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History of Football
At the turn of the seventeenth century, English colonial settlers brought the game of soccer (more commonly known as football around the world) to the United States.
The game was introduced to colleges some 200 years after the game first came to the United States, and in 1867, the first set of rules for American football were drawn up at Princeton College.
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The Princeton rules, as they were called, specified twenty-five players to a team, with the rules the same as football (soccer).
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About the same time, Rutgers also formulated a set of rules, and Rutgers and Princeton met for a game on 6 November 1869 at New Brunswick. Rutgers' rules were a modified version of the London Association Football rules. The game was essentially the same as football (soccer), but the ball could be batted with the hand, but running with the ball and throwing it was not allowed.
The goals were the same width as football (soccer), 7.3 meters (24 feet) and the pitch measured 110 meters by 69 meters (360 feet by 225 feet).
The winner was the first team to score six goals. Rutgers won 6-4. The teams met again two weeks later, using Princeton's rules, with the first team to eight goals winning. Princeton's rules also allowed for a free kick to be given when a clean catch was made. Princeton won 8-0.
The game became popular in other colleges, especially Columbia and Yale. Harvard revived football in 1871 and they played what was known as the 'Boston Game'. That was again very similar to football (soccer), but the ball, which was at that time still round, could be picked up and players could run with it. By then, the game was beginning to resemble rugby.
In fact, rugby had a big influence on American football. Harvard played the McGill University Football Club of Montreal twice in 1874. McGill played rugby, and Harvard were interested in the game. They discussed the possibility of drawing up a new set of rules with Yale.
Princeton and Columbia were invited to the meeting and in 1876 the Intercollegiate Football Association was formed, with the rules being very similar to Rugby Union.
Walter Chauncey Camp
In 1880, Walter Chauncey Camp of Yale revised the game. The number of players was reduced from fifteen to eleven, and the scrummage was dropped in favor of the scrimmage.
The standard team line-up was put in place, seven linemen, a quarterback, two halfbacks and a fullback. Two years later Camp introduced the downs and yardage rules.
Originally it was 5 yards in three downs. As it became essential to know how far a player had moved up the field, parallel lines were drawn onto the pitch at five-yard intervals. This is where the word 'gridiron' comes from.
The scoring system of points for touchdowns, field goals, 'points after' touchdowns, and safeties was introduced in 1883, and in 1888 Camp got the rules changed to allow tackling below the waist.
In 1894, representatives of the leading college teams met to outlaw certain dangerous mass plays, which involved groups of players putting opposing players out of the game. The playing time was also cut from ninety to seventy minutes.
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