Today's Tidbit... Football at the Kentucky School for the Blind

In the 1904-1912 era, the Kentucky School for the Blind (KSB) fielded varsity and junior varsity football teams, playing games with local sighted teams, including Louisville high school, independent, and athletic club teams.

The 1906 team lined up in the T formation. (Disability History Museum)

Period newspaper articles describe several accommodations made for KSB's games. The sighted team had to run all offensive plays between the tackles. KSB was allowed to run sweeps, though they mostly ran the ball between the tackles. The sighted team also had to yell "pass" when they snapped the ball. (All laterals, handoffs, and other exchanges were called passes at the time.) The opponents yelled "kick" when they punted the ball.