3 Football Concepts You've Probably Never Heard Of

by Arnaldo

Football is an ever-evolving sport.  And for every undiscovered play, formation, or scheme, there's one that's as archaic as it is forgotten.  The best part is that some are so old, not only would they never fit in today's game, they're kind of hilarious to think about.

The Drop Kick

Close, but not quite.

What is it?

Sounds like a punt, or a some sort of kick to the face, but the drop kick was originally borrowed from rugby where the ball was allowed to bounce off the ground first and then kicked for field goal tries.  Sounds retarded but at the time only place kicks were restricted to behind the line of scrimmage.  You could advance the ball, and then drop kick it for a field goal all in one play.  Again that probably sounds retarded but when the clock is already expired or the ball carrier is about to be tackled before the first down marker on a failed fourth down attempt, it's a last second scoring (or punting-ish) opportunity.

What killed it?

Two particular changes to the game.  The first being the shape of the ball itself, which in 1934 took its current shape.  Before this they resembled the modern rugby ball with a predictable bounce.  If you've ever even played catch with a modern football, you know once it hits the ground, there's no telling where it's coming back.  The other was a rule change which prohibited any sort of kicking passed the line of scrimmage.  So if your options are to risk a bounce or to kick it with a place holder, you're gonna go with the place holder.

Unless your holder is Lucy

The drop kick could still be used as a surprise tactic.  It may be risky but a fourth down defense will never be able to block a field goal.  Then again field goals aren't typically blocked, they're missed, but hey, that's why it's a dead play.

Its dying day:

The drop kick was dead in 1941, two weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor when Ray "Scooter" McLean used it to score a field goal for the Chicago Bears in their NFL Championship Game victory over the New York Giants.  It was however, revived (kind of) in 2006 by Doug Flutie and the Patriots.  In the last regular season game over Miami, the Patriots were satisfied with their seeding and had the backup quarterback drop kick for a field goal in the last seconds of play.  It was more a tribute and a novelty for Flutie's last game.  What it did best though, was confuse the sh*t out of Nick Saban.  "It sort of screwed me up," as he took a time-out, "I couldn't figure out what was going on.  They had a quarterback in, four tight ends and a receiver and there was no kicker.  I was kind of pleased to know that somebody can still drop kick.  Man, when I was a kid we all practiced that.  Thought it was a lost art, but you know Flutie showed his age on that one."

 

The Singlewing Formation

What is it?

One of the oldest offensive formations in the books invented by Pop Warner at Carlisle with Jim Thorpe.  With a modern perspective, this formation really looks like a pile of nonsense.  It involved an unbalanced line with the quarterback no where near center.  The quarterback lines up behind the right tackle and the tailback would receive the snap.  It was later tweaked by Knute Rockne into the "Notre Dame Box" which added presnap motions and passing opportunities.

We'll just call this UF-FSU 1921

What killed it?

Glenn Scobey "Pop" Warner

The evolution of football to a faster-paced throwing game saw less room for such one-sided schemes.  The T formation began to take over, which had a more balanced approach to passing and running, and introduced option runs. The Pittsburg Steelers were the last to use it has their standard formation in 1952.

It's dying day:

I realize I just said when the single wing died, but the truth is that it's not dead at all.  If you know anything about the wildcat you should've been yelling it out loud when reading about the single wing.  Though not exactly the same, the wildcat does borrow its run first philosophy and replaces the quarterback with a tailback

The Quick Kick

What is it?

The quick kick is by far the most pathetic play in football.  Or at least it's early incarnation is.  Any punt which is done outside the normal punting circumstances is a quick kick.  Simply put, the quick kick is punting on a down other than fourth.  Strategically, it's a way to back up the opponent by punting to no returner, at the cost of another down.  It's admitting defeat on offense and digging at the bones for a few more defensive yards.

What killed it?

Yeah, we're just gonna punt it now...
Wouldn't want you to throw another interception.

It's just a bad idea, that's what.  At no point should you abandon hope on offense, and no amount of punt yards justifies the loss of another attempt on offense.  Because of this, the quick kick was never a popular strategy, and it's most common application occured when teams were winning by a good margin and feared running up the score.

It's dying day:

Again, the quick kick isn't completely dead.  It was instead redefined to any punt outside of normal punt formations regardless of down.  Under this definition the quick kick is actually fairly popular as a trick play.  The coach sends out their offense on 4th and short and the defense prepares for quick pass or loads the box, the quarterback takes the snap and punts the ball.  The safeties are nowhere near the punted ball and the receivers arrive first to ensure a favorable roll.