the.com/halfback
The player trusted to run through a wall of men who are paid to stop him.
means A player positioned behind the forward line who carries or receives the ball to run, block, or catch — the all-purpose backfield runner in football and rugby.
from Straightforward compound of 'half' and 'back,' coined in the codification era of football and rugby in the 1800s, when teams were mapped out in rows — forwards, halfbacks, fullback — like a diagram of trench lines. The 'half' marks his position as standing only halfway back from the front line, closer to the action than the fullback behind him, not any fraction of toughness.
- position origin
- named for lining up halfway between forwards and fullback
- rugby vs football
- rugby halfback passes, american football halfback runs
- modern name
- mostly called running back in the nfl now