Today's Tidbit... Losing Yards For First Downs

A critical period in football history came between 1880 and 1882 when Yale and Walter Camp's ideas redefined football by introducing the concept of possession. Camp and others considered the rugby scrum "unscientific" because both teams could gain possession of the ball. Instead, he preferred a game where teams retained possession of the ball as they attempted to progress down the field. His thinking won out, and the 1880 rules allowed teams to retain possession of the ball.

That rule worked well as teams continued playing the rugby-like game, punting when in trouble and giving up possession of the ball. The problem was that the rule did not require teams to give up possession of the ball, and Princeton took advantage of that loophole by refusing to give up the ball in their 1880 and 1881 "block" games versus Yale.

An 1882 rule addressed the situation by introducing downs. Teams now had to advance the ball five yards in three downs or give up possession. The rule changed to ten yards in three downs in 1906 and ten yards in four downs in 1912.