The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1935-10-19

ellu 10 take care OF
the w. and j. left Wingback. The
END was to cross over and spill the
gentleman. Early in the game w.
and j. got possession of the ball. On
the second play the Tech right end
discovered the tell-tale movement
and as soon as the ball was snapped
PACK he tore across the scrimmage
line and boWled over the left wing
back.
The w, and J. full back Il hope
this isn't getting too complicated
Tor our dear little visitors from the
nursery )took the direct pass from
center. The next move was to hand
the ball with the seasons greetings
to the left Wingback. But when
the full back looked for the left
Wlngback he discovered him lying
flat on the ground shaking gravel
out Of his eyebrows He had been
neatly taken out of the play.
Carries 1t Himself
There was no one to whom the
full back could pass the ball at the
moment. The play was under way.
The full back spun around and then
he did what any other back would
do under the same circumstances
he carried the ball himself. The
defense had moved over to stop the
reverse play and the full back found
a wide path through which he gall
loped 40 yards or so.
Watching the maneuver from the
bench Mr. Steffen and his associates
were greatly impressed. My good
ness gracious exclaimed Mr.. Stef-
fen. There's a new play and it's
a swell one, too Whereupon Mr..
Steffen promptly added the play to
his repertoire. 1t wasn't until some
months later that Mr.. Steffen
learned the strange new play the
w. and j. full back had used against
Tech that afternoon was born on
the spot, a product of distress.
Claims Origin in 1910
This recital of the birth of the
spinner sounds authentic enough,
and yet 1 find in reading a publica-
ton called 1885 Football" that
John Heisman, president of the
Touchdown Club, and himself a
famous coach in days gone by, in
sists he discovered the play in 1910,
or met IA ,,oore hoFOro NxT o,,d T De-
unnamed full back spun to fame.
Writes Mr.. Heisman: The spin
ner was accidentally discovered while
1 was coaching Georgia Tech in
1910. The accident consisted of
misunderstanding of signals which
left the quarter back holding the
ball with nobody to give it to, so the
quarter back plowed through the
line all by himself for a 12-yard
gain
Well, anyway, both Mr.. Steffen
and Mr.. HeiSman agree the spinner
was born out of wedloCk as far as
calculated strategy goes and that
no coaching genius is entitled
to claim it as his very own.
Still, the play is so simple in its
fundamentals that one wonders why
it wasn't discovered and used from
the very moment the backs started
juggling the ball around.
GridirOn Vast Laboratory
Every team that plays football to-
day uses the spinner. Some use it
more generously than others, but all,
even the kid teams, use it to a
certain extent.
1t may seem odd that a play so
widely used can not establish a def
mite parentage. But this happens to
be true OF a number of football
stratagems. The whole history of
plays is beclouded. Too many
inventive minds claim the various
honorS. And they may all be right.
Where so many chemists are eX-
perimenting in such a vast labora-
tory, inSpirational Implications
probably are inevitable.