Today's Tidbit... 1876 IFA Rule #45: Own Goal Touch Down
This is #45 in a series covering football's original 61 rules adopted by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. We review one rule each Friday.
The discussion of Rules 41 and 42, which defined kickouts and the procedures for executing them, already covered almost everything you need to know about the history kickouts, safeties, and touchbacks. However, since the 1876 rules were often listed in an illogical order, it is not until Rule 45 that we learn the following:
Rule 45: A player may touch the ball down in his own goal at any time.
Having already covered the issues surrounding players touching the ball down in their own goal, we'll turn instead to a rule that lasted for 21 years in which touchbacks resulted when teams did not touch the ball down in their own goal.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Football Archaeology to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.