A few days ago, I wrote about college football's adoption of the two-point conversion in 1958. In that article, I mentioned that college football increased the width of its goal posts in 1959 from 18 feet 6 inches to 24 feet 4 inches, which led to a reduced use of the two-point conversion. However, as often happens when researching a particular topic, the research on two-point conversions uncovered information about alternatives the rule makers considered other than widening the goal posts.
The original version of this post incorrectly stated that the high schools returned to the 18 feet 6 inches width. Had I checked the second article linked in this post, I would have confirmed the situation, but ...
I think the actual width in 1959 was 23 feet 4 inches. David Nelson's book mentioned that the longest 2x4 lumber was 24 feet long, so that's what was proposed. Then someone figured out that you have to fasten the crossbar to the uprights, which were often 4x4s, so you had to subtract 8 inches.
The original version of this post incorrectly stated that the high schools returned to the 18 feet 6 inches width. Had I checked the second article linked in this post, I would have confirmed the situation, but ...
I think the actual width in 1959 was 23 feet 4 inches. David Nelson's book mentioned that the longest 2x4 lumber was 24 feet long, so that's what was proposed. Then someone figured out that you have to fasten the crossbar to the uprights, which were often 4x4s, so you had to subtract 8 inches.
I don’t have my copy of Nelson with me. I told the 2x4 story before as well, but will confirm the width.
Terrific work! NFHS goal posts are still widened today, as opposed to college and pro.
Great research and images!