Goal Posts

[Sonny9]

"Not much changed for the next 33 years until 1966 when a resolution was adopted by the NFL owners that required the goal posts to be offset from the goal line and should extend 20 feet in the air."

1939 Championship game. The goal posts are offset. I wonder why it didn't kick in to keep them that way?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH5MepVfIXw

[RichardBak]

Good question, and a good subject for a Coffin Corner article.

btw---that's the Dairy Bowl, the stadium inside the Milwaukee Mile racetrack that GB used to play in during the '30s and '40s. Don't know if that had anything at all to do with it. Let our Packers experts chime in.

[JohnTurney]

"Not much changed for the next 33 years until 1966 when a resolution was adopted by the NFL owners that required the goal posts to be offset from the goal line and should extend 20 feet in the air."

1939 Championship game. The goal posts are offset. I wonder why it didn't kick in to keep them that way?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xH5MepVfIXw

Stadiums used them later ... the offset legs. The rule you are talking about is the invention of the Y-shape (one leg) rather than the H-shape. There were offset H-shapes in the NFL way before 1966. The rule you are talking about also made them yellow --- they were white before.

Others can fill in the details ... I am not that familiar with it, but the offset you are seeing did increase in usage.

[rhickok1109]

The goalposts in Green Bay's old City Stadium were always offset like that. I saw my first game there in 1946 (I was 7 years old) and I was at every home game from 1947 through 1954.

[RichardBak]

Anecdotally...I remember once reading somewhere (maybe an article from the '30s or '40s) that the reason the NFL didn't move the posts to the back of the EZ (as college teams had, evidently sometime in the '20s) was because it wanted to cut down on the number of tie games. Placekicking being what it was back then, those 10 extra yards made a big difference when it came to attempting a FG.

[rhickok1109]

Here's a 1946 postcard of City Stadium. If you look closely, you can see the offset.
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/109704940901796831/

[Bob Gill]

Anecdotally...I remember once reading somewhere (maybe an article from the '30s or '40s) that the reason the NFL didn't move the posts to the back of the EZ (as college teams had, evidently sometime in the '20s) was because it wanted to cut down on the number of tie games. Placekicking being what it was back then, those 10 extra yards made a big difference when it came to attempting a FG.

Those 10 yards sure did make a difference.

At the birth of the NFL in 1920, the league had the goal posts on the goal line. I'm not quite sure how they managed to do that in all cases, since sometimes the teams were playing on college fields, but anyway that was the rule. Then in 1927 the league decided to move the posts back to the end line, and the result was disastrous for kickers. NFL teams kicked 62 field goals in 1926; over the next six years, from 1927-32, they kicked a grand total of 63. Extra points were just about as bad. Just looking at 1929's top scorers, Benny Friedman made 20 of 31, Red Dunn made 11 of 20, and Ernie Nevers made 10 of 19.

Finally, in 1933 they moved the posts back to the goal line, as one of the package of rule changes designed to open up the game. By 1934 the number of field goals was up to 45, and the trend has basically continued ever since.

[Sonny9]

Stadiums used them later ... the offset legs. The rule you are talking about is the invention of the Y-shape (one leg) rather than the H-shape. There were offset H-shapes in the NFL way before 1966. The rule you are talking about also made them yellow --- they were white before.

Others can fill in the details ... I am not that familiar with it, but the offset you are seeing did increase in usage.

I was curious as to why the offset wasn't used league wide. 1964 NFL Championship Colts v Browns they are not offset. (hardly any padding on them too!)

[GameBeforeTheMoney]

Might not have been a league wide rule because stadiums were multi-use, the NFL might not have had the resources to put it in league wide. Just a guess.

The extension of the goal posts in 1966 was because of the 1965 Western Division Playoff between Green Bay and Baltimore. Jim Tunney was the official under the goal post and ruled the tying field goal by Green Bay's Don Chandler as good - and the game went into overtime. Then, as still today, if any part of the ball goes over the goal post, it's good, and it's a judgement call by the official. So, they raised the goal post 10 feet higher for 1966. The NFL raised the goal posts higher many years later after a Justin Tucker field goal went over the upright and it was good.

This history of goal posts interested me quite a bit when I first started my blog and I learned a lot while researching. In writing it I found the patent for Joel Rottman's sling shot goal post which included padding. If anyone's interested, it's here:

https://www.thegamebeforethemoney.com/goalposts/

[JohnTurney]

I was curious as to why the offset wasn't used league wide. 1964 NFL Championship Colts v Browns they are not offset. (hardly any padding on them too!)
[/quote]

I don't know---I do know the 1967 rule came about with the invention of the single-leg Y-shaped post. They were new ... 1966 -- I think used in college and for sure the CFL.

Maybe some teams didn't have full control of their fields, shared with colleges, cities, and it wasn't until 1966 that it became practical? Honestly don't know, only that the offset does not seem to be the whole issue, the single-leg may have been the real attraction, that and the added height, and the yellow finish ... kind of a big deal, game-changing.

Perhaps --- just spitballing -- the offset what not seen as a problem --- both on the line or offset was still two legs in the middle of plays