The Opening Kickoff Blog

The (Madison) Capital Times celebrating Pat O’Dea’s return to Wisconsin for the 1934 Homecoming celebration. (Courtesy Dave Vitale)

2/24/2014

5/15/2014 02:23:57 pm

Why did they change the dimensions of the field, also adding the end zone? Was this, in some way, to "open up" the game?

And how did Canadian football evolve. Some of it seems to proceed from older football rules, the 3 downs to get 5 yards, the 110 yard playing field (though not their end zone). And the rouge, how did that come about?

Dave Revsine

5/16/2014 12:49:12 am

Paul - The dimensions of the field were changed in 1912. This was part of the process of phasing in the forward pass. In the early years of the pass, it was illegal to throw one across the goal line. The addition of the end zone was necessary when that rule changed. And - yes - all of this was part of a larger effort to open up the game.

This is all covered to a certain extent in my book - but if you're truly interested in all of the changes through the years, the best book I found was The Anatomy of a Game by David Nelson. It's actually on Google books - so you can look up any questions you have:

http://books.google.com/books?id=OmwfnipKuogC&pg=PA154&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=2#v=onepage&q&f=false

I can't help you on the Canadian football question - sorry.

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Leave a Reply.

Buy The Book

Dave Revsine’s work is filled with jaw dropping, vividly detailed stories about football’s wild, woolly formative years. If you think America’s football obsession is a recent development, or that corruption in the money-driven college game is only a modern problem, you’ll be stunned by The Opening Kickoff. A great read. I loved it!”

—Chris Fowler, host of ESPN’s Emmy Award-winning College GameDay

The Opening Kickoff
About Dave Revsine
Speaking Engagements
Blog
Goodreads Reviews
Amazon Reviews
Buy The Book
Upcoming Events
Booking Information
Video
Contact

The (Madison) Capital Times celebrating Pat O’Dea’s return to Wisconsin for the 1934 Homecoming celebration. (Courtesy Dave Vitale)

Leave a Reply.

Dave Revsine

Archives

Categories