Trick Plays: The Tower Play and Pyramid Defense

Amos Alonzo Stagg argued in 1927 that two themes dominated football's first sixty years. One was the game's gradual shift to valuing touchdowns more than field goals and extra points. (The point values set in 1883 awarded two points per touchdown, four for the kick after touchdown, and five per field goal.) The second theme was that players and coaches consistently innovated, pushing the game in slightly different directions. In some cases, they found loopholes or cheated in ways that gained acceptance and became part of the game. For example, rugby's offside rule prohibited teammates from running in advance of the ball carrier, so some teams had teammates run alongside the ball carrier to interfere with defenders. This warding or interfering tactic gained acceptance before transforming into offside teammates running ahead of the ball carrier. Now referred to as blocking, it became a core element of the game.

Other innovations or trick plays did not gain acceptance because they were ineffective, dangerous, dishonorable, or for any number of different reasons. In many cases, the rule-makers closed those loopholes or otherwise prohibited certain activities. Such closures are a significant reason college football's rule book grew from several pages in 1876 to 236 pages in 2021.

One behavior not prohibited by the rules was a player or players lifting a teammate. The rules banned lifting opponents, which was consistent with blockers being unable to extend their arms while blocking, but lifting a teammate was allowed as long as the teammate was not carrying the ball and the lift did not move the ball towards the goal line. Of course, the primary reason lifting teammates was not banned was that no one had identified a competitive reason why you would want to raise a teammate.

For three decades, the Spalding’s Official Foot Ball Guides and rule books included images or illustrations of various legal and illegal activities. This illustration of a blocker lifting an opponent was included starting in 1908. (1908 Spalding's Official Foot Ball Guide)