The Lateral Pass
and the Future
of Football

An article in which various football-wonks from 1927 muse wistfully about the earliest use of the lateral pass (1902) and how the game of football was forever changed as a result. Football coach and sportswriter, Sol Metzger (1880 – 1932) is quoted numerous times throughout as he is credited as the first end in the history of football to catch a lateral pass and run (during the Thanksgiving Day game of 1902 between Cornell and Pennsylvania). The lateral pass is identified in this article as being the brainchild of Dr. Carl S. Williams, who was at that time the football coach of the University of Pennsylvania.
A diagram of the 1902 play is provided.

Click here to read more articles from the 20s and 30s about football.

Read an article about the origins of the Green Bay Packers