Evolution of American Football
Evolution Of American Football
American Football has emerged as one of America’s most popular sports to watch and favorite pastime in the fall and winter seasons. This intense and competitive sport was invented in the early 19th century by the “father of football”, Walter Camp (Camp 1). Walter Camp was a football captain and head coach at Yale University. The historical figure, Walter Camp, invented the rules that transformed rugby football into American football, which he all told in his book American Football. He created the rules of a team having eleven men, the use of a line of scrimmage, the point system, and a system of four downs. In the 21st century, which we are currently in, football is almost played the same way but has changed dramatically over time. Many aspects of football have changed including equipment, rules, the popularity of the sport, and athleticism of the players. The first professional game of football ever played was at the college level. It was between two Ivy League schools named Rutgers and Princeton. The historical game was played on November 6,1869 in New Brunswick, New Jersey (Danzig, Intro). Before a standard number of players were regulated to play on a team, there were twenty-five men on each team. Football games were played in a series of three games and whoever won two of the three would be declared the winner, similar to NBA and MLB playoff series. The team that scored six goals first would win one of the games in the series (Danzig 3). The game was won by Rutgers University, at a time period where the captains of the teams would debate the rules right before the game. All of this was before Walter Camp stepped onto the football scene. Walter Camp is known as the father of American football for creating important changes in football that make the game so unique now. He developed the system of downs and yards you have to gain to get a first down, first it was five then turned into
American Football has emerged as one of America’s most popular sports to watch and favorite pastime in the fall and winter seasons. This intense and competitive sport was invented in the early 19th century by the “father of football”, Walter Camp (Camp 1). Walter Camp was a football captain and head coach at Yale University. The historical figure, Walter Camp, invented the rules that transformed rugby football into American football, which he all told in his book American Football. He created the rules of a team having eleven men, the use of a line of scrimmage, the point system, and a system of four downs. In the 21st century, which we are currently in, football is almost played the same way but has changed dramatically over time. Many aspects of football have changed including equipment, rules, the popularity of the sport, and athleticism of the players. The first professional game of football ever played was at the college level. It was between two Ivy League schools named Rutgers and Princeton. The historical game was played on November 6,1869 in New Brunswick, New Jersey (Danzig, Intro). Before a standard number of players were regulated to play on a team, there were twenty-five men on each team. Football games were played in a series of three games and whoever won two of the three would be declared the winner, similar to NBA and MLB playoff series. The team that scored six goals first would win one of the games in the series (Danzig 3). The game was won by Rutgers University, at a time period where the captains of the teams would debate the rules right before the game. All of this was before Walter Camp stepped onto the football scene. Walter Camp is known as the father of American football for creating important changes in football that make the game so unique now. He developed the system of downs and yards you have to gain to get a first down, first it was five then turned into