Today in Sports History #18 - NFL rules (February 25, 1933)

uwelang (74)in #sports • 7 years ago (edited)

A bit late for my Sports History serial this time - apologies but my little princess had some issues yesterday and we had to cover her all night - was a sleepless night.

So, what happened on February 25 in Sports History? The NFL discontinued the use of the Collegiate Rules Book and created their own rules finally. One of the most significant changes to legalise the forward pass from anywhere behind the scrimmage line.

Reasons have been that the championship finals got really boring with the current rules. The 1932 NFL Championship Game was an extra game held to break a tie in the 1932 season's final standings in the National Football League. The Chicago Bears and the Portsmouth Spartans played the first NFL playoff game in history.

The only touchdown of the game was a disputed pass play. Rules in 1932 stipulated that a forward pass had to be thrown from at least five yards behind the line of scrimmage - this rules has been changed in the following season.

For a long time the NFL followed the rules of college football but then began (February 25, 1933 as starting date) to develop rules serving its needs and the style of play it preferred. The innovations from the 1932 championship game-inbounds line or hashmarks and goal posts on the goal lines-were adopted. The hashmarks in that 1932 playoff game were originally 10 yards from the sideline - this width was adopted by the NFL for the 1933 season. Later it was increased to 15 yards in 1935, 20 yards in 1945, and to the current 23 yards, 1 foot, 9 inches in 1972.