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Backs are called backs because they are in back of the line of scrimmage.

In the old tee-formation, the farthest offensive guy from the line of scrimmage was the fullback, because he was all the way at the end of the tee. Similarly, the halfback was positioned halfway between the fullback and the line of scrimmage, and the quarterback was positioned one-fourth of the way between the line of scrimmage and the fullback.

Other formations, of course, are used these days, but the old names for the positions has persisted.

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