Mass Momentum Plays

In the early days of football, with rules restricting open-field running, play became centered on the area where the ball was put into play. Wedge formations were the rage among the colleges competing in the emerging sport. In 1889, Walter Camp’s modified wedge at Yale became known as the “shoving wedge.” Football historian Alexander Weyand described Camp’s “shoving wedge” in The Saga of American Football:

The players ranged themselves in a wedge with only the center on the line of scrimmage. Each man placed his hands on the hips of the man in front. When the ball was snapped, the players closed in tight and shoved. The ball carrier was protected on all sides. 

Sound familiar? Other than “only the center on the line of scrimmage,” that is the formation and play that the Philadelphia Eagles ran to fantastic success in short yardage situations last season. In the 1880s, football teams didn’t have to position seven players on the line of scrimmage. The Eagles adapted the formation to today’s rules. 

There’s a reason that Camp’s formation, strategy, and play hasn’t been used for 120 years. It’s illegal. It was made illegal for a simple reason. In 1890, 23 players died on the football field. In 1891, it was 22. In 1892, it was 26. That pattern continued into the 1900s. Injuries are a part of football. Injuries will always be a part of football. It’s a violent game. In the early decades, it was more than violent. The game was deadly. After 19 players had been killed and 159 critically injured playing the game in 1905, President Theodore Roosevelt ordered the decision-makers of football to change the game or see it abolished by Executive Order. 

Camp’s “shoving wedge” and all mass momentum plays were tossed from the game. These plays were gone for more than a century until Nick Sirianni and his coaches dusted it off. No matter how much flattery is tossed at the Eagles for their innovation, they weren’t innovative with their short-yardage play. They revived a play that was banned from football. That’s the reason it hasn’t been a playbook staple. This mass momentum play is illegal. 

Today’s football decision-makers had a decision to make this offseason. The question of whether to allow the Eagles, and the rest of the league, to deploy this dangerous play moving forward was on the table. The word around the campfire was that those decision-makers decided that the Eagles shouldn’t be punished for their fantastic success with the play. It’s one of those decisions that’s “shocking, not shocking.” The league has repeatedly shown that it doesn’t really care about player safety. In this case, the league also shows that it knows nothing or doesn’t care about the game’s past. The Eagles’ mass momentum play has been illegal in football since 1906. The NFL is a “copy-cat” league. This play will spread around the league. It’ll continue until one of the game’s franchise quarterbacks is seriously hurt. It will happen and the league could’ve/should’ve prevented it.