What the heck is a Grid -Graph, you ask? It was an early way to allow fans to follow along with a game, on a lit-up scoreboard.
Picture a 15'x12' scoreboard, shaped like a football. In the middle of the ovular board is a glass football field with yard lines, five feet high and ten feet long. Above the field is basic scoreboard information - score, quarter, time and down. On the left and right sides are the names of the 11 players for each team (remember - this was an era where players played both ways). Below the field was a bunch of words corresponding to common football plays (forward pass, end run, punt, touchdown, penalty, etc.) Everything surrounding the field has its own light bulb next to it.
Here's how a Grid-Graph worked:
Somebody at the game would send a telegram - usually in Morse code - with the details of what happened in the previous play.
A telegraph operator would receive and decipher the telegram. Depending on how far he or she was from the Grid-Graph, a courier might be used to relay the messages.*
The Grid-Graph operator would read the telegram containing details of the last play and light the corresponding bulbs on the Grid-Graph board to match.
A second Grid-Graph operator, standing behind the glass field would represent the movement of the ball. He typically knew what yard line to end up at, but often used artistic license (and some flourish) to show the path taken. A 10-yard run up the middle might be shown as a double reverse.
*Prior to the invention of Grid-Graphs, some outlets would "megaphone" games. They'd follow steps 1 and 2 above. Step 3 was "shout the play into a megaphone." The Lincoln Star did this for games in the 1920s at Notre Dame and Pittsburgh.
Many colleges purchased Grid-Graphs in the 1920s to allow fans to stay informed on road games. Some schools placed their Grid-Graphs indoors and charged fans an admission of 50 cents. An Omaha business had one on the side of it building near 15th and Farnam Streets that had fans flooding the streets. I have read two accounts that make reference to Lincoln having a Grid -Graph as well, but the locations are conflicting.
Grid-Graphs were not always accurate. Due to the timing and logistics involved, it was easy for operators to fall behind. There is one account of a Nebraska-Illinois game where the Grid-Graph operators were so off that they had to improvise a 70-yard Red Grange touchdown run (that never happened) in order to get the score to be accurate
