The Pyramid Play is a defensive play in

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

, where a defensive player is hoisted up by two other players in an effort to block a

place kick The place kick is a type of kicking play commonly used in American football, association football (soccer), Canadian football, rugby league, and rugby union. Gridiron football Place kicks are used in American football and Canadian football for ...

attempt by the opposing team. The play was created and implemented by the 1933 Oregon State Agricultural College team (now known as

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

Origin

The play originated as a playful prank during an OSAC practice session. While the offense was practicing a place kick, the pranksters decided to give it a shot. Their prank was actually successful at blocking the kick. This success did not go without notice. OSAC's head coach,

Lon Stiner Alonzo L. "Lon" Stiner (June 20, 1903 – March 8, 1985) was an American football player and coach. He was the head coach at Oregon State College—now Oregon State University—from 1933 to 1948, compiling a record of 74–49–17. Stiner led th ...

, decided that maybe his boys had discovered something and decided to add the play to the team's repertoire.

Implementation

The Pyramid Play was first used unsuccessfully in a game on October 28, 1933, against

Washington State College Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant univer ...

(now Washington State University) without much fanfare. The play was used again on November 11, 1933, against the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

during the annual

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

game at Multnomah Stadium, now

Providence Park Providence Park (formerly Jeld-Wen Field; PGE Park; Civic Stadium; originally Multnomah Stadium; and from 1893 until the stadium was built, Multnomah Field) is an outdoor soccer venue located in the Goose Hollow neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. ...

. The Beavers had a 6'5" (1.97 m) center named Clyde Devine and two 6'2" (1.88 m) tackles named Harry Fields and Ade Schwammel. The two tackles hoisted Devine upon their shoulders. With the combination of their height and Devine's long arm span, they succeeded in blocking one of Oregon's two kicks. The play is "probably the most notorious on-field shenanigan" in the history of the Civil War game. Oregon State also successfully used the play again to help defeat the

Fordham Rams The Fordham Rams are the varsity sports teams for Fordham University. Their colors are maroon and white. The Fordham Rams are members of NCAA Division I and compete in the Atlantic 10 Conference for most sports. In football, the Rams play in t ...

9-6 on November 18, 1933 at the

Polo Grounds The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...

Publicity

''Oregon Journal'' staff photographer Ralph Vincent managed to capture the use of the play in the 1933 Civil War with his

Graflex Graflex was a manufacturer that gave its brand name to several models of camera. The company was founded as the ''Folmer and Schwing Manufacturing Company'' in New York City in 1887 by William F. Folmer and William E. Schwing as a metal working ...

camera. Instantly, Vincent, his photo, and the OAC Beavers were thrust into national attention. The photo quickly appeared in the ''Saturday Evening Post'' and other eastern newspapers. Discussion of the play heated up quickly with sportswriters arguing whether the play was good or not for the game of football. Some simply labeled the play a 'sports trick'. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, it was reported that

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

distributed copies of the image around

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

as an example of the “brutality of

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

sports.”

After effects

The

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

decided to ban the use of the play upon the conclusion of the 1933 season. That ruling is still in effect.

References

External links

Ralph Vincent's photograph of the play
- from the OSU archives {{American football strategy Oregon State Beavers football American football plays