Today's Tidbit... Early Forward Passing Techniques

One of the difficulties in researching football's past is the challenge of putting yourself into the minds of people from earlier times. People in 1906 had no idea, for example, that mobile phones would become everyday items. Conversely, a higher percentage of people back then knew how to care for and handle a team of horses.

I've harped on this idea about coaches figuring out how to throw a forward pass when it became legal in 1906. Although the overhand spiral proved the most effective approach, few understood that initially, as shown in a few images below.

George Brooks was a famous syndicated sportswriter who often predicted how each year's rule changes would impact the game. Brooks' predictions often did not materialize, but he was willing to put pen to paper and lay out his thinking, which now provides a window into how one man thought the forward pass would work out.

Brooks was one of many who foresaw the forward pass as involving short-range pitches, not downfield passes, and the result was his prediction that forward passes would occur using a technique similar to a basketball set shot.

(Brooke, George H., ‘How To Play Football, Fourth of the Series,’ Philadelphia Inquirer, October 7, 1906. Cut No 9)