Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-12-20
NV 25 Years ON the Cridiron
BY WILLIAM A. ROPER.
HEAD COACH PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
XXIII-How Princeton Met Rule Changes

At the end of the 1905 foot ball sea
son an insistent demand came from
all parts of the country for change
in the foot bali rules. 1t generally
was conceded the present game was
too dangerous.
A meeting of representatives of
many of the leading universities and
colleges was held in New York to
consider foot ball and what should
be done to it. This meeting resulted
in the formation OF the National Col
legiate Athletic Association. Gen.
Palmer f. Pierce, then captain in the
United States Army and representa-
tive from West Point, was elected
president.
1t generally was felt that the foot
ball rules committee was too sectional
and not representative enough. The
National Collegiate Association went
on record as in favor of the continu-
ance of the game, but only on condi-
ton of a change in the rules The
association selected it's own rules COM
mittee. Fortunately, this committee
and the old rules committee consoh-
dated AS a result of this action
most representative body essayed to
change the foot ball rules.
OF course, there were many differ
ent shades of opinion on this commit
tee, which was composed of the fol
lowing members: l.. M. Dennis of
Cornell, chairman; w. T. Reid, jr., of
Harvard, secretary; James A. Rabbit
of Haverford, John c. Bell of Penn
sylvania, Walter Camp of Yale, f..
Homer Curtiss of Texas, representing
the South; Charles ID. DAILY of West
Point, Paul j. Dashiell of Annapolis,
J. b. Fine of Princeton, Il. X. Hall
OF Dartmouth, James T. Lees of Ne
braska, G. w. Savage of Oberlin, A.
A. Stage of Chicago and DIR. II. l..
Williams of Minnesota.
Rules Changes Made.
AS q result of the deliberations of
the committee the following changes
we're made:
/. The number Of yards to be
cained was increased from S to 10
nd one additional down was added.
q The rules were amended to pro-
'ide for the forward pass and on
ide kick with the qualifications as
the pass that it must cross the
scrimmage line at a point yards
rom the center. A kicked ball was
On side as soon as it crossed the
scrimmage line.
The committee did not perform a
tried to cure him by homeopathic
treatment The main vice in the
rules had been the push and pull%
play. This rule was not touched. 1t
was contended that the forward pass
and on-side kick would open up the
game, while the yards to gain would
discourage mass play and invite open
attack.
AS a matter of fact, the forward
pass rule and the on-side kick pulled
back the defensive backs and made
10 yards as easy to gain through the
line as had been formerly. AS
the rules committee was composed of
all shades of opinion, the changes
which were adopted were the best
that could be had. The members of
the committee deserve a great deal
of credit for the manner in which
they got together on a very difficult
job.
was hard at work at the Univer-
sity of Virginia trying to make up
the ground / mad lost in the Fall and
had difficulty in getting a complete
report of the changes in the rules.
The committee had held a great many
meetings and their deliberations We're
not fully reported.
StrOve to Open Up Play.
saw Mr.. Fine, our representative,
during the Easter holidays and got
a complete report from HIM We
went over the new rules very care
/ fully and felt we must make a real
effort to open up the game. Person
ally, was delighted with the
changes. We never had mastered the
art of mass play at PRINCETON and
had an instructive feeling that the
new game would be more fun to
watch and more fun to play. We
were a bit undecided as to how to
| proceed and what changes to make
| in our general style Of attack.
We finally decided to call a small
meeting of old Princeton foot ban
| players to go over the rules and con
slider what offensive possibilities they
offered. We tried to include all who
had been identified with the game in
recent years and sent invitations to
Phil King. Walter Booth, Martin v.
Bergen, Langdon Lea. Eddie Holt,