Today's Tidbit... The Meaning Behind the Ready-to-Play Signal and Others
I like some Tidbits more than others. This Tidbit is favored because I stumbled across information about the ready-to-play signal while looking for something else, making this an unexpected gift.
So, what is interesting about the ready-to-play signal? The NCAA implemented it in 1951 after Southwestern officials used it a bit. The lowly signal was an aftereffect of one of the most critical changes in the game: the arrival of free substitution. But, like most football stories, its history starts a bit further back.
Early football was rugby, so it had more or less continuous play. As shown in an earlier article breaking down film of the 1903 Yale-Princeton game, nearly continuous play remained in football when the century turned since teams still used the Traditional T formation. The game did not slow down until teams started pre-snap shifting, huddling, and changing formations from play to play in the 1920s.
The offensive center "spotted" the ball, and players brought out-of-bounds balls back onto the field until hash marks arrived in 1932. Only then did the referee begin spotting the ball regularly. Often, it was to the offense's advantage to periodically run quickie plays, quickly aligning and snapping the ball to catch the defense unprepared.
Due to concerns about limited rosters due to students entering the service, the 1941 season was the first to allow free substitution. Still, few teams took advantage of the rule until Fritz Chrisler's Michigan team went two-platoon in 1945. That led others to substitute one or two players at a time when on offense. Coaches who cared more about winning than good sportsmanship took advantage of swapping personnel by using sleeper ends occasionally. Sleepers occurred when the clock stopped, and teams had three players run off the field, and only two ran on. They left a third player along the sideline, hoping they would be lost in the shuffle so they would not have a defender on them at the snap, allowing them to streak downfield for a pass and an easy score.
By 1951, the rule makers had had enough of quickie plays as they became a safety issue for defensive players unprepared for them, but they left the sleeper alone. The 1951 rule made the referee responsible for spotting the ball and required that he signal the ball as being ready for play by raising his right arm and quickly pulling it down, a motion intended to resemble a train conductor or similar pulling a chain to sound a whistle or horn.
Three years later, they eliminated sleeper plays by requiring all offensive players on the field to be within 15 yards of the ball when the referee gave the ready-to-play signal. The ready-to-play signal continues today.
Perhaps I am enamored with the ready-to-play signal because I now understand why it is among the officials' signals in which the pantomime resembles the element of the game. So, take a look at the 47 signals in use for the 2023 season. How many have an underlying meaning that I am missing?
The signals I consider related to the foul or game element they represent include:
(1) Ready for play
(2) Start the clock
(3) Stop the clock
(5) TD, field goal, or two-point conversion (between the uprights)
(8) First down
(11) Legal touching
(13) Disregard flag
(15) Sideline warning
(24) Targeting
(25) Horse collar
(26) Hands to the face
(30) Running into or roughing the kicker
(32) Illegal fair catch
(33) Pass interference
(34) Roughing the passer
(36) Intentional grounding
(39) Clipping
(40) Blocking below the waist
(41) Chop block (maybe)
(42) Holding
(44) Helping the runner
(45) Facemasking
(46) Tripping
Some, like the signal for disqualification, have come to be widely understood to mean you are out (baseball) or need to leave the game but are not inherently representative of a specific penalty or other game element.
What am I missing, or where am I wrong? Please comment below.
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Great recap of the history. The substitution rules were expanded from each player being within 15-yards of the ball to the modern field usage of being "inside the numbers" of nine yard-marks. These are the yardage numerals you see on most fields today 5, 10, 15, 20 etc... which are nine yards from each sideline. All players must be within the numbers between the ready for play and the snap. If not then they are substitutes (not players) and there is a foul for illegal substitution which combats the "sleeper" sideline huggers from trying something devious.
#5 "TD of field goal" should be "or field goal", and should include a two-point conversion.