On November 6, 1869, Rutgers played Princeton in the first college football game. It looked nothing like the sport we know today. No quarterbacks, no forward passes, no touchdowns. This HISTORY250® Special traces how an English game became America's game: Walter Camp's invention of possession and the gridiron at Yale, Theodore Roosevelt saving the sport from its own violence in 1905, the legalization of the forward pass, Knute Rockne and Notre Dame, the founding of the NFL at a Canton car dealership in 1920, and the rise of the Super Bowl. Today 25 million households watch football on Sunday night, and no sport has reinvented itself to be more deliberately American.

Key Takeaways

• On November 6, 1869, Rutgers beat Princeton 6 to 4 in what became known as the first college football game. The game was played with 25 players a side and used modified rules from the London Football Association. There was no running with the ball and no throwing. The game closely resembled what we now call soccer.

• In 1874, Harvard played McGill University of Montreal under rugby rules and enjoyed it so much that Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia adopted most of the Rugby Football Union rules two years later. American football diverged from there.

• Walter Camp at Yale rewrote the game between 1880 and 1882. He reduced the side from fifteen to eleven players. He invented the concept of possession, replacing the chaos of a rugby scrum with the rule that one team keeps the ball until they give it up. To stop teams from stalling, he created the down-and-distance rule. The five-yard lines painted on the field became known as the gridiron.

• By 1905, the violence of the game had become a national scandal. The Chicago Tribune called it the "Football Death Harvest": 19 deaths and 137 severe injuries that year alone, much of it from a tactic called the flying wedge. President Theodore Roosevelt told the country's universities to fix the game or he would work to abolish it. His pressure produced the Intercollegiate Athletic Association (the forerunner to the NCAA) and thirty major rule changes, including the legalization of the forward pass.

• The first legal forward pass was thrown on September 5, 1906 by St. Louis University's Bradbury Robinson. It fell incomplete. In 1913, two Notre Dame players named Knute Rockne and Gus Dorais spent the summer working as lifeguards on Lake Erie and practiced the spiral pass between shifts. That fall Notre Dame's passing offense beat heavily favored Army.

• In 1920, fourteen pro clubs founded the American Professional Football Association at a car dealership in Canton, Ohio. They elected Olympic gold medalist Jim Thorpe (Sac and Fox Nation) as president. Two of the founding teams, now the Chicago Bears and the Arizona Cardinals, still play today. The league became the NFL in 1922. The AFL formed in 1959; the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game was played on January 15, 1967 between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. After the leagues merged, the game was renamed the Super Bowl. Today there are 32 NFL teams and 266 Division One college programs.

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Questions & Answers (FAQ)

Q1: When was the first American football game played?

The first college football game was played on November 6, 1869, between Rutgers University and Princeton University (then known as the College of New Jersey) in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Rutgers won 6 to 4 in front of about one hundred spectators. The game was played with 25 players a side using modified rules from the London Football Association, and looked much closer to soccer than to modern football.

Q2: Who invented American football?

No single person invented football, but Walter Camp at Yale is the figure most responsible for turning the English rugby-based game into recognizable American football. Between 1880 and 1882, Camp introduced eleven players per side (down from fifteen), the formal concept of possession (one team keeps the ball until they give it up), and the down-and-distance rule. He also originated the painted yard lines on the field, which gave the gridiron its name.

Q3: How did Theodore Roosevelt save football?

By 1905, football had become so violent that the Chicago Tribune called it the "Football Death Harvest," attributing 19 deaths and 137 severe injuries to the game in a single year. Much of the danger came from the flying wedge, a tactic derived from military formations. President Theodore Roosevelt told America's universities to fix the game or he would work to abolish it. His pressure led to a meeting of more than 60 schools in New York and produced the Intercollegiate Athletic Association (the forerunner to the NCAA) and thirty major rule changes, including the legalization of the forward pass.

Q4: When was the NFL founded?

The NFL was founded on September 17, 1920 at a car dealership in Canton, Ohio. Fourteen pro clubs formed what was originally called the American Professional Football Association. They elected Jim Thorpe, an Olympic gold medalist and a member of the Sac and Fox Nation, as president. Two of the founding teams still play today: the Decatur Staleys, now the Chicago Bears, and the Racine Cardinals, now the Arizona Cardinals. The league was renamed the National Football League in 1922.

Q5: When was the first Super Bowl played?

The first AFL-NFL World Championship Game was played on January 15, 1967 between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Packers won 35 to 10. After the AFL and NFL completed their merger in 1970, the championship game was renamed the Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots are tied for the most Super Bowl wins with six each.

The First Football Game

In the autumn afternoon of November 6, 1869, in a small field in New Brunswick, New Jersey, two collegiate teams played an English sport called "football." While bearing the moniker, it was not the game we know today. There were no quarterbacks, no forward passes, no end zones or touchdowns. Players could only kick the ball or bat it with their limbs. But the contest that day, played in front of one hundred spectators, would grow so big it would come to be known around the world as America's Game.

Rutgers vs Princeton

By 1869, Rutgers University had formed a spirited, in-state rivalry with Princeton University, known then as the College of New Jersey. After losing a baseball game to Princeton by a score of 40 to 2, Rutgers sought revenge and challenged Princeton to a game of "football." The game was played using modified rules from the London Football Association's rules for Association Football. According to the rules, the number of players could vary.

That day in New Brunswick, the teams fielded 25 players on either side. Kicking and heading were used to advance the ball. Most importantly: no running with or throwing the ball. Scores were marked when a team successfully kicked the ball through the opponent's goalposts. The first team to score 6 points was declared the winner. Rutgers won 6 to 4 in what became known as the first college football game.

Soccer, Rugby, and the Path to American Football

The game closely resembled what we now know today as soccer. "Soccer," at the time, was a British nickname for Association football to distinguish it from "Rugby football," a version of the game that allowed running with the ball in one's hands. In 1874, Harvard played Montreal's McGill University under the rugby rules. Players from Harvard enjoyed the game's rules so much that two years later, representatives from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia agreed to adopt most of the Rugby Football Union rules. As the years went on, football started to break away from its English predecessors.

Walter Camp Invents Possession and the Gridiron

One man, more than any other, turned this game into American football. His name was Walter Camp, a Yale player, and later coach. A rules pioneer, Camp understood that the game needed structure: clear possession, clear yardage, clear consequence. In 1880, he pushed through two rules that reshaped everything. First, eleven players per side, down from fifteen. Second, a formal concept of possession.

In rugby, the chaos of a scrum determined who had the ball. Camp said no. One team gets the ball, which they keep until they give it up. Two years later, the game faced a new problem. Teams had discovered they could simply hold the ball, running meaningless plays, never trying to advance, to kill time and force a tie. Camp's answer was the down-and-distance rule: if a team fails to advance five yards in three tries, they surrender possession. To track those five yards, officials painted lines across the field, five yards horizontally, and five yards vertically. They called it the gridiron.

The Football Death Harvest of 1905

By the late 1800s and 1900s, football came under public scrutiny. At that time, the game was played with no protective equipment or helmets. Fatal concussions, fractured skulls, and broken spines were the result of a deadly, unregulated play: the flying wedge, derived from real military tactics. Several iconic rivalry games were suspended due to violence. Most notably, the Harvard-Yale game was barred from 1895 to 1897, and the Army-Navy game from 1894 to 1898. In 1905, the Chicago Tribune published the year's "Football Death Harvest." It attributed 19 deaths and 137 severe injuries to the game.

Theodore Roosevelt: The Man Who Saved Football

President Theodore Roosevelt, the man widely credited as "The Man Who Saved Football," made his position clear: rid the game of excessive violence, or he would work to abolish it. While he had no real authority to do so, his influence led to a meeting in New York City of more than 60 schools. Out of those meetings came the Intercollegiate Athletic Association, the forerunner to the NCAA, and thirty major rule changes. One of these rules would open up the game in ways no one would quite anticipate: the forward pass.

The Forward Pass and Knute Rockne

The first legal pass was thrown on September 5, 1906 by St. Louis University player Bradbury Robinson. It fell incomplete, and under the rules of the time, it was a turnover. For the next seven years, passing was developed but stayed on the margins of the game. In the summer of 1913, two Notre Dame players, Knute Rockne and Gus Dorais, spent their off-season working as lifeguards on a beach along Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio. Between shifts, they practiced the spiral pass. That fall, Notre Dame utilized a passing offense that helped them beat heavily favored opponents, most notably Army.

The Rise of College Football and the Bowl Games

By the 1930s, the game grew from regional conferences to a national stage. The Associated Press released rankings of the country's best teams and crowned a "national champion" at year's end. The best schools were invited to compete in bowl games. By 1940, there were five major college bowl games: the Rose, Sugar, Cotton, Orange, and Sun Bowls. While college football continued to be the nation's darling, it took years for the professional game to grab America's heart.

The NFL Is Founded at a Canton Car Dealership

In 1920, representatives from fourteen pro clubs gathered at a car dealership in Canton, Ohio and formed the American Professional Football Association. For president, they elected Jim Thorpe, an Olympic gold medalist and a member of the Sac and Fox Nation. Two of those fourteen founding teams still play today: the Decatur Staleys, which was later renamed the Chicago Bears, and the Racine Cardinals, who are now the Arizona Cardinals. In 1922, the league became the National Football League. Ten years later, they added a championship game.

The AFL and the Birth of the Super Bowl

By 1959, the American Football League was formed. The rival league forced the NFL to compete for players, fans, and television rights. On January 15, 1967, the first AFL-NFL World Championship Game was played between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Three years later, the two leagues merged and the championship game was renamed. They called it the Super Bowl. The Pittsburgh Steelers and the New England Patriots are tied for the record for the most Super Bowl wins: 6 each.

America's Game Today

Today, there are 32 professional football teams and 266 Division One college teams in the U.S. On average, 25 million households tune into football on Sunday night. Back on that autumn afternoon in 1869, one hundred people watched fifty men kick a ball across a muddy field in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Since then, no sport has reinvented itself to be more deliberately American than football.