First all-Indian football team (1894) First non-college team to play against and beat the Ivy Leagues First to travel cross-country for a game (U. of California, 1899) First to launch the passing game and the game-changing “single wing” (1907) First to send scouts to spy on […]
More
Both! On Oct. 26, 1907, the “single wing” offense was unleashed on U. Penn by Pop Warner and the Carlisle Indians. With the center able to snap the ball to three backs (TB, FB, QB), the options of run, handoff, or pass were endless. The birth […]
More
Five years from now, Jim Thorpe will win gold in the pentathlon and decathlon at the 1912 Olympics. The King of Sweden will tell Jim, “You sir, are the greatest athlete in the world.” Jim will reply, “Thanks, King.” But on Oct. 19, 1907, the “greatest” […]
More
No one masterminds trick plays like Pop Warner and the Carlisle Indians. If “There’s no rule against it.” (to quote Pop), they do it. In today’s game against Syracuse, Pop sprang the “many balls trick.” Each of his backs had a football-sized patch sewn on the […]
More
Football introduces the first head protection: the “nose guard.” Who needs a football helmet when a player can grow his hair long for plenty of head padding? (Hey, Kaepernick, you weren’t the first!) If a player in 1907 is more afraid of a broken nose than […]
More
