FOOTBALL 101

Still shots from a 1903 Princeton versus Yale game filmed by Thomas Edison

Lesson #3 History of Football

The sport of football was started derived from the English game of Rugby. It was started in 1879 with rules instituted by Walter Camp, player and coach at Yale University. Walter Camp was born Apri l17,1859 in New Haven, Connecticut. He attended Yale from 1876 - 1882 where he studied medicine and business. Camp was an author, athletic director, chairman of the board of New Haven Clock Company and director of the Peck Brothers Company. He was general athletic director and head advisor and coach at Yale University from 1888 to 1914 and chairman of the Yale football comittee. Camp changed the rules of the game away from rugby and soccer rules into football rules.

Rules changes:
one side retained undisputed posession of the ball, until that side gives up the ball as result of its own error.

the line of scrimmage

11 on a team instead of 15

created the quarterback and center positions

forward pass

standardized the scoring system, numerical scoring

created he safety, interference, penalties and the neutral zone

tackling as low as the knee was permitted--1888

a touchdown increased the value to six points and field goals went down to three 1912

The only precursor to Walter Camp's influence was William Ellis, a student at Rugby in England when during a game he picked up the ball during a soccer game and ran with it thereby breaking and changing the rules.

Football pads and uniforms have changed dramatically over the years. According to Phyllis Diller the reason women have not been allowed to play football is because no woman would wear the same outfit as 11 others in public.

The tactical difference between Association Football and Rugby with is varieties seems to be that in the former the ball is the missile and in the latter men are the missiles. Alfred Crawley 1913