A detailed exploration of the illustrious past of American football is adeptly presented in this episode, focusing on the remarkable figure of PA Corbin, a celebrated player from Yale University during the late 19th century. I engage in a thorough dialogue with Timothy Brown from Football Archaeology, who elucidates the significance of Corbin's unconventional maneuvers and the broader implications of his contributions to the sport. The conversation delves into the historical context of football's evolution from its rugby origins, highlighting how the game was transitioning during Corbin's era. We discuss the formative years of American football, specifically the innovations that emerged during the 1880s, which laid the groundwork for the modern iteration of the game we recognize today. Corbin's pivotal role in a legendary Harvard-Yale match, wherein he executed a trick play that defied conventional expectations, is recounted with great enthusiasm, illustrating the ingenuity and strategic thinking that characterized early football strategies. This segment serves as a testament to the enduring legacy of pioneering athletes like Corbin, whose creativity and skill on the field continue to inspire contemporary players.

This information comes from Tim's original post titled:Pa Corbin and A Trick Well Executed -

Takeaways:

• The Pigskin Daily History Dispatch podcast delves into the rich history of American football, illuminating significant events and figures in the sport.
• Timothy Brown discusses the remarkable story of PA Corbin, a Yale football player known for his innovative trick play during the early development of football.
• Listeners are encouraged to explore footballarchaeology.com for daily insights and tidbits about football history that enhance their understanding of the sport.
• The evolution of football rules is highlighted, particularly the transition from rugby-style play to more structured American football.
• Corbin's trick play, which involved a strategic dribble kick, exemplifies the creativity and athleticism present in the early days of football.
• The episode underscores the importance of teamwork and precise execution in executing successful plays, showcasing how all players contribute to the outcome.

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You're just in time for some great football history.

As we talk about a famous Yale player from early football and his fascinating maneuver, Timothy Brown of football Archaeology joins us to tell us all about it.

This is the Pigskin Daily History Dispatch, a podcast that covers the anniversaries of American football events throughout history.

Your host, Darren Hayes is podcasting from America's North Shore to bring you the memories of the gridiron one day at a time.

Hello, my football friends.

This is Darren Hayes of pigskindispatch.com welcome once again to the Pig Pen, your portal to positive football history.

And welcome to another entertaining podcast of Timothy p.

Brown of footballarchaeology.com joining us to talk about some great football history.

Tim, welcome back to the Pig Pen.

Hey, Darren, thank you.

Look forward to chatting.

We're going to be talking about PA Corbin, so I will not start with a dad joke.

He just had to sneak it in there, you know, blindsides us with the dad joke with the paw.

But yeah, Paul Corbin is such an interesting figure from football history and Yale history and a lot of people haven't learned or heard of a lot about him, but he was pretty popular guy back when he played.

So maybe you could share this story with them in this tidbit that you wrote called PA Corbin and a trick wave well executed.

Yeah, so this is like similar to the, the podcast from, I guess two weeks ago about the archaic language.

But you know, a trick well executed was a description of something that he did in a game.

And if you, it's, if this one's probably one of those where it's worth taking a look at the team picture on the, on the, on the, in the tidbit or if you just Google PA Corbin, you'll, you'll see an image of him because he's not, not the most attractive looking fellow.

And folks, that link is if you're on YouTube, you can go to the show notes and look at it or the show notes on the podcast notes and you can get right to Tim's tidbit to see the images.

So, but you know, he was playing at the time when football was transitioning from rugby to, you know, starting to incorporate football rules.

So you know, in early rugby, so early football, you know, the, you had them all and you, you didn't.

There was not the intention to snap the ball back and push it back and run sideways.

You know, it was basically a pushing mall Kind of game where you kick the ball forward.

And so that was the original thing, but, you know, and then as the Americans started changing the game, they started emphasizing kicking the ball back out of the mall.

And then some back would run it, would pick it up, toss it to another back, and they'd try to sweep around, end.

So again, what we think of as the sweeping rugby game really originated in American football.

And then they later picked that up.

And so typically, you know, it could have been almost anyone on the team who did that.

But then, you know, within a few years, they tended to have, like, one player who was always the snapper back, what we would now call a center.

And so, so then, you know, it kind of, they formalized plays, and people lined up in consistent formations all the time.

And yet the.

So normally the play would start by the center or the snapper back, snapping in the ball back, but he still had the right to kick it forward.

And so sometimes, you know, and it wasn't very often, sometimes they'd kick the ball forward, and then he'd run up, pick it up, and take off.

You know, just depended on how the defense aligned and whether he thought he could, you know, kick it that way.

Um, so it.

One of the things kind of cool about it, it's just like in the early days wasn't, you know, we tend to think of.

Of them wanting to maintain possession of the ball, you know, but it's probably the opposite because, I mean, they were much more of a field position was more important than possession.

And that's still the case with rugby today.

You know, they'll get a ball and they'll just kick it right back.

Right.

And so, you know, it was that kind of logic that was going on.

And instead of healing it back, he dribble, kicked it.

So he just barely knocked the ball over to the right guard, who then picked up the ball and handed it back to the quarterback.

And in the meantime, Corbin had circled around behind the quarterback, got the ball from the quarterback, swept around end, and scored a touchdown.

So, and so that was the Trick, well executed, you know, the trick play.

So it's just one of those things like, you know, you can't imagine it in today's game.

You can't imagine the center kicking the ball forward instead of snapping it, kicking it to the guy next to him, who then hands it to the quarterback, who then hands it to the center, you know, so it's just one of those almost unimaginable plays now, but, you know, it was kind of a big, big deal then.

And helped Yale beat Harvard that year.

And then.

Then, you know, just the last point or two.

Is that.

And, you know, that in part had to do, I think, with, you know, up until that point, they were still pushing and shoving in the line.

And so by bending over and you, you know, using your hands, you had better control of the ball than, you know, using your feet.

And.

But even when they started doing that, then they.

The center could kill.

Could still kick the ball forward.

The center being able to kick the ball forward.

Wow, that's definitely some unique things.

Now that play would have been drawn up.

Could that possibly be the handiwork of Mr.

Walter Camp?

Because when he'd been coaching PA.

Yeah.

I don't know.

In.

In 87.

I'm not.

I'm not sure what his role was in 87.

I mean, by then he had been out to California, you know.

Yeah.

He was at Stanford for.

But in 87, I'm not sure where he was.

And even there were times when he wasn't really on the field coaching.

He was more just administrative sort of guy.

So.

Yeah, I don't know.

You know, I mean, obviously they.

They plan it out.

Right.

I mean, it was a plan.

So, you know, he must have had some pretty decent athleticism in order to.

To want him to run the ball.

Right.

So.

Well, I mean, actually, all the parties involved had to have some.

There's a lot going on there, for sure.

You have to get that kick to be just in the right place.

And you have a lineman handling the ball, which, you know, they were much more athletic.

Yeah.

You know, they were all the same size as all the other guys back then.

But, you know, we have today.

But still, you know, a guy doesn't handle the ball as that often is doing that.

Everybody has to do their job for it to succeed and sell a play.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah.

So anyway, it's just a crazy Cool story about a cool guy, you know, Pa Corbin.

And then just a point in time or era in the game that you just.

Long gone.

Yeah, excellent.

It really helps us to, when you tell stories like this to help us appreciate, you know, what football was back in, you know, over 100 years ago and how it evolves into the game it is today.

And we can see some elements that are true of the game today and some that we don't recognize.

And you do this a lot in your tidbits, Tim, that you share with us each and every day.

Maybe you could tell the listeners how they can partake in this and enjoy some of these.

Yeah, just go to footballarchaeology.com which is a substack, you know, newsletter blog.

You can subscribe there.

Then you'll get an email every day with the.

Or not.

Well, whenever I publish a story and otherwise, you know, just go there and check out the archives.

There's some archives that are free to everybody, some that are only available to.

To paid, you know, members and, and then otherwise you can follow me on Blue sky and.

Because I post everything there as well.

Yeah, folks, I, I definitely encourage you to, to do so, to, to take a look at these and join in on reading Tim's things as often as you can.

Because even, you know, folks like, like us that are in football history each and every day, I don't think there's a day goes by where I.

There's something in one of your tidbits that I didn't know or, you know, just say, oh, wow, I didn't real look at it in that light or something.

And a lot of this.

PA Corbin1 here today as I learn something new every day.

It's just like Will Rogers used to say.

And we appreciate you for doing that.

Very good.

Okay, we'll talk to you next week then, Tim.

All right, thanks.

Bye.

Thanks.

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