the ball back into play from out of bounds, while Rule 33 takes us back to the issue of the ball going out of bounds but covers those instances when two or more players had hold of the ball when it went into touch.

Rule 33: If two or more players holding the ball are pushed into touch, the ball shall belong in touch to the players who first had hold of it in the field of play and has not released his hold of it.