The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1915-02-07

of the numbering of football players.
so that spectators may be able to tell
one player from another, won their
biggest victory since the movement for
numbering was inaugurated, when the
football rules committee adopted a
resolution today recommending that
all players be numbered in future
games. The committee which met
at the Biltmore in a session that
lasted for six hours, with no reptile
for lunch, was not willing to require
1t is probable that the recommends
ton will be almost as good as a
rule. and will be generally followed
by the teams next season.
Another matters of importance that
was passed upon, athough no new
rule was made, was the practice OF
sending in substitutes for the pur-
pose OF carrying Instructions from
the coaches to the quarterbacks OF
captains. resolution was passed by
the committee deprecating this prac-
tice. and will be frowned on as un-
sportsmanlike from this time forth.
Minor Changes Made.
AS usual, few minor changes were
made in the rules governing the use
of the for ward pass. The most inn
portant of these was the making
of provision that a forward pass
which goes out of bounds shall be
an incomplete pass whether 1t strikes
a player or not, and the same pro-
visions governs on all four downs.
This change will do away with the
intentional throwing ofo a pass out of
bounds on the fourth down, practice
which has been recognized as hardly
fair. The forward pass was dealt
with IN two other changes in the
rules. Hereafter no penalty will be
imposed when two eligible men are
going down the field under a pass,
and the ball touches first one and then
the other. 1t will be deemed an in
complete forward pass. By the old
rule the second player became incl
igible to touch the ball as soon as
IL was touched by the first man. and
so a penalty resulted, penalty which
the committee considered unfair. II
was also decided that hereafter the
position of the feet of the player
catching the ball. and not the position
of the ball itself, shall determine
whether or not a forward pass Is
caught out OF bounds II the player $
feet are out OF bounds, the ball
will be considered out of bounds.
Change Substitution Rule.
The manner of making substitutions
lege OF resubstituting pIayers--that is,
putting In players after taking them
out--was curtailed, Hereafter resuh-
situations may be made only at the
beginning of periods The old rule
permitted them at the beginning OF
periods and at any time during the
fourth quarter The substitute enter
ing the game will be required to re-
port Immediately to any official In
the past there has been nothing to
require an Immediate report, and that
loophole has been taken advantage
of on several occasions.
Several changes were made in the
penalties for various infractions of the
rules Running into, or roughing the
back who has just made a kick. is one
instance in which the penalty was
changed. The old rule provided for
disqualification for roughing the
kicker but the new rule provides for
penalty OF fifteen yards for running
into him. and ffteen Yards and dis
qualification for both running into and
rouEhing him. A similar provision was
made for unsportsmanlike conduct
such as abusive language. unnecessary
roughness and offenses of like char
acter. In the past the only penalty
has been disqualification, and ii has
been found that officials are loath to
infict so severe a punishment for mi
nor violations of the rule. To cor
rect this. a penalty of fifteen yards
has been provided for unsportsman-
like conduct. with an added penalty
of disqualification for especially fla
grant cases.
Hit Opponent Below Knees.
A penalty of fifteen yards has been
provided for throwing the legs about
In such a way that the lower leg hits
an opponent above the knee. The
rule against tripping has taken care
of cases where the opponent was
struck below the knee, but the trip
ping rule made no provision for eases
where the striking was above the
knee. A ten-yard penalty will be in -
hicted for unnecessarily running into
a player of the other side after the
whistle blows. This rule will give the
officials good deal OF latitude in de-
termining whether the running into
the opponent was unnecessary or could
be avoided
The tleid judge was restored at the
meeting today. and henceforth there
must be four officials, referee. umpire,
linesman and field Judge Last year
the use OF field Judge was optional
The task Of time keeping has been
taken out OF the hands of the lines
men, and has been turned over TO the
field judge. who Will have entire
charge of keeping track of the flight
OF time as the game progresses
Another new rule of minor iu1por-
tsnce requires that the center pass
the ball with one continuous motion
and that he let go Of the ball as he
the pass. This will pre-
vent centers from feiuting to pass the
ball.