Today's Tidbit… IFA Rule #29 Punt-Out

This is #29 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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The puntout was among the last of the original rugby rules that remained in football before disappearing in 1920. Puntouts appear odd to modern eyes but deserved a place when football was still a kicking game rather than a rushing and forward passing game.

The puntout was defined by Rule 29. Hopefully, the rule makes as little sense to you as it did to me when I first encountered it.

Rule 29: A punt-out is a punt made after a touchdown by a player from behind his opponent's goal, and from touch in goal if necessary, toward his own side, who must stand outside the goal-line and endeavor to make a fair catch or to get the ball and run in or drop a goal. (See Rule 49 and 51.)

This one will take a while to explain, so sit back and try to enjoy it.