Today's Tidbit... Bob Zuppke's Old Screen Pass

You know a football play is old when Bob Zuppke described it as old back in 1923, and that is the case with the screen pass. Zuppke knew the screen pass was old because he invented the play when forward passing dawned in 1906. Zuppke, then coaching the Hackley Manual Training School in Muskegon, Michigan, built a prep power that took on and beat teams statewide.

(Digital Commonwealth, Massachusetts Digital Collections)

We consider the screen pass a standard play today, but it originated under a different set of rules and required modification as the rules evolved. Regular readers may recall an April article, Before There Was Pass Interference, describing how football did not penalize offensive or defensive pass interference in 1906 and 1907 because the rule-makers did not foresee the need. That story told how some early passing plays involved sending some or all the ineligible linemen a few yards downfield, where they surrounded an eligible teammate, protecting him as he caught the ball.