History of American Football

What do you really know about football? On Average 18.6 million people watch nfl football, but how many people know the rules, history, and records of football. No one ever thinks to look into the facts of football. It’s such a fun game, but there’s so much more to it. If we all just looked into the game and noticed how much it has changed over the years we would be amazed at the evolution of the game.

How many people take time to study the history of football? Not many even think of how such a fun game was made.

The game started as a mash of two sports, soccer and rugby, which were popular for a long time in many nations. November 6, 1869 is the date that Princeton went against Rutgers in the very first game of college football. The person mostly responsible for the new style of football we have today is Walter Camp, Father of American Football.

He was the team captain between the years of 1876 and 1881 for Yale. He was the main factor in the rule board of the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA). 

Camp came up with the rule that if a team doesn’t get a first down after a set amount of plays, they must give the ball up to the other team. He came up with the scoreboard, quarterback position, 11- man teams and many other important rules of the game. He led halfback and coached the Yale team to 67-2 record between 1888 and 1892.

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On September 17, 1920, a couple of men grouped up in Canton, Ohio. The meeting then, lead to beginning of the NFL. The first professional football player was William (Pudge) Heffelfinger. He was paid $500 to play the game. There is a great margin between what was paid then and what is paid to players now in the NFL. The document showing the payment to Heffelfinger is now referred to as pro football’s birth certificate.

There has been many amazing players since this time. Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Reggie White, Lawrence, Taylor, and Barry Sanders are just a small portion of the many greats that have played the game. Since the beginning of the game there has been extraordinary seasons for teams and for individuals. Only the best of the best have set the records and there are great players on pace to break the records they have set. In 1984, Eric Dickerson carried the ball for 2,105 yards. This was just a year after his rookie season. Usually, players don’t come into the NFL and dominate automatically, but Dickerson proved that it is very possible.