The history of American football is closely related to the development of European football and rugby. On April 7, 1823, in the town of Rugby in Yorkshire, 16-year-old William Webb Ellis picked up the ball and ran with it in the direction of the rival team. Many years later a monument was erected to this lad, and a plaque at Rugby school bears the inscription: “This stone commemorates the exploit of William Webb Ellis who with a fine disregard for the rules of football as played in his time first took the ball in his arms and ran with it, thus originating the distinctive feature of the rugby game A. D. 1823.” The game was named after the name of the town in which it originated.
On November 6, 1869, in the city of New Brunswick (New Jersey), USA, the teams of Rutgers and Princeton Universities met at a football field to play something in between football and rugby. This date is considered to be the official birthday of American football. The ball at that time was pushed with feet, scores were awarded for goals, and there was no talking about touchdowns. Only in 1875 scores were awarded for touchdown, or taking a football to the opposite end zone.
The father of American football is considered to be Walter Camp, who played for the team of Yale University. He was the first to establish the line of scrimmage and the snap from center to quarterback. Camp’s innovations also included: the establishment of “five yards within three downs” system, increased scores awarded for touchdown, permission of forward pass and of gripping adversaries by the knees. This lead to frequent injuries among players.
In 1905, Chicago Tribune featured an article on its front page under the heading “18 football players dead and 159 seriously wounded.” US President Theodore Roosevelt announced: “I demand that football change its rules or be abolished. Violence and foul game should be punished. Change the game or forsake it.” Necessary changes were made to the rules related to punishment for violent play. Football players also had to come up with special protective uniform. This is when breeches with shields appeared. Sportsmen were advised to wear a leather helmet during games (since 1939 wearing helmets became mandatory).
In 1960, to counterweight the already existing NFL, American Football League was established. The competition between teams for players and fans, as well as for TV broadcast rights, resulted in a series of negotiations between the two leagues about their merger in 1966. One of the conditions of the AFL-NFL merger was that the winners of each league’s championship game would meet in a contest to determine the “world champion of football.” The first game was played on January 15, 1967, under the title of AFL-NFL World Championship. After the two leagues merged in 1970, the final game between the champions of the united league was named Super Bowl, and the very first game that took place in 1967 was called Super Bowl 1. Today it is one of the most spectacular, prestigious and expensive sports events in the world.