Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1912-01-09
INSIDE GAME COUNTS
Football Player Seldom Gets
 Credit for Play.
Chances Tor Real Scientific Work Nearly as Great on Grldlron as on Diamond, but Spectators Do
 Not See 1t.

There Is aa inside" football just as well as inside" baseball. The great difference is that there is so much more inside football that not only does the average spectator miss 1t. but the players and coaches them selves see little of 1t. At present IL seems that the possibilities of lin. side" football are unlimited
 Every player on 8 team has chances l to pull of inside work, but the posi- ton which most needs the ability to grasp situation and grapple with fl i in new way is that of quarter back. Around the little men who call the signals for the big elevens open a l thousand possibilities for inside play. and many are the quarter backs who do not take advantage of their oppor- tunities That Is why the "heady" quarter backs. that is those who can run team on the field as well as the coach on the side line could direct 1t, may be counted on the fingers of one hand
 The quarter back must keep in mind the number of downs. the dis tance to be gained. the position on the 1eld. the length of time that remains to be played. the individual and col lectiye strength of his own men and the individual and collective strength and weakness Of his opponents, the 1 peculiarities of the officials, and the number and kind of plays at his dis i posal. All of these things must be considered in a single instant and de- cision given sometimes in fraction of second, frequently while rising from the ground or struggling to be | d1sengaged from the mass. and ire { quently when suffering from painful injuries. And yet they say it re- qnires no brains to play football A football player seldom gets cred It for inside" work for the reason that the grandstand does not recog. nize 1t.
 Just few instances: Under the
 new rules it Is sometimes more ad- Vlsable for a member of team on
 the defense 10 drop a forward js
 which he has caught than to hold it.
 This is on the occasion of a forward
 pass on third down. defensive 1 halfback has a chance to catch the
 ball, but sees that he would be down 1 ed without carrying the ball back to the line where it started In this case. the right play is to touch the
 ball and let 1t drop to the ground so
 that the ball will then be brought
 back to the place where it started and given to his side To the grand
 stand this play properly executed
 would be hissed by the minimizing
 Again, quarter back In the safety
 position is standing almost on his
 own goal line, The ball Is kicked to 1 him. He can't make an easy catch. 1 but the heady man in this case will
 usually allow the ball to fly or bounce
 side is then allowed to take the ball 1 out to the twenty y-ive-yard line and 1 put it in play. If he elects to catch l 1t he will probably be downed before
 reaching that line Yet quarterbacks i have been called dubs and poor
 catches by the grandstand for this play. The same procedure should be
 used where high 1ick-off is kicked 1 so as to pass or bounce over the goal 1 line immediately. especially where | the ends coming down under the kick 1 are fast
 The heady backflelder of these days
 runs outside and continues parallel 1 to the goal line for few paces. in
 order to tempt some unwary man on 1 the other team to tackle him and se- cure a penalty against the tackler A thousand poss: :bilities are open 1 to the student of the game for inside
 work Running with the ball. catch. ing. passing. kicking--each has a doz- en little tricks which spell defeat or
 victory if taken advantage of or neg. l lected at the psychological moment