Like many great innovations, his can be traced to a problem.
Twisted hips.
On the sandlots near his Birmingham home in the years prior to World War II, young Harry Gilmer liked to throw the football on the run. Somewhere along the way, more out of instinct than any grand design, he discovered that he could overcome the awkward twisting of his hips, and the mechanical problems caused by such contortions, by jumping off the ground before rifling the ball.
“It just seemed like a natural thing to do,” recalled the 83-year-old Gilmer, who lives on a farm near St. Louis. “Found that I could throw with the same motion leaping as standing still.”
Long before Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow imported the maneuver to the 21st century, Alabama’s Harry Gilmer was synonymous with the jump pass.
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http://www.crimsonreplay.com/pf.php
Twisted hips.
On the sandlots near his Birmingham home in the years prior to World War II, young Harry Gilmer liked to throw the football on the run. Somewhere along the way, more out of instinct than any grand design, he discovered that he could overcome the awkward twisting of his hips, and the mechanical problems caused by such contortions, by jumping off the ground before rifling the ball.
“It just seemed like a natural thing to do,” recalled the 83-year-old Gilmer, who lives on a farm near St. Louis. “Found that I could throw with the same motion leaping as standing still.”
Long before Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow imported the maneuver to the 21st century, Alabama’s Harry Gilmer was synonymous with the jump pass.
Click here to Keep Reading:
http://www.crimsonreplay.com/pf.php
