The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-08-14
CHANGES IN GRID RULES ARE MINOR;
 SEEK TO CLARITY
Officials Clarity Rule Regard ing a Safety and Touch-
 back-0ther Changes
Br MALTER CAMr

Special Ccrrespondent ot The Age Herald
 Copyright. 1921, by The AEe-HeraId)
 New York, August Exchanges in the football rules for the season of 1921 have been made for purposes of justification. rather than alteration in play. Many of the differences noted are merely those of phrasing. while some have heen made for the easier analysis of play by the spec tators
 The alterations which bear directly on the play begin with Rule {. Here 1t is made clear that when time is called for the end of the game or the end Of period and fair catch has been made just Lrior to the call of time, the team making the fair catch shali have the priyIlege of the kick, but may not put the ball in scrimmage.
 In Rule the word "illegal" has been added so that the rule applies moot only to an incompleted forward pass. but also to an Illegal one. Rule ' has been altered so that 1t now accords with custom. The rule for merly provided that the captains should tess for choice of goal. No one can remember when the captains did this. The referee has tossed the coin for years. while one of the two captains called his choice, and that procedure now is provided for in the rules. Rule ', in addition, now provides that after the winner has stated his. choice. he may not there- after change his decision, which must stand,
 ReEarding Roughins It
 Rules 9, i7 and 23 have undergone some slight changes in wording, IT. erely .n order to make their mean lne clearer. These changes are not Ekely to alter the play Rule 23, dealing with unnecessary roughness. has bcsn made over to cover the various cases arising under it's juris- oiction. One of it's sections has been subdivided so that tripping, tackling out of bounds, throwing the player viii the ball to the ground after the ball has been declared dead or any ether kind of unnecessary roughness are groupei under one head Un- necessarily running into or throwing ones sell against a player obviously out of the play either before or after the ball has been declared dead and unnecessarily roughing = man who has made a forward pass are grouped under another head. The penalty for offenses under the first head is loss of l5 yards from the spot where the foul was committed. For the second list Of cffenscs the penalty is loss of 15 yards from where the ball was put in play.
 Touchbnck or Safety
 A new section has been added to Rule 14 which will be gratefully ap- precioted by the spectators. as well as by the unfortunate team forced to make a safety touchdown. This nev ruling provides that the side making safety may bring tns oaD out to their own a0-ysrd :.n; wh'ie d side making to i'.llaet may bring the ball out only to .hsir owa zO-yard line as before
 The princi 34i reason for t. is alter alton was to snd ole the spectators to know at onee when t'ic hal vas touched down in goal by ehe side defending that goal, whe -hs- it was safety inf 70 scored two points for the opponen,s l.iat :l'-Ig that goal, or whether it was only a touch back, which scored nothing.
 It seemed fair also that a side so hard pressed as to be forced 10 make safety should be entitled to a some- what greater distance in which to protect their goal line than that given the team which merely had made a touchback
 Quite a number of so-called "ap- proved rulings" are, appended to the rules by the rules committee. These will be explained and dealt with later by the writer.