9 January 2017 | Author/Destination: Around the World / Rund um die Welt | Rubric: General, Sport
Reading Time: 11 minutes
American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of
association football and
rugby football. The first game of American football was played on
November 6, 1869, between two college teams,
Rutgers and
Princeton, under rules based on the
association football rules of the time. During the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the
Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. A set of rule changes drawn up from
1880 onward by
Walter Camp, the “Father of American Football”, established the
snap, eleven-player teams, and the concept of downs; later rule changes legalized the
forward pass, created the
neutral zone, and specified the size and shape of the football.
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