👉 The Origins of American Football (Part 1)
The Origins of American Football (Part 2) :
Since there weren't many rules established, violence and injury were
common due to the roughness of the game. The increasing brutality of the
game became such a public concern because of so many injuries and
deaths, that some universities banned it. President Theodore Roosevelt
even threatened to ban the game and urged Harvard, Princeton, and Yale
to help make changes or lose the sport. Eventually the Intercollegiate
Football Association was formed by representatives of Harvard, Columbia,
and Princeton to establish a new code of rules mainly based on the
rugby games.
The man responsible for shaping American football as
we know it today was Walter Camp. He enrolled at Yale in 1876 and led
the IFA's rules committee. He proposed reducing the number of players
from 15 to 11. He helped establish the line of scrimmage and the snap
from center to quarterback. Camp also proposed that teams be required to
advance the ball a minimum of five yards within three downs. More
changes were instituted like the reduced size of the playing field,
scoring rules, and game time. By 1887 a paid referee and an umpire were
mandated for each game and tackling below the waist was allowed. In 1889
officials were given whistles and stopwatches. The forward pass, one of
the most important changes in the game, didn't become legal until 1906.
Although
the rules were changing, football continued to be played violently in
the style of the earlier mob games. Changes had to be made to make the
game safer. These changes were discussed on December 28, 1905 by
sixty-two schools who met in New York City. Eventually the National
Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) was formed as a result. Over a
century later college football continues to thrive as one of the most
popular collegiate games. After the demise of the IFA, the American
Professional Football Association was formed in 1920. The association
was later reorganized and in 1922 renamed the National Football League.
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