The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-10-21
FEW IMPORTANT CHANGES MADE
THIS YEAR IN FOOTBALL CODE
REMOVAL OF FIvE-YARD RE-
STRICTION MOST MoMENTOUS.
THIRTY-SIX CHANGES MADE
! IN ALL
By ASA RouNTRHE. JR.


Yielding to the incessant demands of
football enthusiasts Throughout the
country that there be less tamperine
with the rules and realizing the harm re-
sulting from such. the football rules COM
mittee has this year made fewer radical
changes in the rules than ever before.
| While there are no less than 36 changes
| in the code, it may fairly be said that
lsonly two of these will actually change
the game for the average spectator The
remaining changes, although of the grav-
est importance to the player and expert
| follower, are Qualifications, alterations
and adiudications of small technical de-
| tails.
change is the removal of the five-yard
| restriction on kicks. In 1910 rule was
adopted requiring kicks and forward
passes to be delivered not less than FIVE
yards distance from the line, At this
time the players on the defence were for
bidden to interfere with players on of
fense while the latter were going down
| the field on forward passes and kicks.
The object of this enactment was to pre-
vent injuries which yhad occurred from
| such interferences during the preceding
year. Since it was necessary that the
defence should be able to distinguish IN
| stantly rushing play from kick or a
forward pass play, in order that they
could disregard or obey the rule, it be-
came essential that the kick and for
ward pass play should be disclosed i'm
mediately. w
Since the imposition of this five-yard
restriction upon kicks and forward passes
several devises have been introduced to
protect the players going down the field
and to relieve the complicated charac-
| ter of the rules on the subject. Last
season a special rule was adopted by
| the captains in the larger games that a
player could block until the forward pass
had actually been thrown. So success
fully did this arrangement work that the
rules commute subsequently incorporat-
ed 1t In it's code. With such a rule it
was obviously unnecessary to hamper
kicking, so the five-yard restriction upon
the latter was removed
Changes in Rules
The following are the changes that
The penalty for a substitute not re-
porting to the referee shall be the loss
of five instead of 10 yards.
The penalty for the illegal return of a
substitute shall be disqualification with
the loss of half the distance to the goal
line
An additional penalty imposed upon a
team coming late upon thes field at the
beginning Of the second half shall be the
loss OF the right to choose the goal.
The penalty for an Illegal advance of
the ball by the snapper back is five
yards.
The snapper back is forbidden to make
feint of putting the ball in play in or
der to draw opponents offside.
The rule against blocking opponents who
have crossed the line of sci1mmage shall
not apply until a forward pass actually
shall have been thrown.
The snapper back may receive a forward
pass provided at the time he was the
player on the end of the line.
II an ineligible player of the side making
q forward pass fouls the ball within op-
ponents' 10-yard line the latter may have
the option of the penalty or a touchback.
The penalty for batting ball toward
opponents goal may be declined by the
referee or umpire.
No penalty for disqualification may be
declined, otherwise a team achieving
touchdown might be deprived thereof by
the penalty for disqualification which
would return the ball to the field of play.
/ No penalty which halves the distance to
the goal line can effect score. However
small may be the remaining distance, the
ball shall always be deemed to be upon
the field to play.
Upon report of infractions by the lines
man the officials must apply the proper
penalty.
If an illegal substitution of a player is
not discovered until one or more plays
have 1ntervened, OF score has been
achieved, these plays and the score shall
be nulifed and the ball returned to tho
spot of the down where in the best judg-
ment of the referee the Illegal substitution
occurred.
If backfield man goes upon the line of
scrimmage but takes a position outside
of the seven regular line men he need not
conform to the rule regarding the position
of the hands and feet of line men; IL he
takes a position as one of the seven regu-
lar line men, the player on the end thus
displaced need not conform to the rule
The intention is that only the seven men
occupying the seven contiguous line posi-
tfons shall be required to observe the rule.
Players who have been shifted from line
to backfield and subsequently withdrawn
from the game may, when again returned
to the game, assume any position, the
same as a new player.
1t is the intention Of the rules that the
same five men who play the five central
position on defense shall play the same
positions on offense.
At kickout the kicker may kick the ball
out from the 2O-yard line at any point
thereon that he chooses.
In scrimmage the ball cannot be put in
play by kicking it forward. 1t first must
be snapped back.
II q forward pass strikes the ground,
either before, or after being touched by an
illegal player, 1t shall not be considered as
completed. ~
The player kicking half forward may
recover 1t provided it has not crossed the
line of scrimmage.
II the player kicking the ball is roughed
while kicking from behind his own goal
line touchback shall be declared in adj
dition to the disqualification of the Of
fender.