Football? before the ninteenth century referred to any bunch of ball games played on foot. The regulations of these games were dissimilar from one another, some utilizing the application of hands ??orunning games?, others not allowing it kicking games?. One belief has it that the football game rugby, American footballs ancestor, was invented when an Englishman grew tired of the no hands containment, picked the ball up, and ran. Out of an concernment to accent the rules of the game the other players tackled the player. So much fun was this change that running football games were birthed. Whether this is true or not is unascertained, but what is known is that football does have its beginnings in the games played by pre-colonial European peasants.
The first traces of what would become American football are found in the 19th century in the games played by students at the choicest schools and colleges of the United States. A markedly destructive running game was played at Princeton University in1820, and around this time a kicking game was also being played by students of Dartmouth College. Rules for the Dartmouth game, known as ??oOld Division Football???, were released in 1871. The first running game to its rules was the popular English sport, rugby, and it did so in 1845.
While there is some degree of argument over what constitutes the first American football team, most sports historians aim to the Oneida Football Club, a Boston club founded in 1861. Nobody knows what rules this club used; whether they played a running, kicking, or hybrid version of the game. It is also known that rugby was advancing in Canada about this time. The Montreal Football club formed in 1868 and is said to have played a variant of English rugby. This became the base of Canadian football, which is important here for it later had a huge influence on American footballs development.
It is not prominent what the rules and regulations most of these early football games followed. However, the infamous Rutgers v. Princeton game in 1869 opens a window to the past. The game was played by 2 teams of twenty five people each. each team was composed of 11 fielders?, twelve bulldogs?, and 2 ??opeanutters??? whose job was to syay near the rival team?s goal so as to score from unguarded positions. This fact suggests there was no ??ooffside??? rule at this time. American football at this spot closely resembled soccer in the sense that a team scored goals instead of touchdowns and throwing or running with the ball was not approved.
While the NFL says that this early game was indeed set up on soccer and not rugby, it did begin intercollegiate football games. Four years later, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, and Rutgers codified the first ever set of intercollegiate rules for football. However, these rules forbade players from throwing the ball or running with it.
It is Harvard we have to thank for American football. Harvard representatives knew in advance that the 4 schools above planned on codifying rules forbidding assertive physical contact and the carrying of the ball, so they refused to attend. Harvards stubberness on behalf of rugby led thereafter to the McGill v. Harvard match of 1874 and the Harvard v. Yale game of 1875. Due to the acceptance of these matches other US universities began to field rugby teams. Finally, in 1876 an gathering was held betwixt Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, and Yale where Englands Rugby Union rules were supported by all 4 schools, but with 2 key changes. No longer would the scoring of a touch down be nullified if the opposing team kicked a field goal
Football is one of the most pleasant games in history
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