Amanda Leonetti
2nd Period Gym
The History of Football
Football. An American sport, usually played by boys starting from grade school all the way up through men in their 30’s. But, it wasn’t always an American sport. Football was believed to be a descendant from the ancient Greek game of harpaston. The similarities of rules and game play between the ancient sport and football are in abundance. In the old days, harpaston’s rules were that points were awarded when the ball was ran or kicked across the goal line and to have the opposing team stop them at any means possible.
Although it descended from Greece, football did not begin to take on any consistency until the 1800’s in England. Finally, in 1869, the United States adapted the game of football to their own rules though. In 1873, representatives from Columbia, Rutgers, Yale and Princeton Universities met to establish the Intercollegiate Football Association and created a safe, practical set of rules. Yet, in 1905, due to the brutality of the sport, a second meeting was set up with now sixty different schools and set up the National College Athletic Association (NCAA). From the meeting of the NCAA, they created a new set of rules, which were more legitimate and even safer in hopes of creating a highly popular sport.
To their surprise, these rules that they have set up for the sport of football have stayed in place since this meeting and have now created today what Americans now call Football.