Football Archaeology

Share this post

Today's Tidbit... Things You Don't See Anymore

www.footballarchaeology.com
Tidbits

Today's Tidbit... Things You Don't See Anymore

Timothy P. Brown
Aug 20, 2022
Share this post

Today's Tidbit... Things You Don't See Anymore

www.footballarchaeology.com

In the 1930s, stadiums began positioning timekeepers along the sidelines to synch the scoreboard clock with the officials’ timepiece. After a few years, the sideline timekeepers became the official timekeepers for games, and expressions such as “running out the clock” and “ran out the clock” entered football parlance in the early 1940s.

1936 Iowa State yearbook

In addition to handling the clock, timekeepers fired a starter’s pistol at quarter’s end to ensure the referee knew when the clock hit 0:00, allowing the referee to rule on whether a play started before the clock ran out.

Neither the timekeeper’s desk nor the pistol is seen much in stadiums anymore.


Subscribe for free and never miss a story. You can also support this site with a paid subscription to receive additional content or check out my books here.

Share this post

Today's Tidbit... Things You Don't See Anymore

www.footballarchaeology.com
Previous
Next
Comments
TopNewCommunity

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Timothy P. Brown
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing