hen we last left off in our series, we were reviewing 1894: A group headed by Walter Camp of Yale was trying to tame the game by eliminating the mass momentum plays. The mass momentum plays were a common strategy of the time when groups of offensive players, sometimes numbering as many as ten, would start off several yards behind the ball before the snap. They would be bunched together in different formations, sometimes a "V" shape or even a circular pattern, and would run together in formation timed with the snap to use their momentum to collapse a predetermined section of the defense.

That tactic caused widespread injury, as you can imagine. Players were becoming severely battered due to the brutal style of play. That is why schools like Yale and Princeton wanted the mass momentum plays banned from the game.