[Ads-l] leave it all on the field

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Here is an instance in 1983. The excerpt below suggested a rationale
for the construction of the phrase:

Date: October 24, 1983
Dateline: Anaheim, California
Article: The always relaxed Vince Ferragamo was in the midst...
News Service: UPI NewsTrack
Database: NewsBank Access World News

[Begin excerpt]
'They had nothing left at the end. They left it all on the field, and
I'm damn proud of them. The Rams are one helluva football team, and so
are the 49ers.'
[End excerpt]

Garson

On Sat, Nov 12, 2016 at 10:55 PM, Neal Whitman <nwhitman at ameritech.net> wrote:
> This agrees with what I've found in the past hour: "leave it all on the
> field" dates to Nov. 10, 1996:
>
>
> https://www.aceticket.com/new-england-patriots-tickets/new-york-jets
>
> Nov 10, 1996 - Patriots vs Jets. When the Patriots & Jets get together you
> know you'll see an entertaining game regardless of the current standings.
> These division rivals leave it all on the field when they play.
>
>
> As for "leave nothing on the field," the earliest I have is Nov. 15, 2000:
> http://www1.gmnews.com/2000/11/15/south-river-left-nothing-on-the-field-in-final-loss-rams-fall-to-colts-neck-in-cj-i-final-2/
>
> South River left nothing on the field in final loss
>
>
> After that, examples of "leave nothing on the field" are a bit scarce, but
> pick up quite a bit in 2007, which seems to be the year of a Nike
> football-focused commercial series called "Leave Nothing."
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eYeC0IEqDY
>
>
> Neal
>
>
> On 11/12/2016 10:42 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>>
>> On Sat, Nov 12, 2016 at 10:51 AM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> It's an old expression beloved of football coaches and sportscasters.
>>>
>> I agree. OTOH, though it seems to me that this expression is two days
>> older
>> than water and it gets about 2.000,000 hits, the oldest is from only 1996.
>> And it's the sole pre-21st-C. hit.
>>
>> Youneverknow.
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
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------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org