"FOOTBALL CODE" DRAWN UP

The football rules committee has this year drawn up as a preface to the new book a "Football Code," in which higher standards of play are discussed. The committee is trying to bring a spirit of sportsmanship and fair play into the game by interpreting plays from the honest rather than the "anything to win" viewpoint.

Some of the committee's suggestions are as follows:

"Holding is prohibited by the rules because it does not belong in the game of football. It is unfair play and it eliminates skill. The game is to advance the ball by strategy, skill and speed, without holding your opponent.

"Coaching from the sidelines is prohibited because it is considered an unfair practice. The game is to be played by the players using their own muscle and their own brains.

"Beating the ball by an unfair use of a starting signal is nothing less than deliberately stealing an advantage from the other side. An honest starting signal is good football, but a starting signal which has for its purpose starting the team a fraction of a second before the ball is put in play in the hope that it will not be detected by the officials is nothing short of crookedness.

"Talking to your opponents, if it falls short of being abusive or insulting, is not prohibited by the rules, partly because it ought not to be necessary and partly because no rules can make a gentleman out of a 'mucker.' No good sportsman is ever guilty of cheap talk to his opponents.

"The football code is different. The player who intentionally violates a rule is guilty of unfair play and un sportsman like tactics, and, whether or not he escapes being penalized, he brings discredit to the good name of the game it is his duty as a player to uphold. You may meet players and even coaches who will tell you that it is all right to hold or otherwise violate the rules if you do not get caught. This is the code that obtains among sneak thieves and pick-pockets.