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Rutgers vs. Princeton
The first ever college football national championship awarded (retroactively) was split between the only two participants in 1869, Rutgers and Princeton. Princeton was named the champion by the Billingsley Report and the National Championship Foundation, while college football research historian Parke H. Davis named the two teams co-champions. Various other ratings and retrospectives have rated the teams differently. -
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Rules Standardization
On October 20, 1873, representatives from Yale, Columbia, Princeton, and Rutgers met at the Fifth Avenue Hotel in New York City to codify the first set of intercollegiate football rules. Before this meeting, each school had its own set of rules and games were usually played using the home team's own particular code. At this meeting, a list of rules, based more on soccer than on rugby, was drawn up for intercollegiate football games. -
McGill vs. Yale
American football evolved from the two sports of rugby and soccer. McGill University learned the sport of rugby from the local British Army who in turn brought it to the U.S playing a game against Harvard University in 1874. Walter Camp of Yale University encouraged the new game of football; schools in the Ivy League picked the game up fairly quick. From here the Ivy League schools adopted rules that would change rugby to American football in the 1880’s. -
Walter Camp
Camp was the dominant voice on the various collegiate football rules committees that developed the American game from his time as a player at Yale until his death. He is credited with innovations such as the snap-back from center, the system of downs, and the points system, as well as the introduction of the now-standard offensive arrangement of players (a seven-man offensive line and a four-man backfield consisting of a quarterback, two halfbacks, and a fullback). Camp was also responsible for -
Night Time Football
In 1879, the University of Michigan became the first school west of Pennsylvania to establish a college football team. Other Midwestern schools soon followed suit, including the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Minnesota. The first western team to travel east was the 1881 Michigan team, which played at Harvard, Yale and Princeton. -
Glen "Pop" Warner- Coaching Legend
During Warner's forty-four years as a head coach he introduced many innovations to the game, including the spiral punt; naked bootleg; double reverse; three-point stance; screen pass; single- and double-wing formations; the numbering of players' jerseys; the employment of shoulder pads, thigh pads, lightweight uniforms, and safer helmets; and the use of blocking sleds and tackling dummies at practice. -
Intercollegiate Football- Growth
By the year 1900 the number of fielded intercollegiate football teams rounded from 8 in 1880 to 43 in 1900. In 1879, the University of Michigan became the first school west of Pennsylvania to establish a college football team. Other Midwestern schools soon followed suit, including the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Minnesota. The first western team to travel east was the 1881 Michigan team, which played at Harvard, Yale and Princeton. -
Football- A Bloodbath
The situation came to a head in 1905 when there were 19 fatalities nationwide. President Theodore Roosevelt threatened to shut down the game if drastic changes were not made.[22] John H. Outland held an experimental game in Wichita, Kansas that reduced the number of scrimmage plays to earn a first down from four to three in an attempt to reduce injuries.[23] The Los Angeles Times reported an increase in punts and considered the game much safer than regular play but that the new rule was not "con -
NCAA- National Collegiate Athletic Association
On December 28, 1905, 62 schools met in New York City to discuss rule changes to make the game safer. As a result of this meeting, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States, later named the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), was formed. One rule change introduced in 1906, devised to open up the game and reduce injury, was the introduction of the legal forward pass. Though it was underutilized for years, this proved to be the last—and one of the most importan -
Revolutionary Rule Changes
As a result of the 1905–1906 reforms, mass formation plays became illegal and forward passes legal. Bradbury Robinson, playing for visionary coach Eddie Cochems at St. Louis University, threw the first legal pass in a September 5, 1906 game against Carroll College at Waukesha.
Other important changes, formally adopted in 1910, were the requirements that at least seven offensive players be on the line of scrimmage at the time of the snap, that there be no pushing or pulling, and that interlocking -
Field Dimensions
By 1912 American football was played on a field with dimensions of 120 by 53.3 yards. Each field goal line is 100 yards apart on each end of the field with each endzone extending 10 yards. There are goal posts at the end of each endzone; the crossbar is raised 10 feet above the ground, and the two upright posts are 18.6 feet apart on each end of the crossbar. The field is numbered every 10 yards from 10-50 yards, while each 5 yards increment is marked with yard lines. -
First NFL President was named
Just after the NFL was organized, they appointed their first president Jim Thorpe -
NFL name is born
20 teams had representatives meet at the Hollenden Hotel in Cleveland, Ohio. Among the several amendments to the two-year-old league’s constitution was the official change of the league’s name from the American Professional Football Association to the National Football League. -
First NFL Draft
The idea to draft the top players from college into the NFL was generated by Bert Bell. This changed the game dramatically because his idea was to let the teams draft in the opposite order from how they finished the previous season. So the team that finished the worst and needs the most improvement would get the first pick allowing them to draft the most valuable players. The first draft took play at the ritz carlton in philidelphia and Jay Borwagner was the first overall pick to the eagles -
First televised NFL game
NBC was able to work a deal to be the first to broadcast an NFL game. It was against the philidelphia eagles and the brookly dodgers. this game was played in front of a littler of 13,000 fans. there were no commercial inerruptions but there were difficulties with the picture and being able to see the game because of the weather -
Football and Integration
When the NFL's Cleveland Rams wanted to move to Los Angeles in 1946, it was stipulated in their contract with the Los Angeles Coliseum that they had to integrate their team The first black football player in NFL history was Kenny Washington, a halfback, was signed by the Los Angeles Rams on March 21, 1946.
Nicknamed “Kingfish,” Washington graduated from UCLA, where he rushed for 1,914 yards during his college football career. His rushing record would remain unbroken at UCLA for 34 years. -
First Superbowl Is played
The first superbowl between the american football league kansas city chiefs and the national football league green bay packers in Los Angelos. Vince Lombardi and the greenbay packers beat Hank Stram and the chiefs 35-10. -
Unsportsman like Conduct
Terrell Owens endzone celebrationTaunting and extreme celebration are both offenses in the NFL; as a result, gaudy displays are often frowned upon. If the league views the act as highly offensive, large fines and even suspensions can be issued. In 2006 the NFL, in an effort to cut down on celebrations, amended its rules to include an automatic 15 yard penalty against any player who leaves his feet or uses a prop, like a towel, or more specifically the football. The penalty is called as "excessive celebration", and the yardag
