History of american college football John W. Heisman remembers
"We had gotten down to 11 men on a team even so long ago as that, but, as a rule, teams carried only 4 substitutes, even while on a trip, and trips sometimes meant playing two or three games on successive days, so as to be sure to take in enough money at the gate to defray the expenses of the trip.
"The time of the playing halves of a game in those days was 45 minutes, not 30 minutes, as now. Furthermore, the game was not divided into quarters as now, so there is today a rest period we never had in the old days. Players of my time had to be real iron men, because we played 2 games each week-Wednesdays and Saturdays.
"Once a game started, a player could not leave unless he actually was hurt, or, at least, pleaded injury. Accordingly, whenever the captain wanted to put a fresh player into action he whispered, `Get your arm hurt, or something.' In one game my captain whispered to me: 'Get your neck broke, Heisman.'
"We wore jerseys and shorts of great variety. We had no helmets or pads of any kind; in fact, one who wore home-made pads was regarded as a sissy. Hair was the only head protection we knew, and in preparation for football we would let it grow from the first of June. "Many college men of that day, especially divinity and medical students, permitted their beards to grow. Often they were referred to as `Gorillas.' The divinity students couldn't answer back-I mean, in the right way.
"We didn't have many sweaters in those days, but we all wore snug fitting canvas jackets over our jerseys. You see, the tackling in that day wasn't clean-cut, and around the legs, as it is today. All too often it was wild, haphazard clutching with the hands, and when runners wore loose garments they were often stopped by a defensive player grabbing a handful of loose clothing. Some players wore pants, or jackets, of black horsehair. When you made a fumbling grab, you lost your fingernails.
"In those pioneer years, arguments followed most every decision the referee made. The whole team took part, so that half the time the officials scarcely knew who was captain. More than that, every player was privileged to argue as much as he pleased with any and every player of the opposition. The player who was a good linguist always was a priceless asset.
"We practiced every afternoon as players do now, but as we had no forward pass in the gamethen, we put in large chunks of time on sprinting and getting down field under punts. As a result of this I have no hesitation in saying our punting of those bygone years was decidedly better than what we witness today.
"Falling on the ball also was deemed a very important essential of a player's education. We had little concentrated work on practical tackling, or instruction in its technique. That was something we were supposed to figure out for ourselves, as it was much the same when it came to interference. But with or without special instruction, we were past masters at tackling around the neck. There was a rule against it but that rule was, I am sure, broken oftener than any other in the book.
