Today's Tidbit... 1876 IFA Rule #52: TD Interference

This is #52 in a series covering football's original 61 rules adopted by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. We review one rule each Friday.

---

Rule 47 outlined the process used to execute the try at goal following a touchdown. As a reminder, it told us the spot where the ball was touched down in goal determined where it could be walked out from the goal line. The intent of Rule 52 was to ensure it would be a straightforward process to walk the ball out from the appropriate spot.

Rule 52: When the ball has been touched down in the opponents’ goal, none of the side in whose goal it has so been touched down shall touch it or in any way displace it or interfere with the player of the other side who may be taking it up or not.

So, following a touchdown, no one on the defensive team could touch the ball or interfere with a player on the scoring side, and, by implication, this ensured that the ball could be taken out accurately for the try at goal.

The spot of the touchdown or, later, the spot at which the ball crossed the goal line no longer affects the location of the conversion attempt, so Rule 52 is unnecessary. However, if a defensive player interferes with the handling of the ball following a touchdown today, he would likely be penalized for delay of game, a penalty that entered football in 1939. Before that, the referee could penalize teams for various stalling offenses, but the delay of game penalty arrived only after the referee became responsible for spotting the ball rather than the center or another player on the team possessing the ball.

---

Click the appropriate link for previous stories in the series:

Intro | #1 Drop Kick | #2 Place Kick | #3 Punt | #4 Goal Posts | #5 Goal | #6 Goal ≠ Punt | #7 Scoring | #8 Dead Ball | #9 Touchdown | #10 Tackle | #11 Scrimmage | #12 Ball Handling | #13 Dead Ball | #14 Scrimmage Ball Handling | #15 Run In | #16 Goal Line | #17 Boundary Lines | #18 Crying “Down” | #19 Maul In | #20 Maul in Pax | #21 Touch-in Goal | #22 Onside | #23 Offside | #24 Return to Onside | #25 Defensive Offside | #26 Throwing Back | #27 Knocking On | #28 Fair Catch | #29 Punt-out | #30 Punt-On | #31 Into Touch | #32 Inbounding | #33 Pushed Into Touch | #34 Right Angle Throw Out | #35 No Fair Catch | #36 Kickoff | #37 Kickoff Timing | #38 Change Goals | #39 Toss Up | #40 Loser Kicks | #41 Kickout | #42 Kickout Procedure | #43 Fair Catch Free Kick | #44 Free Kick Location | #45 Own Goal Touch Down | #46 Try At Goal | #47 Try At Goal Spot | #48 Touched Down Between Posts | #49 Puntout Spot | #50 Heel-In Mark | #51 No Fair Catch OOB

---

Subscribe for free and never miss a story. Support this site with a paid subscription, or click one of the links below.