Howard R . Reiter Howard Roland " Bosey " Reiter ( c . 1871 – November 11 , 1957 ) was an All - American football player , coach and athletic director . He was selected for the 1899 College Football All - America Team and played professional football as a player coach for the Philadelphia Athletics of the first National Football League in 1902 . He was the head football coach at Wesleyan University from 1903 – 1909 and at Lehigh University from 1910 – 1911 . Reiter has been credited by some with the development of the overhand spiral forward pass , which he claimed to have developed while playing for the Athletics in 1902 . All - American at Princeton . Reiter was raised in Philadelphia , the son of Benjamin O . Reiter . Reiter enrolled at Princeton University where he played football and baseball and was selected as a halfback on the 1899 College Football All - America Team . Upon completing his undergraduate coursework at Princeton , Reiter attended the Princeton Theological Seminary for three years . He tried out for the Princeton football team in 1900 while studying at the seminary , but was declared ineligible by Princeton ' s faculty committee on athletics , because he had already played four years of football while an undergraduate . Despite the ruling , rumors spread that Reiter continued to play for Princeton in 1900 under an assumed name . Professional football . In September 1902 , while still a seminary student , Reiter signed up to play professional football for Connie Mack ' s Philadelphia Athletics of the 1902 version of the National Football League . Reiter was hired not only as a player but also as coach of the Athletics . " The Philadelphia Inquirer " reported on Reiter ' s signing as follows : " H . R . Reiter , one of Princeton ' s most noted graduate football players , who is now a senior in the Theological Seminary here , has been signed by the management of the Philadelphia American League football team to play halfback during the coming season . . . . He will not let the engagement interfere with his course in the seminary , but will go to Philadelphia twice a week to practice and play the scheduled contests . " Reiter was the starting left halfback on the 1902 Athletics team until he broke his right leg near his hip while playing in a game against Waterton . Football coach at Wesleyan and Lehigh . In July 1903 , after completing three years of seminary studies , " The New York Times " reported that he " passed a brilliant examination at the Presbytery meeting " and was granted a license as a minister . He moved to Ocean Park , New Jersey in the summer of 1903 , working as a lifeguard during the week and preaching on Sundays . However , as football season approached , Reiter accepted a position as football coach at Wesleyan University . In 1905 , Reiter added the title of physical director at Wesleyan . Reiter was a popular and energetic coach . After Wesleyan ' s 18 - 0 win over Williams College in 1905 , the fans at Wesleyan ' s field " went wild with excitement , " and Reiter " was so tickled that he turned several handsprings and finally jumped on the back of ' Al ' Inglis , Wesleyan ' s crack fullback a few years ago , and the two paraded in front of the stands . " In 1906 , " The Washington Post " published a feature article about Reiter ' s techniques for training Wesleyan athletes : " Reiter is unusual . There are few directors of gymnasiums who can handle classes of men on the floor , teach them to fence , box and wrestle , coach them in football , baseball and track athletics , and lead them in exercises in the chapel . Reiter ' s chapel talks to the students are as much a feature of his work as the words of advice to the football men on the field . It is not hard to see why Wesleyan has moved up seven notches in physical well being since he took hold of things . In August 1910 , Reiter was hired away from Wesleyan by Lehigh University . Reiter coached the Lehigh football team from 1910 – 1911 , with a record at Lehigh of 7 - 11 - 2 . Reiter remained at Lehigh for many years as the head of the Department of Physical Education and a member of its Athletic Control Board . Reiter also garnered publicity in 1902 when he saved a drowning man off the Ocean Park Pier in New Jersey . On seeing the drowning man go under the water , Reiter dove into the water to bring the man to the surface , finally succeeding on the third dive . Reiter ' s role in development of the overhead spiral forward pass . Reiter claimed to have invented the overhead spiral forward pass while playing professional football as a player - coach for Connie Mack ' s Philadelphia Athletics of the 1902 National Football League . While playing for the Athletics , Reiter was a teammate of Hawley Pierce , a former star for the Carlisle Indian School . Pierce , a Native American , taught Reiter to throw an underhand spiral pass , but Reiter had short arms and was unable to throw for distance from an underhand delivery . Accordingly , Reiter began working on an overhand spiral pass . Reiter recalled trying to imitate the motion of a baseball catcher throwing to second base . After practice and experimentation , Reiter " discovered he could get greater distance and accuracy throwing that way . " When Reiter took over as Wesleyan ' s football coach in 1903 , the forward pass was not permitted under college football rules . However , when the rules changed for the 1906 season , Reiter was ready to introduce his overhand spiral forward pass technique . Reiter contended that the first modern forward pass in college football was thrown by Sammy Moore to Irwin van Tassel on October 3 , 1906 , in a game between Wesleyan and Yale in 1906 . Van Tassel later described the historic play to the United Press : " I was the right halfback , and on this formation played one yard back of our right tackle . The quarterback , Sam Moore , took the ball from center and faded eight or 10 yards back of our line . Our two ends angled down the field toward the sidelines as a decoy , and I slipped through the strong side of our line straight down the center and past the secondary defense . The pass worked perfectly . However , the quarterback coming up fast nailed me as I caught it . This brought the ball well into Yale territory , about the 20 - yard line . " At the beginning of September 1907 , Reiter announced his intention to build Wesleyan ' s entire offense around the spiral forward pass . A Massachusetts newspaper reported on Reiter ' s plans for the 1907 season : " Coach ' Bosey ' Reiter of the Wesleyan football team announces that an endeavor will be made at Wesleyan this year to develop a fast eleven and one than can handle the spiral forward pass , as this will probably be the play most often used . " Upon taking over the Lehigh team in 1910 , Reiter dedicated the summer training period to teach his players a new offensive scheme relying heavily on " new forward pass formations . " Reiter was regarded in his day as an innovator , and he was invited to teach a course in " The Theory and Practice of Football " at Harvard ' s summer school of physical education during the summers from 1907 - 1910 . In 1910 , Reiter ' s article , " Experiments in Football , " was published in newspapers across the country . The article analyzed changes to the football rules , focusing especially on rule changes affecting the use of the forward pass . In 1955 , Reiter and van Tassel were honored in a ceremony in Middletown , Connecticut for their role in developing the forward pass . In 2007 , " Sports Illustrated " published an account of the invention of the forward pass . In that article , writer Sally Jenkins credited coach Eddie Cochems of Saint Louis University with calling the first forward pass in college football . Jenkins then wrote as follows with respect to the respective roles of Cochems and Reiter : " The first downfield overhand spiral was completed on Sept . 5 , 1906 , when Saint Louis quarterback Bradbury Robinson threw to teammate Jack Schneider in a little - noticed game against Carroll College . A more notable pass was completed against Yale , by Wesleyan on Oct . 3 , but Carlisle may deserve partial credit for that throw : Wesleyan ' s coach , Howard R . Reiter , claimed he learned how to throw a spiral from a Carlisle Indian in 1903 when Reiter coached the semipro Philadelphia Football Athletics and the Indian was on the team . " Family and legacy . In January 1905 , Reiter married Miss Edith M . Burt at the bride ' s home in Plainfield , New Jersey . Reiter moved to Saint Petersburg , Florida in 1956 . He died there in November 1957 , aged 86 . Each year , a faculty committee at Lehigh University awards the Bosey Reiter Leadership Cup to a student who is the outstanding leader in the university ' s senior class .