Who invented the huddle? The story is muddled

[snopes]

Who was first to gather football players some distance behind the line of scrimmage to call the next play? Gather all the candidates for the inventors of it and you might get flagged for too many men in the huddle:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/colle...N.htm#invented

[RivkahChaya]

Boy, don't tell anyone at Gallaudet it was invented anywhere else. Everyone knows this story, even people who can't tell a football from-- hmmm...name something that doesn't look like a football. Anyway, Gally grads are very proud of the huddle.

[Towknie]

I hate the spread offense with a deep seated passion usually reserved for war criminals and puppy kickers. That is all.

[snopes]

Comment: Did the football huddle really originate at Gallaudet University
for deaf students? It is widely believed they started it to conceal their
sign language hand signals from the opposing team.

[MegansMom]

Don't forget Gallaudet folks also take credit for baseball umpires' signals for balls,strikes, "safe", and "out" due to the legendary (at Gallaudet) Dummy Hoy.

[Ali Infree]

Re: Dummy Hoy, as noted in the link, there were a number of deaf players in major league baseball in the early days, many of whom had the nickname, Dummy. Just like Native American players being called Chief. Don't it make you longer for those simpler, insensitive times?

BTW: no ideas about the huddle--I think players just needed to keep signals and play away from the opposing team and be able to hear them.

Ali "Chubbs" Infree