Today's Tidbit... Adding A Twelfth Man On Offense

The twelfth man on football teams has a long history and multiple variations. Canadian football has had a twelfth man since the Ontario Rugby Football Union adopted the Burnside Rules in 1902. A supportive home crowd is sometimes called a twelfth man, particularly at Texas A&M. In addition, there have been at least two proposals to add a twelfth man to the offense in American football.

The first came in the 1930s, which I covered two years ago in this article. That proposal came when coaching from the sideline was illegal, and players called the plays on the field, not coaches. So Andy Kerr, Colgate's coach, suggested adding a twelfth player on offense whose only role was to call plays and then step out of the way. The thinking was that it removed the playcalling responsibility from a tired quarterback's shoulders while leaving it in the hands of a fellow student.