Yet Further Antedating of "Linebacker"

[Shapiro, Fred]

linebacker (OED 1961)

1893 _Inter Ocean_ (Chicago) 5 Nov. 9 (Newspapers.com)  Her [University of Pennsylvania's] interference was simply nil, and her line backers found no holes made for them to through, but a stone wall that would not be persuaded.

Fred Shapiro

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org