he 1906 and 1907 seasons saw only a few teams trying the newly incorporated forward pass into their offensive schemes. The risks in those days almost always outweighed the rewards since, by rule, an incomplete pass was a turnover.
The rulemakers of the Intercollegiate and Conference Committees in 1908 and 1909 set out to make the forward pass more user friendly in the hope that it would entice teams to use the weapon more often. Even so, there were opponents of the forward pass who also lobbied for rules to deter teams from that weapon.
The March 1908 convention
The first passing rule revision also included the outcome when any loose ball touched an official. The change made the ball dead the instant it struck an official, and the down would be replayed.
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