the front row often kneeling or crouching. The player or coach speaking can then be assured that he has the attention of the entire audience, something that often is not possible if that person is in the center of a circular huddle. Though allowing players breathing room and providing space for more participants than a circular huddle, it is not as secure, as observers on the sidelines may be able to see hand signals or read the speaker's lips. American football In American football, though seemingly random, huddles can have several forms. Before the 1890s, football players did not form huddles; they instead discussed the play far enough from the other team that they could not be overheard. As American football became more organized and formalized, so too did the huddle. The football team at Oregon State University was one of the first schools nationally to use the huddle formation in a game. It happened against the University of Washington in Seattle during the 1918 season. Head coach Bill Hargiss instructed the starters that once they returned to the field, they were to stand 10 yards behind the ball before the beginning of each play and whisper to one another what they were going to do next. An eyewitness to the game was veteran Seattle sports columnist Royal Brougham, whose stories of the contest give testimony today to the program's early use of this pioneering new formation. Others trace the huddle to the 1890s in Gallaudet College. in Washington, D.C. Paul Hubbard, a deaf player who went to Gallaudet, used the strategy to avoid having the other team see his sign language between plays; he and his team huddled to conceal the signs. During a game, the quarterback uses the huddle to communicate the next play to the offense. National Football League Rule 5 Section 2 stipulates that no more than eleven players may be in the offensive huddle. An offensive substitute who communicates with a teammate in a huddle would be penalized for "unsportsmanlike conduct"; this is to prevent teams from feigning a substitution and taking advantage of the chaos to confuse opponents. In some situations, teams may choose not to call a huddle and employ a hurry-up no-huddle offense to maximize time and surprise the defense. Snap (gridiron football) In a snap, the snap count is decided on in the huddle, usually expressed as "...on <number>." being the