impossible to get any type of mass momentum play going.Many of the most common rules and characteristics of modern football are things that have been put in place to make it either The impact of the flying wedge on modern football is tremendous, in a negative sense! The involvement of the President made the conclusions in this meeting definitive for the sport. The rules were changed to prevent any new variations of it. The President wanted to save the game and reform its reputation.Īll forms of the flying wedge were banned. Roosevelt was a fan of the game and his son played at Harvard. In response to the public outcry due to the carnage, United States President Theodore Roosevelt called a summit of all the most influential people in the game. This usually involved countercharging wedges or players throwing themselves bodily at the wedge.

Soon, everyone was running the wedge, and tactics were being devised to beat it. The excitement that the play added to the game is credited with a lot of the early growth in the popularity of football as a spectator sport. University of Chicago coach Amos Alonzo Stagg was so impressed that he perfected the play and soon it was being used from scrimmage as well as on kicks. Sensation runs through the stands at the novel play, which is the most organized and beautiful one ever seen upon a football field. However, this is what he wrote when he first saw it. He would later become a leader in criticizing the play. Parke Davis was a player, coach, and writer. The flying wedge was Deland’s recreation on a football field. This allowed the attackers to break through into the enemy’s rear and scatter them. One of Napoleon’s tactics was to mass a large number of his troops against a weak point in the enemy line. The coach set about creating plays based on Napoleon’s tactics. Deland was also fascinated by the military strategies of Napoleon. He immediately became obsessed with the game. Deland had not only never played, he’d only seen his first game two years before. This play was the creation of Harvard coach Lorin F. The footage is a little grainy, but the formation is clear.Īnd yes, the start of the play (from a penalty) very much resembles a football snap! Here’s a clip from an international match between Argentina and England in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. But that hasn’t stopped coaches from resurrecting the move from time to time. The flying wedge is also banned in rugby. However, there’s another sport where the tactic crops up every now and then. I can’t show you any television clips from American Football because the move was banned in the early 20 th century. It was common for players to have leather handles on their uniforms to tighten their grip.

The players in the wedge didn’t just stand close to each other, they were tightly bound to each other. The entire mass of the wedge would drive into him at a full run. The entire wedge would aim itself at one player on the other team. The heavier players on the team would form up into a tight wedge, holding onto each other.

The flying wedge was the ultimate mass motion play in the early days of football. The death rate drew the ire of reporters, college presidents, and a president of the United States.įinally, it was banned! But what was the flying wedge exactly? Let’s take a closer look. Then the rate of injuries and deaths became heavily scrutinized. First, it became immensely popular with fans. The flying wedge went through three phases in its history. The battering ram was violent but not as effective as another play: the flying wedge. His team would run down the field swinging him like a battering ram at the other team. Here’s one of the craziest: coaches would put a player in a leather straight jacket with handles. It was common in the sport to punch or choke a player to make him drop the ball.Īnd coaches devised some crazily violent tactics for attacking play. Rules changed continuously in response to innovations by players and coaches.Īnything that would give an advantage was tried. The sport was developing rapidly in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries. Violent Tactics In Early American Football

Violent Tactics In Early American Football.

Flying wedge football play