In 1940, Stanford head coach Clark Shaughnessy revived from obscurity the modern T-formation, an offense in which the quarterback receives a snap directly from under center. The T-formation had been utilized in the 19th century but had disappeared in favor of a single-wing formation. Now, the switch back was revolutionary because the T-formation opened up offensive football and enabled quarterbacks to become stars. Stanford, which had gone 1-7-1 the year before, won the Rose Bowl. That season, George Halas’ Bears, led by quarterback Sid Luckman, employed the T-formation in the NFL Championship game against the Redskins and won 73-0. Within a decade, most college and pro teams had adopted the T-formation, and QBs thrived. Born in St. Cloud, Minn. in 1892, Shaughnessy later became Halas’ assistant in Chicago, where he devised innovative modern defenses to help counter the T-formation.