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Football is born
Harvard and Yale play the first ever football game using modified rugby rules. -
Period: to
Football History
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IFA
The intercollegiate Football Association is born, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Princeton in the league. -
Father Football
Walter Camp, also known as the father of football, joins the football amature rule committee. -
Rules Change
The number of players on each side reduce from 15 to 11, the snap is introduced, and also the field is reduced to 110 yards by 53 yards. -
Scoring System
Touchdowns are now 2 points, field goals are 5 points, and a safety is one point. -
Paying Players
William "Pudge" Heffelfinger is paid 500 dollars to play for the Allegeny Athletic Association against the Pittsburgh Athletic Club. -
Headgear is introduced
Pop Warner, coach of the Carilse Indians supplies his entire team with headgear. -
Football world series
A football "World Series" is played in a smaller than regulated indoor field at Madison Square Garden, becoming a huge fail. -
Passing is legal
The forward pass becomes legal, although is innefective due to the shape of the ball. First down becomes 10 yards, and the neutral zone is included, stiopping pre-snap contact. -
1st down
The number of downs is increased to 4 downs. -
Packers franchise is born
Curly Lambeau convinces the owner of the Indian Packing Compnay to finance a football team in Green Bay. The Packers are born. -
The APFC
The American Professional Football Conference is born including 5 teams- The Rochester Jefferson, the Dayton Triangles, the Columbus Panhandles, the Akron Indians, and the Canton Bulldogs -
Trades
The first known football trade is done between Akron and Buffalo- selling Bob Nash to Buffalo for 500$ and 5% of the gate's reciepts between the two teams. -
Blowout
The first APFA game is played between the Rock Island Independents blowout the Muncie Flyers 45-0, causing the Flyers to be no more. -
Champions!
The Akron Pros are awarded the APFA championship because they are the only undefeated team in the league. -
Da Bears!
After winning a championship the prior year, and also sharing Wrigley Field, George Halas renames the Chicago Staleys to the Chicago Bears. -
The NFL is born
The APFA changes its name to the National Football League with 18 teams, including the Green Bay Packers who was banned the prior year for having college elligibility players. -
The Giants are born
NFL president Joe Carr convinces businessman Tim Mara to start a New York NFL team, naming them the Giants. -
College must be finished!
All players exiting college to play in the NFL must wait until their class graduates, after numerous colleges complaining. -
AFL
Red Grange and C.C Pyle found the American Football League after George Halas refueses to give Grange partial ownership of the Bears. AFL now has 9 teams, NFL has 22. -
Ernie Nevers
Ernie Nevers of the Chicago Cardinals sets an NFL scoring record which stands today, scoring 6 touchdowns and kicking 4 extra points in one game. -
Pro's > College Players
Knute Rockne coaches a Notre Dame all-star team including the "Four Horsemen" against the NFL's New York Giants, losing 22-0 giving legitimacy to the pro game. -
First indoor game
The first indoor game is played when the first NFl championship moves in the Chicago Stadium due to a blizzard. Due to the conditions, hashmarks are used for the first time. -
The Draft is born
The NFL holds the first ever draft featuring 9 teams each picking 9 players from a list of 90 people. Jay Berwanger, a Heisman winner, is the first overall draft pick by the Philadelphia Eagles. -
International Games
The NFL plays its first international game when the New York Giants travel to Toronto to play the CFL's Ottawa Roughriders. -
4-3 Defense is unstoppable
New York Giant's coach introduce the Umbrella Defense, giving birth to the modern 4-3 defense. By the end of the decade this defense becomes a standard formation. -
A franchise is born
The Dallas Cowboys join the NFl under Tom Landry's head coaching, leading to a horrible 0-11-1 in their first season. -
Mom, I'm on TV
The NFl signs their first television contract, a two year contract worth 4.65 million a year with CBS. -
Pro Football Hall of Fame
The Pro football hall of fame is opened up in Canton, Ohio including 17 inaugural inductees -
Merger!
To avoid financial destruction, the AFL and the NFL agree to merge in 1970, playing a NFL-AFL Championship game. -
Pro Bowl
The NFL Pro Bowl is played in Honolulu, Hawaii for the first time. It is played there every year.
