Quote:
Originally Posted by Syd Thrift
Football requires 7 men on the line because in the early 1900s they ran a play called the flying wedge where players would start like 20 yards behind the line, interlock arms, and just run full speed at the defense with the ball carrier nestled just behind this wall of players. The primary way defenses had to stop the wedge was to leap over it, which, in the days before modern helmets and padding, caused a lot of broken necks (TBF it’d probably cause a lot of broken necks today if players did that a lot). More than 30 players died playing (mostly college) football one year and President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to ban the sport if something wasn’t done about it quick.
Baseball is experiencing a 2-3% drop in BABIP because some players can’t beat the shift. These are not comparable events.
|
The Flying Wedge was banned in 1894, two years after it was introduced and years before Teddy R was elected President.
TR threatened football in 1905 and the response was to change the rules to a seven man line with only one man in motion so teams could not send three guys in motion to gain momentum to crack into the defenders, thus causing injuries. Fielding Yost of Michigan (and its 'Point a minute' offense) was the major offender at the time.