Today's Tidbit... Factoid Feast III

Happy New Year!

As discussed in Factoid Feast I and Factoid Feast II, my searches through football history sometimes take me to topics too important to ignore but too minor to Tidbit. Such nuggets are factoids, three of which are shared with you today.

Bill Morice, Player-Coach-Official

Three elements of football have disappeared since the turn of the last century:

1. Officials back then were not certified; most were former players.

2. Former players often returned to their alma maters as volunteers to help the captain train the team during the preseason and as needed during the season.

3. Coaches were prohibited from instructing their players during the game since the captains ran the team during games.

All three elements came together in 1904 when Bill Morice, a former Penn halfback who was a volunteer coach at Penn, was chosen to umpire Penn's game with Franklin & Marshall.

Morice in his playing days. (Philadelphia Inquirer, November 8, 1896.)