The 1882 Rule Changes

Another step towards modernity

The 1882 Rule Changes

The most important change of the rules of football came in 1880, when the “line of scrimmage” concept was introduced. That turned American football into an orderly version of rugby, erasing the chaos that accompanied the scrum of the old world.

The second most important change came in 1882 when the rules committee decided to introduce the concept of downs.

The problem was that there was nothing to prevent a team from getting control of the ball and simply holding on to it. And so, in late April 1882, the rules committee took action:

From The New York Sun, May 1, 1882, page 3

It seems that the “block game” mentioned here refers to the concept of one team simply holding on to the ball until time expires. We know that because of the changes that were instated:

From New Haven Daily Morning Journal and Courier, May 2, 1882, page 4

Note as well that this refers to more rules than we’ve had on board to this point. Please let me know if you know of a source of football rules from 1881 or before.