The History of Football

Tailgating, ice cold beer, hot dogs grilling, hamburgers cooking, Sunday afternoons at the stadium, friendly rivalry between friends, family, and co-workers, and hot cheerleaders only means one thing...football season is here. Football has emerged from a game that used to kill players which not many people watched to a game that has a following of millions of fans, millions of television sets turned in to various games specific to the favorite National Football League (NFL) team that is playing that weekend and hundreds of thousands of dollars spend on tickets, merchandise, and stadium foods every year. Not only that, but millions of children every year find a new role model to idolize in football players.

Not many fans know the history of the game of football, however short it is. The first game that was played by a college or university in America was on November 6, 1869 between the universities of Rutgers and Princeton. Each team had 20 players on the field at one time, which, as any modern day fan knows, are too many players. This sort of play resembled more of a Rugby game than what is known today as a football game. The rules for college football play were established in 1873 and limited the number of players on the field to 15 instead of 20. A major concern, and a big reason for the lowering of players on the field, was the safety of the players and this concern has not ended today.

Walter Camp, who was a big proponent of the game of football, only wanted to have 11 players on the field at one time. Eventually, he got his way and the players were slimmed down to 11. Camp was instrumental in changing many things about football, so that it looks like the game that we play today. He began a system of counting the number of tries it took a team to move the ball 5 yards. These, he called downs and limited the team's try to 3 downs per 5 yards. If they did not move the ball 5 yards within the allotted downs, the other team got the ball. This was called a turnover. This changed as well, over time. The yardage that had to be met was changed to 10 yards in 1906. The next change to happen was in 1912 when the 4th down was added to give the players a little more time to get those ten yards in somehow. This is still in play today.

This sport was extremely rough in its beginnings, unlike now, when a player or two may die in one year of professional play. In one year of college play, there were 180 injuries serious enough to warrant a doctor's visit and 18 dead players. Because of these injuries and deaths, the game was shortened to 60 minutes of play instead of the original 70. The rules were changes to eliminate purposeful rough play and a buffer zone was created between the teams to keep them separated.