Things from the old days you don't miss

[Evan]

One thing I don't miss is how when punters would punt from around midfield, they would aim for the corner but often sail the ball high in the air over the sideline, giving the side judge (if that is the right official -- Teo please help me if I'm wrong) the impossible task of judging where the ball crossed the sideline, running up the field from the end zone before making an abrupt but seemingly random stop at a point where he judged the ball crossed over the sideline.

Whenever I watch tennis now and see that hawkeye system creating a computer-generated animation of where a ball lands, I think that's what NFL officials looked like running up the sideline before picking a spot to mark the ball. I think the fan reaction is even similar, in tennis the crowd ramps up as the animated ball travels before landing in or out, drawing mixed cheers and boos, as the NFL crowds would roar as the official ran up the field, no one knowing where he would stop, before conclusively cheering or booing.

I guess this still happens with punts today, but it seems like now the strategy is nearly always to loft the ball straight down the middle of the field and have some coverage men down it before it crosses the goal line. I didn't seem like that happened much in the 70s and 80s.

[JuggernautJ]

One thing I don't miss is how when punters would punt from around midfield, they would aim for the corner but often sail the ball high in the air over the sideline, giving the side judge (if that is the right official -- Teo please help me if I'm wrong) the impossible task of judging where the ball crossed the sideline, running up the field from the end zone before making an abrupt but seemingly random stop at a point where he judged the ball crossed over the sideline.

I believe the spot is marked by the ref on the opposite sideline as he has better perspective and the ref on the side of the field on which the ball exited runs upfield until his opposite signals him to stop.

[Rupert Patrick]

One thing I don't miss is how when punters would punt from around midfield, they would aim for the corner but often sail the ball high in the air over the sideline, giving the side judge (if that is the right official -- Teo please help me if I'm wrong) the impossible task of judging where the ball crossed the sideline, running up the field from the end zone before making an abrupt but seemingly random stop at a point where he judged the ball crossed over the sideline.

I believe the spot is marked by the ref on the opposite sideline as he has better perspective and the ref on the side of the field on which the ball exited runs upfield until his opposite signals him to stop.

I think what they did is when this happened, is that one of the zebras had the responsibility to stand at the spot where the punter kicked the ball from, and the other guy would go to the spot where the ball first hit the ground. This guy would pick up the ball and start walking directly toward the ref standing where the punter kicked the ball from, and wherever he crossed the sideline would be the place where the ball went out of bounds.

[ChrisBabcock]

Not that I have any memory of these days so I can't "miss" it (I’m “only” 43 ) but I’m glad the uniform numbering rules by position was put in place. Otto Graham - 60, Sammy Baugh - 33, Alan Page - 88, etc. just look “wrong” to me.

[Gary Najman]

One thing I don't miss is how when punters would punt from around midfield, they would aim for the corner but often sail the ball high in the air over the sideline, giving the side judge (if that is the right official -- Teo please help me if I'm wrong) the impossible task of judging where the ball crossed the sideline, running up the field from the end zone before making an abrupt but seemingly random stop at a point where he judged the ball crossed over the sideline.

Whenever I watch tennis now and see that hawkeye system creating a computer-generated animation of where a ball lands, I think that's what NFL officials looked like running up the sideline before picking a spot to mark the ball. I think the fan reaction is even similar, in tennis the crowd ramps up as the animated ball travels before landing in or out, drawing mixed cheers and boos, as the NFL crowds would roar as the official ran up the field, no one knowing where he would stop, before conclusively cheering or booing.

I guess this still happens with punts today, but it seems like now the strategy is nearly always to loft the ball straight down the middle of the field and have some coverage men down it before it crosses the goal line. I didn't seem like that happened much in the 70s and 80s.

Yes, the side judge and in the other side of the field the back judge (until 1997, from 1998 they switch the name with the field judge) are the officials responsible for marking the spot when the punt goes out of bounds. Sometimes the officials took a long time to mark the spot, others went smoothly.

Speaking of the officials, do you remember when to mark a penalty, first the referee signalled the foul, then himself took the ball and placed it (example: if it was an offensive holding penalty, the referee walked 10 yards and placed the ball), then he put his mic on and call the penalty with the signal, the number of the player responsible, the length of the penalty and the down. Nowadays, the referee calls with his mic on when the flags are thrown, and another official places the ball. I believe they saved some time shortening the proccess.

[Gary Najman]

Not that I have any memory of these days so I can't "miss" it (I’m “only” 43 ) but I’m glad the uniform numbering rules by position was put in place. Otto Graham - 60, Sammy Baugh - 33, Alan Page - 88, etc. just look “wrong” to me.

I sort of liked in the early 80s when I saw WRs Charlie Joiner or Harold Carmichael with a number in the 10s instead of the 80s, or LB Brad Van Pelt with his #10 instead of a number in the 50s. Also CB Ken Riley with his #13, at the time I thought he was an original Bengal (he came in in the second year of the franchise). As for defensive linemen, I liked very much the 80s (Alan Page, Carl Eller, Jack Youngblood, Fred Dryer, Vern Den Herder and LB Ted Hendricks).

[Todd Pence]

The Raiders being a winning team.

[JWL]

Not that I have any memory of these days so I can't "miss" it (I’m “only” 43 ) but I’m glad the uniform numbering rules by position was put in place. Otto Graham - 60, Sammy Baugh - 33, Alan Page - 88, etc. just look “wrong” to me.

I actually like defensive linemen with numbers in the 80s. It looks more right to me than receivers having numbers in the 80s and I was born after the numeral system change of 1973(?). I was very pleased when wide receivers were allowed to wear numbers from 10-19 as of 2004.