Throwback Thursday: Hugh "Shorty" Ray

"I've always thought my finest contribution to pro football was bringing Shorty Ray into the NFL."
     -George Halas

At 5'6" and 136 lbs, Hugh "Shorty" Ray has to be the smallest member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He may also be the least well known. That doesn't seem right seeing as he did as much as anyone to form the game that so many enjoy today. Those that do know of Ray's impact of the game consider him football's "unknown hero."

Shorty Ray changed the game from the officiating side of things. When he started, the game desperately needed those changes. Officiating was a mess and often biased. Antiquated rules were loosely interpreted and randomly enforced. Before Halas introduced him to the NFL, Ray worked with the officiating at the collegiate and high school levels. He began his career in the Big Ten in 1909. He was the top-rated official for over 30 years. He formed the Chicago Public High School League in 1912. He formed the American Officials Association (AOA) in 1917 in order to elevate officiating standards. The National Federation of High School Athletic Associations hired him to write a new set of football rules and train their officials. His "Play Situations Book" revolutionized the game by teaching rules by example. It was later renamed "Case Book." In 1932, Ray issued the first condensed football rule book in the history of High School football. He also issued a comprehensive set of safety rules. These were shared with the NCAA. The Pro Football Hall of Fame called his Rules Book "a masterpiece, a model for all future rule books at every level." By 1946, Ray's new playing rules and focus on player safety reduced serious football injuries by over 70% for the National Federation of High Schools. Even if he hadn't set foot on the NFL scene, Shorty Ray had changed football.

George Halas introduced Shorty Ray to the NFL in the early 1930s. In 1938, the NFL hired Ray as the first Technical Adviser on the Rules and Supervisor of  Officials. The NFL used the same set of rules as the NCAA up until 1932. In 1933, the professional league started taking a different path. Ray played a big role in clearing that path. The NFL wanted to open up the game. Ray's goals were to improve techniques of officiating, streamline rules, increase tempo, and increase safety. From 1933-52, Ray would author or co-author 200 new rules for the professional game. The NFL rule book was no longer the same as the one used in college. Ray termed his redesign of the game: "Football for the fans." Roger Goodell would be all over that. The rule changes opened up the game with modernized passing rules. Ray timed everything in order to find ways to increase tempo and expedite the official's handling of the game. His ideas increased the average plays per game by 25%, tripled the number of touchdowns per game, and quadrupled the average NFL attendance over the span of his career. He was the first to see the correlation between scoring and attendance. Ray's most significant rule change was the introduction of free substitution in 1949. Gone were the days of the 60-minute man. Enter football specialization. This was the most significant football rule change since the forward pass. It's impact on the game was obvious. It's impact on player safety might not have been immediately obvious but was as profound. He visited each team annually to educate players and coaches. As Supervisor of Officials, Shorty Ray demanded that his officials become masters of the rule book. Imagine that. He introduced written tests. The officials had to score at least 95%.

Hugh "Shorty" Ray retired in 1952. He died four years later. It's impossible to imagine an NFL without his contributions because his contributions are so vital to what the game has become. His fingerprints are everywhere. Ray was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966, the fourth Hall of Fame class.