The history of American football is inextricably linked to the development of European football and rugby.
On April 7, 1823, in the town of Rugby, Yorkshire (England), during a football match, 16-year-old William Webb Ellis grabbed the ball and ran toward his opponents.
Many years later, a monument was erected to this young man, and a plaque was hung on the walls of his college:
“Let this board serve as a reminder of the glorious deed of William Webb Ellis, the first to dare to break the rules, grab the ball with his hands, and run with it. This is how the game of rugby came into being in 1823.” They decided to name the new game after the city where it originated.
On November 6, 1869, in the American city of New Brunswick (New Jersey), teams from Rutgers and Princeton Universities met on the football field and played something between football and rugby. The ball was kicked with the feet, points were scored for goals, and there was no mention of touchdowns. This date is considered the official birthday of American football.
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Walter Camp, who played for the Yale University team, is considered the father of American football. It was he who suggested giving one of the teams an advantage in ball possession and introducing a new position – quarterback, a player who receives the ball from the snapper.
Among the innovations proposed by Camp were also: the introduction of the “five yards for three downs” system, an increase in the number of points awarded for a touchdown, the permission to pass forward, and tackling an opponent in the knee area. Because of the latter, injuries to players in American football increased significantly.
In 1905, the Chicago Tribune newspaper ran a front-page headline reading “18 football players dead and 159 seriously injured.”
US President Theodore Roosevelt intervened in the situation, stating: “Either the players change the rules, or we will ban football altogether. Violence and unfair play must be punished. Change the game or give it up.”
Changes were made to the rules of American football regarding penalties for rough play. Football players were also forced to come up with special protective gear — breeches with pads appeared. Athletes were recommended to wear leather helmets during the game (since 1939, the use of helmets has been mandatory).
By the beginning of the 20th century, the rules of American football were already similar to those of today. In 1912, touchdowns began to be worth 6 points, the length of the playing field became 100 yards, and playing time was reduced from 70 to 60 minutes. The first private teams and professional players appeared.
In 1920, the first football union was formed, and four teams, the Akron Proz, Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians, and Dayton Triangles created the American Professional Football Conference (APFC), which later became the National Football Conference (NFC). In 1904, the first black football player appeared, playing for a team from Ohio. Since then, the number of black players has only increased. Despite this, the first African American referee did not appear in the NFL until 1988.
In 1939, the first televised American football game took place between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Eagles.
In 1960, the American Football Conference (AFC) was created to counterbalance the existing NFC. The competition between the teams for players and fans, as well as for television rights, led to a series of negotiations between the two leagues about a merger in 1966.
