Surferosa
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And finally, some fascinating history about the progression of Flankers and Ends, commonly known as Wide Receivers in the NFL (also, courtesy www.buccaneers.com).
The following historical information is not intended to be comprehensive, and it probably glosses over some fine details. But for the sake of brevity (ha, ha), I’m going to give you the condensed version as I know it.
In the early days, when the running game dominated and passing wasn’t much more than a novelty, the two players who lined up outside the tackles were called “ends.†They could catch the ball, but they rarely did, usually just providing more blocking for the backs.
The 1920s and especially the 30s were a time of innovation, however, much of it by Chicago’s George Halas. Teams started to spread their ends out in the ‘20s. For instance, Knute Rockne developed a formation he called the “Notre Dame Box,†and in the description of this attack it is said that he used “slightly split ends.†I think you can see where that term comes from.
In the 1930s, a coach from the University of Chicago named Clark Shaughnessy began to help Halas with the Bears, who used a T formation. Shaughnessy would split an end to one side, then move one of the backs in motion out to the other side, giving him two wide receivers and one tight end. That was the first approximation of the modern pro set, though it would not become standard for another 20 years. Anyway, this back who was split out to the side opposite the split end was sometimes referred to as a flankerback, and he was usually a bit off the line of scrimmage.
The term end was still in wide use for receivers through the 60s; check the write-ups for the early Super Bowls and you’ll see players such as Max McGee and Raymond Berry referred to as ends. In fact, the All-Pro team didn’t start using the designation of WR for receivers on their year-end list until 1970.
The following historical information is not intended to be comprehensive, and it probably glosses over some fine details. But for the sake of brevity (ha, ha), I’m going to give you the condensed version as I know it.
In the early days, when the running game dominated and passing wasn’t much more than a novelty, the two players who lined up outside the tackles were called “ends.†They could catch the ball, but they rarely did, usually just providing more blocking for the backs.
The 1920s and especially the 30s were a time of innovation, however, much of it by Chicago’s George Halas. Teams started to spread their ends out in the ‘20s. For instance, Knute Rockne developed a formation he called the “Notre Dame Box,†and in the description of this attack it is said that he used “slightly split ends.†I think you can see where that term comes from.
In the 1930s, a coach from the University of Chicago named Clark Shaughnessy began to help Halas with the Bears, who used a T formation. Shaughnessy would split an end to one side, then move one of the backs in motion out to the other side, giving him two wide receivers and one tight end. That was the first approximation of the modern pro set, though it would not become standard for another 20 years. Anyway, this back who was split out to the side opposite the split end was sometimes referred to as a flankerback, and he was usually a bit off the line of scrimmage.
The term end was still in wide use for receivers through the 60s; check the write-ups for the early Super Bowls and you’ll see players such as Max McGee and Raymond Berry referred to as ends. In fact, the All-Pro team didn’t start using the designation of WR for receivers on their year-end list until 1970.
