SEC. 69 ISSUE NR 3 YEAR 2020 INVICTA NFL AN AMERICAN FORMATION An evolution from the British sports, rugby and soccer, American football’s roots reach back to the 1800’s and colleges of the American northeast. Due to the painted vertical yard lines, the game was often referred to as ‘gridiron’ football. With a high number of teammates, members and constantly changing rules, the ‘matches’ were largely marked by brutality, chaos and injuries that resulted in the name, ‘mob football’. A match between Princeton and Rutgers in 1869 is largely considered the first official American football game. Early standardization began with the 1873 founding of the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA). Though it wasn’t until the 1880’s that through the efforts of Walter Camp the game was codified, becoming the more recognizable sport of today. A Yale undergraduate and med student, Camp established common rules with the IFA and developed the core of the game structure that included the ‘downs’ system. Camp went on to coach football for Yale as well as distinguish himself in the US military by developing a fitness regime for servicemen known as the ‘Daily Dozen’. In 1892, William "Pudge" Heffelfinger, was paid $500 to play for a non-collegiate club team in Pittsburgh and effectively paved the way to the initial founding of the league in 1920, onwards to today’s National Football League (NFL) and to the first Super Bowl in 1967. Now 32 teams strong, with its infectious energy and invigorated spirit, professional football, as well as college, has come to reflect the essence of a bold and bright nation.
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