Today's Tidbit... Before There Was Pass Interference

It isn't easy to get things right on the first go-around, as shown when the forward pass became legal in 1906. The rules heavily restricted the forward pass, and the game lacked proven throwing, catching, and route-running techniques we now consider obvious. Also missing were rules concerning pass interference.

Pass interference went unmentioned in the 1906 rule book for three reasons. First, many anticipated the forward pass to look like what we consider the forward lateral, so perhaps they thought it was unnecessary. Second, with so many new rules passed that year, they likely lacked the time to address pass interference.

Third, those who anticipated a downfield passing game viewed it as similar to the punting game in which the players running downfield to cover the punt engaged in pushing and shoving battles with return team members.

Without limits on who could shove who on forward passes and no restrictions on ineligible receivers being downfield, teams designed plays in which offensive linemen ran downfield to screen, sometimes surrounding, an eligible receiver to whom a teammate tossed the ball. Still, the forward pass saw limited use in 1906 and 1907, but enough that the rule makers recognized the need to rein in pass interference, but not too much.

The 1907 game between the U.S.S. Nebraska and U.S.S. Colorado featured a long pass to Nebraska’s Soule, whose back is turned to us. Per the caption, a teammate to his left blocks a defender while the ball is in flight. ('Battleship Nebraska's Football Team Beats Colorado's Men,' San Francisco Call, October 26, 1907.)

As shown by the selection below from the 1908 rule book, "…players of the defensive side may not use their hands or arms on an opponent except to push him out of the way to get at the ball themselves." Likewise, eligible receivers on offense could use their hands or arms, as they did when covering kicks.