FOOTBALL 



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FOOTBALL 



to be seen. The famous contests between 

 Harvard and Yale attract the largest crowds, 

 which seem to be limited only by the seating 

 capacity of the Harvard Stadium, which will 

 accommodate 47,000 people, and of the great 

 Yale Bowl, which seats over 70,000. A num- 

 ber of "gridiron battles" in both the East and 

 Middle West are scarcely less popular. Foot- 

 ball in the United States is largely confined 

 to schools and colleges, clubs like those of 

 Canada being quite unknown. 



How Played in the United States. Why a 

 Rugby field is called a gridiron is apparent at 

 first sight of one. As shown in the accompany- 

 ing diagram of the field in the United States, 

 distinct lines, which on the field are white, 

 mark the borders and cross from side to 

 side every five yards. The goals are upright 

 timbers joined ten feet above the ground by a 

 crossbar. 



Each team defends a goal and attempts to 

 score by carrying the ball across its opponents' 

 goal line anywhere between the edges of the 

 field, or by kicking it from the ground over the 

 bar. The ball is a leather casing about a foot 

 long and seven inches in diameter, enclosing 

 an inflated rubber bladder. There are eleven 

 players on each side, seven of whom compose 

 the line, and four the back-field. 



At the opening of the game one team places 

 the ball in the middle of its forty yard line 

 (that is, forty yards from its own goal), and 

 lines up along the same mark. The other team 

 is distributed throughout its half of the field. 

 One member of the first team kicks off to- 

 wards the opponent's goal, but does not neces- 

 sarily attempt 'to kick the ball over it, as at 

 this time no score would be counted. The 

 opponent who catches the ball runs forward 

 with it, dodging back and forth to avoid the 

 onrushing men of the first team, and following 

 two or three of his teammates, who form inter- 

 ference (protection) for him. He is usually 

 tackled and thrown to the ground or stopped 

 before he has reached the center of the field, 

 but now and then a clever runner makes his 

 way through the whole opposing team and 

 reaches its goal. As soon as he is stopped the 

 referee blows his whistle and the teams line 

 up for the first scrimmage. 



Scrimmage. The team in possession of the 

 ball is now given four opportunities to ad- 

 vance it ten yards. The player called the 

 center puts his hands on the ball, which rests 

 on the ground with its points toward the ends 

 of the field, and prepares to pass it backwards 



between his legs. To his right are the right 

 guard, the right tackle, and the right end; to 

 his left are the corresponding members of 

 the left side of the line. Behind him are the 

 quarter-back, the left and right halj-backs and 

 the full-back. The quarter-back is the direct- 

 ing general; upon his strategy and good judg- 

 ment largely depends the success of the team. 

 The instant the ball is down he begins to call 

 secret signals, a rapid succession of numbers, 

 and then he stands close to the center to 

 receive the ball as the latter passes it, and to 

 give it to the player who, in response to his 

 signal, is to run with it. The line men of the 

 opposing team are lined up behind the other 

 end of the ball, the back-field men forming a 

 secondary defense behind them. 



Play commences the moment the center 

 snaps the ball. If the signal has been for a 

 plunge through the opposing line, it is the 

 duty of some of the line men to spread apart 

 their opponents and make a hole through which 

 the runner may pass, and of the others to 

 hold back the players opposite them. The 

 back-field men assist the runner in various 

 ways. But no player of the attacking side 

 except the runner is allowed to use his hands 

 or arms upon an opponent or those who are 

 attempting to tackle him. The players on the 

 defense may use their hands and arms to 

 break through in an endeavor to reach the 

 ball or the man carrying it. If instead of a 

 line plunge the play is a run around the end, 

 the whole offensive line aims to hem in their 

 opponents so that they can neither stop the 

 runner from in front nor reach him from the 

 rear. The usual gain from a line plunge or 

 an end run is only a few yards, if the teams 

 are evenly matched, but sometimes a runner 

 succeeds in going a long distance before he is 

 tackled. On the other hand, if the offensive 

 line is less alert than the defenders, the ball 

 may be downed farther back than before. 



The Forward Pass. Though it has always 

 been one of the principles of Rugby football 

 that the ball could be advanced only by run- 

 ning or kicking, the forward pass has recently 

 been introduced into the American game to 

 add interest to the spectacle and to lessen the 

 strain on the players from continued playing 

 at close quarters. It is difficult to execute. 

 The quarter-back, or any man behind the line, 

 standing five yards back of the line, receives 

 the ball from the center and throws it to one 

 of his men who has run to a point where he 

 can catch it and get away without being 



