Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-20
RULES COMMITTEE AT HELM
Experts Think Foot Ball Rules Are
Being Wisely Revised.
CURT1sS AND KERRAN AGREE
Both Say Right Course Has Been
Adopted and that It should he
Followed Out 10 the
Finish.

! NEW YORK, Feb. 19.-Both Julian w
Curtiss, the well known Yale coach, and
Robert p. Kerran. who in his undergrad
uate days at Harvard was selected as ar
All-Amerlca fullback. said yesterday that
in their opinions. the intercollegiate Foot
Ball rules committee could not better pro-
ceed to a determination of what changes
should be inade in the code than In pur-
suing the course IL had adopted at rs re-
cent session.
Mr.. Curtiss and Mr.. Kerran felt certain
that the public could safely entrust a
proper revision Of the rules and the future
| OF the sport to the fourteen members of
/ the committee, and that It need have no
fear that the virilty OF the game would
be impaired or the safety and pleasure OF
its participants jeopardized. Each put his
finger on the present forward pass as the
crux of the situation, Mr.. Herman char
acterizlng this play as the "vermiform ap-
pendixNof foot bail, a totally useless and
highly dangerous play"
The rules committee is pursuing a very
wise course" said Mr.. Curtiss, "in proceed
ing slowly toward the desired end and
weighing every single point with the great
est attention, both to detail and general
results. You will recall that l said two
months ago that the manner in which the
committee would approach its subject
would prove its sincerity OF purpose and
ability to reform the game / think it's
actions at the recent session demonstrated
my point conclusively."
at the same time that 1 said what
did about the committee 1 made the re-
mark. you will remember, that the existing
forward pass was the direct cause Of al
most every injury of 1909. / believe that
now more than ever, after having exam
ined carefully the statistics OF those in
juries. ! realize, of course, that seizlng
upon the present forward pass as the crux
of the situation and asking its abolshment
may be contrary to the judgment and opn-
ions of men who know far more about the
game than 1 do.
still believe that doing away entirely
with the forward pass that may cross the
line OF scrimmage-regardless OF whether
or not a forward pass is permitted behind
the line to player who is back of it when
the ball Is snapped-will do more to stop
injury and benefit the game than any
change that can possibly be made. Be
cause it is impossible to provide adequate
protection to the forwards with the present
because It is a merely strategical play,
without the reason OF accuracy and GER
tainty for its existence; because it does
not improve the game at all, but, on the
contrary. introduces the element of chance
where before there was science-the for
ward pass as at present permitted, should
be unreservedly condemned and totally
banned"
ri
Mr. Kerran was equally opposed to the
forward pass and ne said that the game
was more brutal with that play in 1t than
1t had ever been before, with the brutaliz-
ing element to be laid, in his opinion, at
the door of the existing forward pass and
outside kick.
The foot ball rules committee" he said,
lis a board of surgeons. It's patient-foot
ball-has acute appendicitis, and the for
ward pass is the diseased veriform appen-
dix, totally useless and highly dangerous.
But because the game needs a surgical
operation, there is no need to cut off its
head. The patient can easily be cured by
a slow, ceCtaiu operation, which goes to the
root of III malady and eradicates it.
II believe that IL the fourteen surgeons
who are now working on the patient will
| but return somewhat to the game we had
| in 1898 and 1899, with those notifications
| needed, because the defense Is so much
better played today than It used to be, the
sufferer will be cured. The present tandem
should go at the same time that the plays
which make the tandem most efficacious-
the forward pass and the onside kick, that
is-are abolished II the secondary defense
were not pulled away from the forwards
the tandems at the tackles would not be
nearly as successful and as frequently used
as they are. But even with the forward
pass and onside kick removed, the tandem
| should not be allowed.
''An ideal and eminently proper solution,
think, would be to provide that three at
least Of the backs on the attack shall stand
on a line parallel to the line of scrimmage
and not less than four yards back OF 1t.
No attacking player should be allowed to
touch the runner with the ball in any way,
either before or after the scrmmage line is
reached, although this might possibly be
modified safely to permit of one man
touching him after the runner reaches the
line OF forwards.
"If the forward pass is permitted behind
the attacking line of scrlmmage, / am
afraid that it will give birth to lot OF
mass plays that will be harder to stop
than even the present type. unless it Is
provided that the backs shall stand as ]
have indicated. Nor should a forward be
allowed to interchange with back field
player except for the purpose of kicking
The present neutral zone might we'll be
abolished, too. and the new neutral zone
between the catcher of a kick and the
tacklers, that is now being advocated
adopted.
"An in all, think the progress toward
proper and adequate foot ball reform is
now we'll on it's way, and the public need
have no fears, think, but that the game
as 1t is finally evolved by the committee
will be all it should be. At any rate 1t
ought to be given a years actual trial by
the big teams before the public attempts to
come to a final conclusion"