Today’s Tidbit… IFA Rule #14 Scrimmage Ball Handling

This is #14 in a series covering football’s original 61 rules adopted by the Intercollegiate Football Association in 1876. We review one rule each Friday.

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As covered in the discussion of Rule 12, ball movement in rugby of the 1870s primarily came from driving the scrum toward the opponent’s goals and kicking the ball downfield from within the scrum. Heeling the ball back to be picked up by a teammate behind the scrum was not illegal but was frowned upon. While the latter was an unwritten rule, rule 14 explicitly banned picking up the ball in the scrum.

Rule 14: In a scrimmage it is not lawful for the man who has the ball to pick it up with the hand under any circumstance whatsoever.

When football switched to the rule of possession and controlled scrimmage in 1880, the snapperbacks or centers continued snapping the ball by heeling it back. Moreover, defensive players could still slap, push, or otherwise physically engage the offensive forwards (aka linemen), including the center. To protect the center and ensure his ability to snap the ball, the teammates positioned to his right and left tried to protect him from the opponents, so they became known as the guards.

(‘Football,’ St. Louis Globe-Democrat, October 17, 1886.)