Both!
On Oct. 26, 1907, the “single wing” offense was unleashed on UPenn by Pop Warner and the Carlisle Indians. With the center able to snap the ball to three backs (TB, FB, QB), the options of run, handoff or pass were endless. The birth of the single wing (now called the “wildcat”) transformed football from a move-the-pile brawl, to the fast, open game we watch today.
On that fateful day in 1907, what did the single wing do to No. 4 ranked UPenn? Two stats tell it. Carlisle had 402 yards to Penn’s 76, and 22 first downs to Penn’s 3. The Philadelphia Press told it this way:
“With racial savagery and ferocity the Carlisle Indian eleven grabbed Penn’s football scalp and dragged their victim up and down Franklin Field, not relinquishing their grip until the seventy minutes of the time allotted to the process was up and the figures 26 to 6 told the tale.”
No matter how ugly you spin it – Carlisle had opponents on and off the field – Carlisle gave us a new game. So, next time Oct. 26 rolls around, wish modern football a “Happy Birthday!”
Next: Indian Trouble at New York’s Polo Grounds
