I like football. Every year I look forward to the fall season not only because of the cooler weather and the color change in the leaves on the trees, but also because it also signifies the beginning of the football season. Anticipation grows within me at the thought of seeing my team take to the field once again and run for first place in their division.

I’ve been a fan of the game and the same team for decades. I have seen players, teams and even the football industry evolve and change over time. American football remains one of the most exciting and beautiful games of all professional sports. Despite all its appeal, how and where did American football originate? All sports have their beginnings and what I discovered left me appreciating the game even more.

In the early 1800s, a popular game known as rugby, in which a soccer ball is kicked into a goal and run over a line, got its start at the famous Rugby Boy’s School in England. Around the same time in America, a group of Princeton students played the appearance of a game called “ballown”, similar to rugby. East Coast preparatory schools such as Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth, and Rutgers College also competed in soccer-like games. At the time, these early games resembled the more traditional style of “mob football” played in England. The rules were simple with a large number of players attempting to advance the ball into the goal area, usually by any means necessary. By 1855, manufactured inflatable balls were being used as soccer became a game of kicking and racing.

Since not many rules were established, violence and injuries were common due to the harshness of the game. The increasing brutality of the game became a public concern due to so many injuries and deaths, that some universities banned it. President Theodore Roosevelt even threatened to ban the game and urged Harvard, Princeton and Yale to help make changes or lose the sport. Finally, the Intercollegiate Football Association was formed by representatives from Harvard, Columbia, and Princeton to establish a new code of rules based primarily on rugby games.

The man responsible for shaping American football as we know it today was Walter Camp. He enrolled at Yale in 1876 and headed the IFA rules committee. He proposed reducing the number of players from 15 to 11. He helped establish the line of scrimmage and the center from the center to the quarterback. Camp also proposed that teams be required to advance the ball a minimum of five yards within three attempts. Further changes were instituted such as reduced playing field size, scoring rules, and playing time. In 1887 a paid umpire and umpire were ordered for each game and tackling below the waist was allowed. In 1889, officials were given whistles and stopwatches. The forward pass, one of the biggest changes in the game, didn’t become legal until 1906.

Although the rules were changing, soccer continued to be played violently in the style of early mafia games. Changes had to be made to make the game more secure. These changes were discussed on December 28, 1905 by sixty-two schools that met in New York City. Eventually, as a result, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) was formed. More than a century later, college football continues to thrive as one of the most popular college games. After the demise of the IFA, in 1920 the American Professional Soccer Association was formed. The association was later reorganized and in 1922 it was renamed the National Football League.