CUPS BOWLS AND OTHER FOOTBALL Championships RICHARD BLAINE CRABTREE Publishing Company www crabtreebooks com
FOOTBALL TAKES OFF How football began depends on who you ask Some believe the sport goes all the way back to the game of Harpastum which was played by the ancient Greeks and Romans Points were awarded when a player kicked passed or ran a ball past a goal line Since the players did not have equipment injuries were common Football is also closely linked to rugby which was invented at Rugby School in England in 1830 Walter Camp the Father of American Football If you're looking for one person to thank for football Walter Camp is your man Camp invented the line of scrimmage the spot where the ball is snapped and the system of downs He also is credited with inventing the offensive backfield which consists of a quarterback two halfbacks and a fullback Every time a center snaps the ball to a quarterback they are executing an idea Walter Camp championed Walter Camp studied medicine and worked in the watchmaking business but his passion was football He played coached and wrote many of the rules He was inducted into the College Hall of Fame as a
President Teddy Gets Involved While football s popularity skyrocketed in the late 1800s so did injuries In 1905 18 players were killed in games played in the United States That Players had no helmets and little same year President protective gear in early football Theodore Teddy Roosevelt arranged a meeting of officials from Harvard Yale and Princeton A few months later 62 schools met in New York City to adopt rules in order to reduce injuries They formed an association later named the National Collegiate Athletic Association NCAA Theodore Roosevelt 26th president of the United States had a son who played football at Harvard Making the Game Safer Since protective equipment was still quite new the only way to make the game safer was to minimize the number of collisions Rules were introduced that cut down on contact The most important measure the creation of the forward pass would become a spectacular part of the game Roughing the passer was brought into Many football players began the rulebook in 1914 as the sport s wearing helmets made of leather in the 1920s popularity continued to grow tII
