70s-80s football offensive line movements

Factual Questions
1

I can’t sleep, so I’m watching Super Bowl XIII, the 1979 game won by the Steelers. As you might imagine, I’m enjoying it, even though I was 9 days shy of 3 at the time. But I digress.

I have observed that both teams, the Steelers to a much lesser extent, had offensive lines that “reset” a second or so before the snap. The Cowboys, when they did it, appeared to nearly stand up straight before getting back into position. I also recall seeing them doing it well into the 1980s, and I recall seeing people imitating the motion during pickup football games when I was a kid. Nowadays, such motion would be illegal. Which leaves me wondering about a few things.

First: was it simply an attempt to mask the snap? They did it immediately before the ball was snapped, so I would think that it would be more of a detriment in that case.

Second: was it an attempt to draw the other team offsides? I can see that it might be, especially in light of the rigid motion rules currently in effect.

Third: was this sort of motion common with all teams, or is it just that I’m seeing the only two teams in the league that did it?

Last: when did this fall out of favor and/or become illegal? Nowadays you get set and if you even rock back the slightest amount you get flagged. Back then they all but stood up. I’d imagine that it made it tough to play defense because you had to be careful that you didn’t flinch and go offsides.

I found a cite here that says it was nothing more than a “gimmick”, but based upon the game I’m watching it appears that pre-snap motion was common, so I’m not willing to chalk it up to that quite so easily.

Also, just as a random gripe: man, it used to annoy the hell out of me when they used to play that stupid fanfare before Every. Single. Offensive. Play at Texas Stadium. It made it so hard to watch the Cowboys on television, a kind of early equivalent of the stupid chant that they do during Florida State games. Just another reason to hate the 'Girls, I guess. But I digress again.

So, any ideas?

2

I always assumed that the Cowboys offensive line was standing up to get a better look at the defensive alignment. The linemen couldn’t come out of a three point stance and stand up back in the 1970s either. So they were likely just crouching, then would stand up, check the defense to see who they should block, and then go down into a three-point stance.

Even while in a three point stance, offensive linemen will do some pointing, especially the center, to help figure out where the defense is lining up and to adjust blocking schemes.

As for the Cowboys of that era doing something annoying, well, what else would you expect?

3

They Cowboys used to do that routinely in the 60s and 70s under Landry. The idea was to line up one way, then shift to a different offensive alignment just before the snap. It was allowed as long as everyone shifted at once.

It’s mentioned in Wikipedia: See the last line.

It certainly could draw teams offside the first time they saw it, but that wasn’t the main purpose. It evidently worked well enough for other teams to use it, though no one did it more than the Cowboys.

4

Ah, yes. The ol’ Dallas Cowboys line bob. God how I hated that. And don’t get me started on the multiple shifts in the backfield. Just line up and snap the ball, for crying out loud!

I don’t think it served any real purpose, Landry just thought it looked good. Kind of like synchronized swimming, or drill team maneuvers. And when you saw it, you knew you were watching the Cowboys. But, perhaps it did serve as a way of helping the linemen focus on their timing as a group.

As for the legality of it, it does pass muster. If you watch carefully you’ll notice that when the line initially sets up, nobody goes into a full 3-point stance (except the center), they just bend over and rest their forearms on their thighs. Then, at some predetermined signal (we used “Down” as in “Down, set, hut, hut”) they would all bob upright, adjust their package as necessary, then get into the 3-point stance. Once their hand is down, and they are set, movement is a no-no. As a side note, the center can move around, point, etc., until the rest of the line gets set, even though he’ll usually have his hand on the ball in something approaching a 3-point stance. But once the rest of the line is set, he can’t move either. And everybody, except for a single “man in motion”, must remain in the set position and motionless for at least one full second before the snap, or they will draw a flag.

SC

5

I didn’t realize adjusting their package was part of the lore! :wink:

In YAFL football (early 90’s), our team used to use the “down, set, hut” thing, too. We’d go up to the line with our hands on our knees. At “down”, we’d rest our forearms on our knees. At “set”, we’d get into our 3-point stance. We’d always go “on one” or “on two”, unless it was a 3rd or 4th down conversion at a critical point in the game. Then we’d go on “down” or “set”. This gave the QB an extra split second to do whatever play was called, catching the defence off-guard (being so young, it usually worked. I can’t see it working as well in the NFL). I think it was legal because even though we weren’t in a 3-point, we were effectively “set” at the time the ball was snapped.

6

Well, maybe that was just me.

SC