 
Football History Was Made
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What football fans in St. Louis may not know is an important contribution that Saint Louis University and its old coach, Eddie Cochems, made to the sport.
In its Dec. 31 edition, USA Today highlighted the sports milestones of the 20th century by noting that in 1913 "Notre Dame unveils the forward pass."
This may be true, but the first forward pass in football actually was thrown in 1906 by Saint Louis University's football team. It took place on Sept. 5, 1906, in a game pitting SLU against Carroll College in Waukesha, Wis.
The first pass was made possible following a rule change. Critics of football complained the sport was too violent, with even Theodore Roosevelt joining in on the debate. This led to a rule change to include the forward pass, which was thought could eliminate the pounding taken by running backs and open up the offense.
Under the leadership of Cochems and his employment of the new-fangled forward pass, the football team completed a perfect 11-0 season in which they outscored opponents 407-11.
By the way, the first forward pass was thrown by Brad Robinson to Jack Schneider. It was an incompletion.
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