Today's Tidbit... Football's Inbound Stripes

Football fields have always had regulation stripes, but some location-specific markings also found their way onto the field. Some, such as Lockney Lines, were added at one locale, proved of value, and were soon adopted across the sport. Others, like end zone decorations, are widespread but unique to each location.

The innovators among football's groundskeeping crews periodically added a dash or two to spice up their fields and assist the players, officials, and fans. One such addition was the inbound stripe that preceded what we now call the hash mark. Whereas hash marks designate where the ball should be spotted when the previous play ended outside the hash mark, inbound lines preceded hash marks and showed the minimum distance the ball could be brought from the sideline when the ball went out of bounds on the previous play.

Inbound stripe at West Point’s Michie Stadium in 1925. The locations of the chains suggest the previous play resulted in a first down, while the location of the play suggests it ended out of bounds. (National Archives, 404-WS-6-00962-007.j

Before hash marks,