College
football endured extensive rule changes, and game improvements throughout its
history. Today it is still an ever changing game, within the past 10 years
kickoffs have been moved up 10 yards, and the targeting rule has been
implicated. These are two major rule changes that have happened very recently.
However the rule changes made when the sport was just getting started are the
most important changes the sport has had. These rule changes helped to make the
game into what it is today, and most importantly, save the game that is loved
by America.
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| An early college football game. |
At its
inception college football was a brutal blood sport. It was much more like
rugby than the football played today. It was a violent sport, it was common for
fights and brawls to break out during a game. There were even cases of players
running into the stands to engage with spectators. Along with these
extracurricular violent acts, the plays committed within the rules were just as
brutal, and sometimes lethal. Formations like the “flying wedge” in which players
joined arms, and used their helmets as battering rams. When ball carries were
gang tackled and trapped under countless bodies. These types of plays, along
with the lack of protective equipment led to injuries and even deaths. The
Chicago Tribune reported in 1904 that there were 18 football deaths, and 159
serious injuries. These injuries included; crushed skulls, wrenched spines, and
broken ribs that led to pierced hearts. Football faced much criticism, some
schools even went as far as dropping their programs. Football had to undergo serious reform to
survive.
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| President Teddy Roosevelt |
Football was
on thin ice. It was facing heavy criticism from all over. University
presidents, the media, schools were dropping their programs. The most notable supporter
of college football was President Teddy Roosevelt. Roosevelt was instrumental
in saving college football. Before the 1905 season Teddy called a meeting with
the head coaches and some representatives of Harvard, Yale, and Princeton at
the White House. Roosevelt told them to stop the violence, and to set an
example for the rest of the country to play fair. The schools all released a
letter condemning violence. That season play was much of the same. 19 deaths
and 137 serious injuries were reported. Harvard president Charles Eliot said
college football was, “more brutalizing than prizefight, cockfighting, or
bullfighting.” Eliot said dropping the program could be Harvard’s next move,
something that could hurt college football and Harvard alum President Teddy
Roosevelt. Roosevelt vowed to not let Eliot “emasculate” the sport, but he
called another meeting to urge the coaches of Harvard and other universities to
make radical rule changes. In 1906 an intercollegiate conference, which would
later become the NCAA, approved rule changes for the 1906 season. Among the
rule changes were; legalizing forward passing, eradicated dangerous formations,
formed a neutral zone between offense and defense, and doubled the first-down
distance to 10 yards in three downs. Football was still dangerous, however
deaths dropped to 11 per year in 1906 and 1907, injuries fell sharply as well. In
1909 fatalities spiked and more rule changes were made. These new rules
lessened the restrictions on forward passing and created the foundation of the modern
sport seen today.
The
formation of college football has been a very important to American life. Football
is a sport enjoyed by countless Americans. Without the rule changes imposed by
Teddy Roosevelt and others the game may not be in existence today. Over 1
million high school students played football in America in the 2012-2013 school
year. This makes football the number one participation sport in the American high
schools. These players along with the college, and professional players make an
astounding number of football players in America. There is an average of 110
players on a Division I football team. Each professional team has 53 players on
roster along with 5 practice squad players. Football is a huge part of American
life, it can be seen on TV almost every night during football season. Pro games
on Monday, Thursday, and Sunday. College on Thursday, Friday, and all day
Saturday. Including all the Friday night high schools throughout the country
that can be seen. Football teaches character, toughness, how to be a part of a
team, leadership, along with other countless life lessons. It is considered by
many to be the ultimate team game, unlike other sports such as basketball, the
success of every play is dependent on every player on the field doing their
job. If a lineman misses a block, a running back loses yards. If a quarterback
throws a bad ball, a receiver misses a chance at a touchdown. Football is very important
to America, you cannot go anywhere in America where football is not being
played somewhere in that state at least. Football has shaped many of the men of
America. It has made them the leaders they are, the mentally tough the men they
are, it has built them into the productive members of society they are.
Football had
to endure rigorous and drastic changes to survive in America. Football is a
staple in American culture today. It is unavoidable, some of the leaders of
America have played football, and some of the CEOs of major corporations in America
played football. Football is America’s sport.
