The National Forgotten League

By Dan DalyExcerpted by permission from The National Forgotten League: Entertaining Stories and Observations from Pro Football’s First Fifty Years by Dan Daly. Copyright (c) 2012 by Dan Daly. Published by University of Nebraska Press. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher. Available wherever books are sold or via University of Nebraska Press (1-800-848-6224).   George Halas – Papa Bear – is the man most closely associated with the T formation, but it’s coaching legend Amos Alonzo Stagg who’s credited with inventing it (at Yale in the 1880’s). Everybody used the T in the early days; there was no other offense. In the original formation, the quarterback was positioned a yard back of center, and the fullback and two halfbacks lined up in a straight line behind him, forming a T.