The Father of Football

Confusion was beginning. On November 6, 1869, the first college soccer football game was played. Rugby was actually pretty popular already at the time, but Harvard had banned it in 1860 because it was considered “barbaric.” After 1869, when collegians started playing soccer, the games got more and more like rugby. No one knew the rules anymore, because they changed constantly. The game wasn’t just growing into something different than soccer. It was becoming different than rugby, too. Teams and fans liked it, but it was still confusing. In 1876, Walter Camp started attending Yale to study medicine and business. He played in the first Yale vs. Harvard rugby game that year. He was a smart man who had always been incredibly athletic. He is an important player in the history of football. He was instrumental in coming up with the rules for American football, which were written at the Massasoit Convention later that year. That convention paved the way for the NCAA. Walter Camp played Varsity for Yale from 1877 to 1882 (the last two years in graduate school), and he was captain of the team for three of those years. He’s credited with a lot of the football rules and scoring still used today. While he didn’t invent football – it came about more by evolution – he is widely credited as “the Father of Football.” Camp created the quarterback position, the idea that one team should have undisputed possession of the ball at a time, strategic plays, the number of players, and other key positions. He was the first Yale football coach, and he was involved in every rulemaking convention and committee until his death in 1925. By 1885, modern American football was pretty much what it is now, with a few minor exceptions. Obviously, a lot more pads are worn now, and football helmets are required. For those of you who love to watch the most brutal tackles at the end of every year, you’ll be glad to know that Camp was the first to fight for tackles as low as the knee. In 1905, there were almost 20 deaths and well over 100 serious injuries. The public (no doubt led by players’ mothers) was outraged, and there was even a White House conference. Soon after, the NCAA was formed. There were more safety precautions and equipment after this point.