American football is a well-known sport especially in United States and Canada. It is simply called football in these places. It originated from other football sports, namely soccer and rugby. It is a competitive sport that requires a lot of strategy and physical endurance. The objective of the game is to get to the opponent’s end in order to score. The team with the most number of points when the time expires is considered the winner. This is how American football is played. But how did this game really started?
Football actually began in the 19th century in England when a soccer player got frustrated by simply kicking the ball. He grabbed the ball then ran with it. Even though this was obviously against the rules of soccer, others found it really interesting. Eventually, colleges started to play this kind of game. Princeton University made its basic rules and patented it. The sport then grew. And on November 6, 1869, the first college football game, which featured the game between Princeton and Rutgers, was seen.
In 1873, another football history was made. Different colleges met to establish the game rules, including the number of players required for each team. It was Walter Camp, the coach of Yale, who was responsible in changing the rules of the rugby game to what we popularly know as American football. This is why he is also known as the “Father of American Football”. Part of the rules he did was to make the football field 110 yards in size and for each team to be composed of 11 players.
Football can be a brutal game. In fact, there were deaths recorded because of the sport. As a response, President Teddy Roosevelt formed a committee with 7 members to look after the rules of the game. This group is now the National Athletic Association or NCAA. American football then evolved to what we are currently aware of. Professional football eventually started in 1892. William (Pudge) Heffelfinger was openly paid $500 to play for Allegheny Athletic Association. This was illegal since at that time football was supposed to be for amateur players. But after this incident, several football players were getting paid to play for a game; thus, the birth of professional football. Evidently, American football became a very popular sport. It is even played outside United States such as Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom, and many more. Walter Camp truly made a huge impact in the history of sports.