“Keep your head on a swivel” (football adage)
“Keep your head on a swivel” means to look around and to be aware. The saying was popular with air force pilots in World War II and has been cited in print since at least 1943.
In sports, “keep your head on a swivel” means to be aware of where the ball is and where the players are on the basketball court or on the football field. “Keep your head on a swivel” has been cited in a football context since at least 1951 and 1976, and in a basketball context since at least 1975.
Wikipedia: Swivel
A swivel is a connection that allows the connected object, such as a gun or chair, to rotate horizontally and/or vertically. A common design for a swivel is a cylindrical rod that can turn freely within a support structure. The rod is usually prevented from slipping out by a nut, washer or thickening of the rod. The device can be attached to the ends of the rod or the center. Another common design is a sphere that is able to rotate within a support structure. The device is attached to the sphere. A third design is a hollow cylindrical rod that has a rod that is slightly smaller than its inside diameter inside of it. They are prevented from coming apart by flanges. The device may be attached to either end.
Yahoo! Answers
Football Terminology in any given sunday(Film)?
I would like a explanation of some of the football terms in the movie Any Given Sunday.
Hope that somebody can help with at least some of them.
Many thanks in advance,.
1. Roll up those outside linebackers
2. Know your site adjustments. Understand
3. Keep your head on a swivel! Slide out there! Pick up that robber
(...)
Best Answer - Chosen by Voters
1.
2. beware of where you need to throw the ball high, low, in or out
3. always be looking around…a defense player may be somewhere he is not expected to be
18 February 1943, Omaha (NE) World-Herald, “Air Patrol Lieutenant Scored Two Sinkings in One Day” (Chicago Tribune Press Service), pg. 17, col.1:
“We get tired out there,” the 23-year-old pilot said. “We fly hour after hour, eyes sharp and head on a swivel.”
21 September 1951, Winnipeg (Manitoba) Free Press, “Huffman Likes Canuck Grid Game” by Tim Creery, pg. 20, col. 3:
Mr. (Dick—ed.) Huffman centred his remarks about the differences between football north and south of the 49th paralell (sic).
“One thing I like, a lineman lives a little longer up here,” he said. “Down in the States you’ve got to have your head on a swivel or your brains get knocked in.”
Google Books
October 1952, Flying Magazine, “Swivel Necks Live Longer” by Robert B. Parke, pg. 35, col. 1:
WHEN I STARTED flying, my Air Corps instructor in primary school used to pound home his message on the importance of avoiding a midair collision by rapidly banging the stick against my knees and shouting “Keep your head on a swivel.”
Google Books
Marchy 1954, Flying Magazine, “They used to call me ‘Mr. Jitters’ until my first long cro-s country” by Frank L. Harvey, pg. 15, col. 1:
“Just keep your head on a swivel and if you see any jets boring in on you, get your tail out of the way.”
23 July 1967, Augusta (GA) Chronicle-Herald, “Vigilance needed for air safety” by John C. Dills, pg. 2E, col. 1:
In the old days of flying, even when there weren’t so many planes in the air, student pilots were told, “Keep your head on a swivel.”
That’s still the case around airports where there are no control towers. The rule is “See and be seen.”
9 December 1975, Oakland (CA) Tribune, “Ray’s Secret—Hard Work” by Ron Bergman, pg. 36, col. 7:
“Everyone tries to teach players to keep their head on a swivel when getting back on defense, but most players run down the court with blinders on.”
(Golden State Warriors basketball coach Al Attles—ed.)
18 August 1976, Seattle (WA) Daily Times, “Bradley, off title team, still happier here” by Gil Lyons, pg. C3, col. 1:
AS A STEELER, Bradley was the"wedge buster” on the kickoff teams, the same role Ron Howard played in Dallas.
“Your job there is to dissipate the wedge and let other people make the tackle,” he (Ed Bradley—ed.) said. “You’ve got to keep your head on a swivel because you don’t know where the hit is coming from. Usually teams have four 270-pound tackles making up the wedge. You know you’re going to take a blow.”
Google Books
Time Enough to Win
By Roger Staubach with Frank Luksa
Waco, TX: Word Books
1980
Pg. 44:
In pass blocking it’s, “keeping your head on a swivel.” He’ll (Dallas Cowboys coach Tom Landry—ed.) say that constantly if someone gets beat on pass protection. “You have to keep your head on a swivel.”
Sports Illustrated
November 28, 1983
They Said It
Edited by Jerry Kirshenbaum
Ted Hendricks, Raider linebacker, explaining his success in avoiding injuries: “I keep my cleats out of the turf, my head on a swivel and stay away from pileups.”
New York (NY) Times
N.F.L.; Oilers’ Offense Puts Jets on Defensive
By GERALD ESKENAZI, Special to the New York Times
Published: September 17, 1988
Marty Lyons admits it: the fans want to know which Jets team will show up Sunday in its home opener against the Houston Oilers.
(...)
’‘The first thing you have to do against the Oilers is control their line of scrimmage,’’ Lyons said. ‘‘They’re big, tough and physical.
’‘You’ve got to keep your head on a swivel. Even after a tackle, they’ve got guys still looking to block.’‘
Google Books
Sport Skill Instruction for Coaches
By Craig A. Wrisberg
Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics
2007
Pg. 99:
Football
Run to daylight (for ball carriers), keep your head on a swivel (for special-teams players running downfield), finish the kick (for placekickers)
SB Nation—New York
ANIMATED: D.J. Ware Sustains Concussion On Cullen Jenkins Hit, Out For Game With Injury
Nov 20. 2011 10:24p
by Andy Hutchins
“Keep your head on a swivel, kid!” So says every football coach to every undersized football player in every cliche-ridden football movie ever made. The Giants’ D.J. Ware clearly was not in and has not seen those movies, given the way he just got hit by Philadelphia’s Cullen Jenkins.