Today's Tidbit... The Point of No Return

At several points in football's history, the rulemakers have tried to encourage risk-taking by the offense. For example, from the mid-1910s through the 1920s, various coaches sought ways to incorporate more rugby-style lateraling into their offenses.

In the mid-1910s, Canadian rugby combined elements of American football and English rugby. Since it did not yet allow blocking or the forward pass, rugby style laterals were a primary means of advancing the ball on the ground.

The illustration accompanying an article written by a Canadian rugby player that compared his game and American football. (Brady, John F. 'The Multiple Passes Makes Canadian Rugby Fastest And Prettiest Of All American Sports,' Wichita Beacon, January 4, 1915.)

Their methods caught the eye of Yale's Frank Hinkey in 1914, when, as the new coach there, he visited a Canadian rugby team or two and invited some of them to watch Yale's football practices and games, trying to pick up a few ideas.

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