![RobinsonThrowing](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/RobinsonThrowing.jpg)
In
gridiron football, a triple-threat man is a player who excels at all three of the skills of running, passing, and kicking. In modern usage, such a player would be referred to as a
utility player.
Triple-threat men were the norm in the early days of football, as substitution rules were stringent. Thus, in addition to the need for
passing,
running
Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion allowing humans and other animals to move rapidly on foot. Running is a type of gait characterized by an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is ...
, and
kicking
A kick is a physical strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee strike). This type of at ...
skills, they were also required to
play defense. As injury awareness grew and substitution rules loosened, teams shifted to
kicking specialists, which made the triple-threat man obsolete. One of the last triple-threat men in professional football was
George Blanda
George Frederick Blanda (September 17, 1927 – September 27, 2010) was an American football placekicker and quarterback who played professionally in the American Football League (AFL) and National Football League (NFL). Blanda played 26 seaso ...
, a
quarterback
The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
and kicker who last played for the
Oakland Raiders of the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
in 1975.
Danny White
Wilford Daniel White (born February 9, 1952) is a former quarterback and Punter (football), punter for the Dallas Cowboys and an American football coach in the Arena Football League. He has been the color commentator for Cowboys games on Compas ...
, a quarterback and punter, retired in 1989. Since then, non-specialists have placekicked only extremely infrequently in the NFL. One instance occurred when
Doug Flutie
Douglas Richard Flutie (born October 23, 1962) is an American former football quarterback whose professional career spanned 21 seasons. He played 12 seasons in the National Football League (NFL), eight seasons in the Canadian Football League (CF ...
—also adept at both running and passing as a "scrambling" quarterback—
drop kicked an extra point in 2006 during the last play of his career.
Danny White
Wilford Daniel White (born February 9, 1952) is a former quarterback and Punter (football), punter for the Dallas Cowboys and an American football coach in the Arena Football League. He has been the color commentator for Cowboys games on Compas ...
of the
Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divi ...
was the last non-specialist to kick on a regular basis, as he served as the team's starting quarterback and punter from 1980 until 1984, after several years as backup to
Roger Staubach
Roger Thomas Staubach (, -; , -; born February 5, 1942), nicknamed "Roger the Dodger", "Captain America", and "Captain Comeback", is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for ...
. There are, however, still dual-threat quarterbacks and
wildcat
The wildcat is a species complex comprising two small wild cat species: the European wildcat (''Felis silvestris'') and the African wildcat (''F. lybica''). The European wildcat inhabits forests in Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus, while th ...
halfbacks, who can both run and pass. A quarterback who played wide receiver in high school or college may sparingly catch passes or be converted into a wide receiver who occasionally passes.
For over forty years the NFL single-season scoring record was held by a triple-threat man, Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer
Paul Hornung
Paul Vernon Hornung (December 23, 1935 – November 13, 2020), nicknamed "the Golden Boy", was an American professional football player who was a Hall of Fame running back for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL) from 195 ...
. Hornung set a record of 176 points in 1960 by scoring fifteen touchdowns, kicking forty-one extra points, and also kicking fifteen field goals.
Football's first triple threat
Saint Louis University's Bradbury Robinson, who threw the first legal
forward pass
In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridir ...
in football history in 1906, was undoubtedly the first "triple-threat man". He was the Blue and White's premier passer and sportswriters of the era reported that he "excelled" as a kicker and was an "electrifying" runner.
''
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a major regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the ''Belleville News-De ...
'' sportswriter Ed Wray (John Edward Wray, 1873–1961) covered SLU football throughout Robinson's career. In an October 1947 column, Wray declared that the title of "first triple-threat man" belonged to Robinson "because throughout the 1906 season (St. Louis coach
Eddie Cochems
Edward Bulwer Cochems (; February 4, 1877 – April 9, 1953) was an American football player and coach. He played football for the University of Wisconsin from 1898 to 1901 and was the head football coach at North Dakota Agricultural College—no ...
) used Robinson to pass, kick and run the ball... He was an A1 punter, too... And run!... This three way use of Robby added greatly to the team's offensive deception."
Referee
Horatio B. Hackett
Col. Horatio Balch Hackett, Jr. (May 8, 1880 – September 8, 1941) was a leading Americans, American architect and construction executive, a college football player and Official (American football), official, a decorated combat veteran of World ...
of
West Point
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...
was amazed by Robinson’s passing, having first witnessed his play at a St. Louis game in 1906. Hackett was a recognized expert, having officiated major college games for three decades and as a member of football's rules committee. In 1932, ''
The Minneapolis Star
The ''Star Tribune'' is the largest newspaper in Minnesota. It originated as the ''Minneapolis Tribune'' in 1867 and the competing ''Minneapolis Daily Star'' in 1920. During the 1930s and 1940s, Minneapolis's competing newspapers were consolida ...
'' quoted Major Hackett as saying of Robinson's passing: "Whew, that chap is a wonder! He beats anything I ever saw. He looks as though 40 yards is dead for him, and he's got accuracy with it."
Hall of Fame coach
David M. Nelson (1920–1991) wrote that “St. Louis had a great passer in Brad Robinson.” In his book ''The Anatomy of a Game: Football, the Rules, and the Men Who Made the Game'', Nelson marveled that Robinson threw a 67-yard pass in the 1906 season. “Considering the size, shape and weight of the ball”, Nelson concluded, such a pass was “extraordinary”.
Sports historian
John Sayle Watterson
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second ...
agreed. In his book, ''College Football: History, Spectacle, Controversy'', he described Robinson's long pass as "truly a breathtaking achievement". Professor Watterson added that, "Robinson ended up using passes that ranged from thirty to more than forty yards with devastating efficiency".
Robinson was also the Blue & White's principal kicker. One sports journalist of the time opined that, "of the local kickers, Robinson of St. Louis easily excels all others. He is good for at least 45 yards every time he puts his toe to the ball and some of his punts have gone 60 yards."
Triple threat in the East
On November 24, 1906,
Yale's Paul Veeder completed a 20 to 30-yard pass in a 6-0 win over
Harvard. As an outstanding runner and Yale's kicking specialist during his career, Veeder may have assumed the mantle of "triple threat" that Saturday before a crowd of some 32,000 at
New Haven
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...
.
The development of a true triple-threat man among the Eastern powers awaited their adoption of the
forward pass
In several forms of football, a forward pass is the throwing of the ball in the direction in which the offensive team is trying to move, towards the defensive team's goal line. The forward pass is one of the main distinguishers between gridir ...
as it had been pioneered at Saint Louis.
Knute Rockne, who popularized the forward pass at
Notre Dame in the mid-1910s, observed, “One would have thought that so effective a play would have been instantly copied and become the vogue. The East, however, had not learned much or cared much about Midwest and Western football. Indeed, the East scarcely realized that football existed beyond the Alleghanies…”.
Coach Nelson writes that the concept really took hold in 1912 when
Carlisle coach
Pop Warner
Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871 – September 7, 1954), most commonly known as Pop Warner, was an American college football coach at various institutions who is responsible for several key aspects of the modern game. Included among his inn ...
"sprang his single wing or 'Carlisle' formation on the football world, and the triple-threat back was born."
The term "triple threat" was used frequently by sportswriters in the 1920s and thereafter. A 1920 ''New York Times'' article reports that such a player
:is well built, tall, and possessed apparently of natural football ability. He is a first-class punter, an excellent drop kicker, an adept thrower of forward passes and a hard, fast runner. He would be the ideal triple-threat man for the backfield.
["Progress by Columbia. Students See Football Gain in First Season Under O'Neill." ''The New York Times,'' November 23, 1920, p. 22]
See also
*
Bradbury Robinson
Bradbury Norton Robinson Jr. (February 1, 1884 – March 7, 1949) was a pioneering American football player, physician, nutritionist, conservationist and local politician. He played college football at the University of Wisconsin in 1903 and a ...
*
A Triple Threat Man (story by
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...
)
*
Vic Janowicz
Victor Felix Janowicz (February 26, 1930 – February 27, 1996) was an American football halfback in the National Football League for the Washington Redskins. He played college football at Ohio State University and was drafted in the seve ...
*
Chic Harley
Charles Wesley "Chic" Harley (September 15, 1895 – April 21, 1974) was an American football player and athlete, often credited with bringing Ohio State University's football program to national attention. Harley was Ohio State's first consens ...
Sources
*
Saint Louis University archives
*Memoirs and scrapbook of Bradbury Robinson, 1903–1949
References
{{American football positions
American football terminology