Today's Tidbit... 1876 IFA Rule #44: Free Kick Location

This is #44 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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The location from which football's free kick follows a fair catch has changed only once in the game's history. Still, it had a significant effect back when punting was considered part of a team's offensive strategy rather than a tactic of last resort.

Rule 44: After a fair catch has been made, the opposite side may come up to the catcher's mark, and except in cases under Rule 30, the catcher's side retiring, the ball shall be kicked from such mark or from a spot any distance behind it.

The reference to Rule 30 concerns the punt-on, a free punt made from the field of play in which the punter's teammate stood in a protective wall behind the catcher's mark. The punt-on disappeared from football within a few years, but the rule allowing the opponent to line up at the spot of the catch remained in place until 1896, after which the opponent had to stand back at least 10 yards from the spot of the catch. The new rule provided consistency with the game's other free kick, the kickoff.