Elmer Berry

Biographical details

Portrait of Elmer Berry Elmer Berry,  The Forward Pass in Football

“ And then they wonder that the forward pass doesn’t succeed and stigmatize it as a dangerous, treacherous and unsuccessful play! Rather a team must have the confidence to use it often on first and second downs, and even on special, occasions on a fourth down. Not only that, but it must be used frequently, persistently and continuously. Nothing more disturbs the morale of defense than a series of forward passes, some of which succeed even though a considerable proportion of them are incompleted. There is always the danger that one may succeed and get away! ”
Source: Gutenberg

Portrait of Elmer Berry Elmer Berry,  The Forward Pass in Football

“ The execution of a good spiral forward pass is a thing of real beauty and art. It holds the eye of spectators and players alike. It is to football what the home run is to baseball. The soaring flight of a sixty-yard spiral is like the rushing swoop of the daring aviator in its charm and interest. To produce it the player must have a good arm, master the knack of it and give long and earnest practice.
Practically all passes of more than five yards are executed as spirals.
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Source: Gutenberg

Portrait of Elmer Berry Elmer Berry,  The Forward Pass in Football

“ The fact is that a team with anything like a mechanical perfection in the passing game, and any ability to select its men as above indicated, simply cannot be stopped in mid-field. The greatest single fault and the one thing that stops most teams, outside of mechanical failure, is the failure of eligible men to spread widely enough. Too often two or three eligible men go to the same zone or area and a pass to any one of the three can be covered by a single defensive player. Instinctively every man on the offense tries to be where he expects the ball to go. ”
Source: Gutenberg

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