Today's Tidbit... America Gave Return Kicks The Boot

Among the least remembered tactics in American football history is the return kick, which was little used for fifty or more years before the NCAA eliminated it in 1967. Primarily used on punt returns when teams had an effective punter as its return man, a return kick was legal whenever a player took possession of the ball on a kickoff, punt, fumble recovery, or interception and immediately punted the ball back to the team that just lost control of the ball. The idea of kicking the ball back to the opponent seems bizarre today, but the return kick fit the field position game played before the 1940s when teams averaged less than fourteen points per game. Like punting on first or second down, a well-timed and executed return kick could pin an opponent deep in their own territory.

A 1938 article about return kicks by a writer from New York City found that NYU's coach Mal Stevens return kicked on occasion, including his team return kicking the opening kickoff against Ohio State that year. Steve Owens, the Giants coach, liked return kicking, but neither of his return men that year were good punters, so he did not use it. Lou Little at Columbia thought return kicks were a poor strategy, arguing that a team cannot score without the ball.

NYU's brain trust, including Mal Stevens in the lighter-colored hat, was smart enough to use the return kick against OSU. (1939 NYU yearbook)