Game History

American football was started in 1879 with rules instituted by Walter Camp, player and coach at Yale University. First came Soccer, then Rugby, then Football. Some say players became frustrated with soccer and picked up the ball and began to run with it and rugby developed after that (named after Rugby College).

When Walter Camp was dissatisfied by the disorderly way rugby was played, he developed rules and guidelines (line of scrimmage, added downs, scoring system, etc.) to make it more orderly and (what he considered) more interesting. Over the 100+ years since Camp developed football, rules are still being changed every year—that is why it is so hard to understand!

Walter Camp contributed the following changes from Rugby and Soccer to American football:

• One side retained undisputed possession of the ball, until that side gives up the ball as a result of its own violations.
• The line of scrimmage
• 11 on a team instead of 15
• created the Quarterback and Center positions
• Forward Pass
• Created the safety play, interference, penalties, and the neutral zone.

The NFL or the National Football League, was formed in 1920 in Canton, Ohio which is the location of the Football Hall of Fame.

Glenn "Pop" Warner (1871–1954) was a successful football coach, but that is not why he's a household name. Warner started his coaching career in Georgia and Cornell, as well as the Carlisle Indian School (Pennsylvania, 1907–1914). Carlisle's team consisted of players that were considerably smaller than most of their Ivy League opponents, but with the help of Pop they made up for it with sheer will and clever plays.

It was during his coaching tenure at Carlisle that Warner perfected the Forward Pass and developed throwing the ball in a spiral to improve accuracy. Because the Carlisle players were smaller and less experienced than most of their opponents, Warner also developed "trick plays" to compensate. He was known to sew the silhouette of the football (in leather) on all of his players' uniforms to make it seem that they all had the ball and distract the opponent—every time Warner developed a new trick, rules were added to make it illegal—this is still a process the game goes through during the 21st century. Many coaches are known to push the boundaries of the playbook and inevitably require the league to add new rules to compensate.

Pop had a huge impact on how the game of football is played: The screen pass now common at every football game was Warner's innovation. The three-point stance that defensive linemen start in was Warner's idea. So were jersey numbers on football uniforms, as well as thigh and shoulder pads.