“Hut, hut!” If you’re a fan of American football, you’ve heard these words yelled by the quarterback to give the center the “okay” to snap the ball. The term used to be “hike,” (thanks to John Heisman) but with time, words and their meanings change. However, sometimes they simply stay the same, even when they no longer apply.

Just in time for the latest NLF season, Kate Shelor hosts the online Fansplainme Sports page, where she shares the “wildest stories in sports.” On a recent Reel, she digs deep into the reason football players have their position names. And the surprising reason many of those names no longer apply today.

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Why are they called ‘quarterbacks?’

At the beginning of the clip, a chyron reads, “Why is he called a quarterback,” with Shelor launching right into the questions. “Quarterback, halfback, fullback. Have you ever noticed that those are ‘fractions?’ And you wanna know what they’re fractions of? Distance! Those names are measurements from 1880 and this is pretty cool…every one of them is now wrong.”

Now it’s time for a history lesson. As she speaks, we see old black-and-white photos of the people and football fields she’s referencing. “So it’s October, 1880. A man........

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