Triple threat man

:"For use in professional wrestling, see Triple Threat; for the game show, see Triple Threat (game show)"

In college football, the phrase triple threat man refers to a player who excels at all three of the skills of running, passing, and kicking.

Football's first triple threat

in football history in 1906, was undoubtedly the first "triple threat man". He was the Blue and White's premier passer, their principal kicker and a standout runner.

"St. Louis Post-Dispatch" sportswriter Ed Wray (John Edward Wray, 1873-1961) [ [http://www.mosportshalloffame.com/inductee_detail/Ed+Wray/184?month_offset=-3 Missouri Sports Hall of Fame Entry for Ed Wray] ] 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) 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."

Robinson's prowess as a ballcarrier was particularly noted by a Columbia, Missouri reporter after a November 11, 1904 victory over the University of Missouri: "Robinson and (John) Kinney, the halfbacks of the visiting team were the fastest seen here in years and the Tigers seemed unable to stop them." Another writer at the game observed that Robinson's "offensive play was fast and in running back punts he gained much ground for his team, besides tackling well while on defensive." The "St. Louis Globe-Democrat" added, "Robinson's return of punts electrified the spectators time and time again. He was always good for a gain of 20 yards or more."

The development of a triple threat man among the major powers awaited their adoption of the forward pass, which had been pioneered by Robinson's coach at St. Louis, Eddie Cochems. St. Louis was geographically isolated from both the dominating teams of the era and the major sports media (newspapers)... all centered in and focused on the East. As a result, the revolutionary offense at St. Louis was not immeditately emulated.

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…”. [ [http://www.slu.edu/readstory/more/7166 St. Louis University Article on the Centennial of the Forward Pass] ]

Triple threat in the East

Recognizing this eastern bias, it is not surprising that a football historian states that the key development occurred in 1912 when Carlise coach Pop Warner "sprang his single wing or 'Carlisle' formation on the football world, and the triple-threat back was born." [cite book|title=The Anatomy of a Game: Football, the Rules, and the Men Who Made the Game|first=David M.|last=Nelson|publisher=University of Delaware Press|year=1994|id=ISBN 0874134552, [http://books.google.com/books?vid=ISBN0874134552&id=OmwfnipKuogC&pg=PA156&lpg=PA156&sig=yv9laEI7tvftp9CUlkVCUkFRUSU p. 156] ]

The term was used frequently by sportwriters in the 1920s and thereafter. Thus a 1920 "New York Times" article reports that 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]

Other triple threats

Triple threat is a term also used in basketball when a player with the ball is in a position near the three point line to launch three different offensives. The player may shoot from the current position, pass to another player closer to the basket, or drive the ball themselves to score a closer shot.

The term "triple threat man" subsequently became popular as a way of describing any man with three conspicuous talents, e.g.:When "Sail Away," the first of the new season's big musical, berths Tuesday night at the Broadhurst, there will be a program line you don't see often these days. It is the crediting of words, music, and direction to a single name. The name in this instance—and of course—is Noël Coward, a triple threat from 'way back. [Nichols, Lewis (1961), "Triple Threat. Coward Yields Fourth Post in New Show." "The New York Times, October 1, 1961, p. X1. Nichols goes on to note that Coward had formerly been a "quadruple threat" but, in this show, is not also performing.] "Triple threat" is a common way of describing any situation that the phrase literally fits, e.g.":Islam is often portrayed as a triple threat: political, civilizational [sic] , and demographic. [] The expression triple threat is commonly used in the performing arts to describe a performer who is equally talented at singing, acting, and dancing.

ee also

*Bradbury Robinson
*A Triple Threat Man (story by P. G. Wodehouse)

ources

*St. Louis University archives
*Memoirs and scrapbook of Bradbury Robinson, 1903-1949

References