Gridiron

Gridiron, designed by John Osborne with artwork by Gordon Morison, was released by D. Gottlieb & Company in December 1977 — one of the football-themed games from the final years of the electro-mechanical era. This 2-player machine is a reworking of Gottlieb's 1973 single-player 'Pro-Football' with new artwork, and it saw a confirmed production run of 1,160 units, including 135 sample games.

The playfield offers four flippers, two pop bumpers, two slingshots, four standup targets, two vari-targets, and a spinning target. In a distinctive touch, the ball enters play from between the flippers when the player presses the flipper button, and the match number is drawn from the last three digits of the score rather than the usual two.

Gridiron carries a great designer's story. Osborne had been personally frustrated by Pro-Football, where the crucial outlane rollover — completing the football's 'run' across the playfield for a touchdown — could be lost if the scoring motor was still running. He once kicked a showroom game in frustration, bruising his shin, and vowed never to design such a cheat against the player. When asked to remake the game, he quietly added a delay relay so the rollover was 'remembered' until the motor finished, only telling his boss Wayne Neyens after the fact — who was glad he had done it.