Omaha daily bee., 1910-03-27
FOOT BALL RULES CHANGED
lcontlnuaa lrom TIrat 80

NIOuUnuou from EAAaN EaNeW
----------
Is felt that players win not tax their
strength as under the old system Of barring
player entirely. once he is Off the field
In connection with this ohange, Mr.. HAL
said, II will be necessary 20 prevent abuse
OF this rule. such as for example, the pos
sible withdrawal Of an entire team In
favor Of fresh men. the men Withdrawn
to have the privilege OF returning. In any
event no player viii be allowed 70 return
more than once.
The fifth change provides that no push
ing or pulling OF the runner with the ball
is TO be allowed. The same limitations as
are now imposed on the use OF hands on
an opponent apply to the use OF hands
on a team mate. This is the committees
chief plan Of breaking up mass plays. II
means that. whereas in the past, the team
mates Of the man with the ball might lock
arms with him, pull or drag him along or
provide interference by running before him
with locked arms, In the future such
tactics will be prohibited.
In analyzing the source OF injuries TO
players the committee found that the div
ing tactics and the repetition OF massed
attacks at one point we're the chief causes
Of harm. The danger from massed plays
lies In the combination OF It's speed, solid
ity and persistence. The impact OF three
or four men, locked together into one com
pact body, when hurled time after time
against the same opponent resulted In the
exhaustion OF the man so attacked and
frequently In his serious injury.
Ban on "HOIdinE."
The strict Limitation Of the use OF hands
viii mean that attacks hereafter must be
made by the players individually. While
the men forming the Interference may run
shoulder to shoulder, they will not be per-
mitted to hold each other. Thus the task
OF the defense IN breaking up interference
becomes much easier.
The sixth change presoribes that an on
side kick must advance the ball twenty
yards from the line OF scrimmage That is,
II the ball strikes the ground short OF
twenty yards, the offense becomes offside.
The rule is also aimed at mass plays one
reason for massed plays under the. old rules
lay in the fact that the tackles were uu-
protected. because the secondary offense
was drawn back to meet forward passes
and onslde kicks. 1t is felt that under a
twenty-yard requirement the secondary
offense can come up sufficiently to protect
the tackles within reasonable safety.
Having made these six changes to throw
6&lGBudTub ATOunQ khAlict inC CoHAhHAlct
took up a discussion Of TWO plans for direct
ing the style OF playing and strengthening
the offense sufficiently to balance the new
opportunities for defense
Forward Pass Limited.
The first plan contains two main fea-
lures CD limitations of the forward pass
to territory behind the line Of scrimmage
(2) Limitation Of the width of scrlmmage
lines. These two provisions Of plan No. |
cchere In a general design to make forward |
passes and quarterback runs better ground |
gamers by opening up the play and COM
pensating for the weakness OF the otfense
In other ways.
Two schemes for defining the width Of |
the scrimmage lines were proposed One |
was an arbitrary limit OF five yards on
each side of the bali; the other was the
limitation OF the line OF defense to the
width Of the lien Of the offense Every
thing that tends to thin out the line invites |
mass plays. BY narrowing the line the |
committee hopes both to strengthen II and |
thus to make end runs more profitable.
Under this system II the runner In circiling
the end were not boxed almost before he
got under way he could reach free terri
tory az either side OF the line OF scrimmage,
with good chance for gaining ground.
The main objection so far raised to this
first plan, OF limiting the forward pass
and the width of the line, is that It may
result in too much scoring. This will be
determined by experiment. 1t Is probable
that the distance to be gained will be raised
to fifteen yards in three downs, with a
possibility that less distance will be re-
quired as the goal line is reached, or that
four downs instead Of three will be allowed,
With The aa ma oafD yanuirad
Ten-Yard Gain.
The second general style, under condi-
ton, provides for ten yards distance to be
gained. The forward pass, under this plan,
would be allowed beyond the line Of scrim-
mage, with the present requirement of rum
ming to either, five yards from the center
and with the additional change that on.
forward passes the ball may be received
only by the man on the end Of lines or by
the backs. At present the tackles are
allowed to receive the ball In case OF an
uncompleted forward pass the ball is TO
be brought back to the point at which the
pass is made and the play is TO be counted
as one down. This loss Of down is the
only penalty attached. except that, in case
the man who passed the ball had first car
ried It toward his own goal, the distance
he ran backwards would be lost to his
team
Such decreases in the penalty attached
to use OF the forward pass would operate,
the committee feels. for greater use OF
the play. II is also desired to afford pro-
lection to the man receiving the ball on a
forward pass, but what manner Of pro-
lection was not been determined. The
problem is one of the most difficult raised
for solution.
At the beginning Of the second and fourth
quarters teams are to change goals, the
ball being put in play at the same relative
position in which It was at the beginning
Of the preceding quarter
Many other points Were discussed. such
as whether the kick OF a shall be re-
tained, and whether goals shall be kicked
after touchdowns have been made, were
not settled. Decision on such details de-
pends on the general style OF play ulti-
mately adopted.
LARGER TEAM FROM IOWA