Today's Tidbit... Football's Biggest Cover Up

The following are words I never thought I'd write: this story concerns the early days of tarpaulins covering football fields. Like many stories you read here, I came across it while reviewing an article about another topic (coaching clinics in the 1920s) when I spotted a neighboring article with an interesting headline, in this case:

(Green Bay Press-Gazette, April 26, 1926)

I initially assumed the article concerned the sideline gear worn on rainy or cold days, but a quick scan revealed the raincoat in question was for the field, not players. So, while I had not intended to write an article about tarpaulins, this was a story I had to cover.

An earlier story about the wretched field conditions of the past discussed teams and stadium personnel spreading sawdust on fields to absorb moisture and hay to protect against frost.

Sawdust on the field for the Princeton-Yale game (1914 Princeton yearbook)

Hay in the corner at Yale Field (1909 Brown yearbook)