1. The History of American Football

2. ORIGINS OF FOOTBALL
Football is believed to originate from the Ancient Greek game of Harpaston.
Goal of game: A player had to cross a ball past a goal line by kicking, running with, or throwing it to another player.
Other teams’ objective: Stop them any way you can
No specified field length, boundaries, or number of players.

3. ORIGINS OF FOOTBALL
More modern versions formed in England in the 1100’s.
The sport became so popular that the kings banned the sport because people were losing interest in traditional sports like fencing and archery

4. DEVELOPING THE SPORT
Mid 1800’s – 7 England public schools played it as a sport. 6 of 7 schools played a similar game.
They refined the rules and formed “Association Football” (Soccer)

5. THE 7TH SCHOOL
Rugby School – Played their own version that allowed players to run with the ball and had 18ft. goal posts 10ft. in the air.
Goals could be scored by kicking over the bar.
Players could “touch down” the ball behind the goal line and would be award a “try-at-goal”
An “off-your-side” rule kept teams separated.
Passing the ball forward was not allowed.
This version was named after the school and called RUGBY.

6. Rugby
Introduction to Rugby

7. Australian Rules Football

8. FOOTBALL IN AMERICA
November 6th, 1869 – Birth date of football in America. Game: Rutgers v. Princeton
20 players to a team. Still resembled Rugby.
1873 – Columbia, Rutgers, Princeton, Yale formed the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA). 15 Players per team.

9. CHANGING TO THE MODERN GAME
Walter Camp – coach of Yale Univ.
“Father of American Football”
Camp + IFA rules committee made the following changes…
1. 15 players down to 11 players
2. Playing field size (110 yards)
3. “Downs” system
(3 downs/5 yards)
(3 downs/10 yards)
(4th down is added)

10. Walter Camp “Father of American Football”
Before 1891, football was a hybrid of soccer & rugby.
Camp introduced the first major rules that made football into what it is today:
Scrimmage line
Eleven-man team
Signal calling
Positions: QB, Center, & Halfback
Make 5 yards in 3 downs.
Scoring system

11. Frederick Taylor Father of Scientific Management.
Four elements of scientific management:
Science
Harmony
Cooperation
Maximum Output
Camp’s principles of football:
Teamwork
Strategy
Tactics

12. FOOTBALL IN AMERICA
Not only was football a product of industrial organization, it was also based on military organization:
The language of football – drills, training camps, strategy, and tactics – was based on military life and experience.
The nature of play consisted of organized violence and the capture of territory.
Comedian George Carlin also noted many of the military terms used as the game evolved:
Hits, helmets, bombs, territory, blitz

13. Walter Camp’s Legacy
Not only did Camp develop the modern game, he was the sport’s biggest promoter, defender, and propagandist.
Started the All- American team in

14. “Pudge” Heffelfinger The first professional football player on record.
At 6’2” & 200 lbs. he is considered one of the greatest lineman who ever lived.
He played from 1888 – 1933.
He played in his last game at age 65.

15. The Flying Wedge

16. President Teddy Roosevelt
Saved American football from being outlawed. It was too dangerous.
It was extremely rough with gang tackling, slugging, and unsportsmanlike conduct.
Many players died (18 in alone).
Seeing virtue in the game, TR summoned the Big Three (Harvard, Yale, and Princeton) to the White House.

17. President Teddy Roosevelt
TR convinced them that the rules needed to be changed to eliminate the foul play and brutality.
As a result, the American Football Rules Committee was formed in 1906 and the following changes were made to football:
Inclusion of the forward pass as a regular part of the game.
Distance to be gained for a first down was changed from 5 yards to 10 yards.
All mass formations (scrum, for example) and gang tackling were banned.
Football became safer, injuries and deaths decreased, and it was more fun to watch.

18. A TOUGH GAME
Within a decade people become concerned with the brutality of the sport.
180 players with serious injuries deaths
Pres. Theodore Roosevelt asked Harvard, Princeton, Yale to make changes to save the sport.
60+ schools meet to form a 7 member rules committee later called the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)

19. NCAA CHANGES Forward pass legalized. New ball design
More open style play
Rough mass plays banned
Locking arms by teammates banned
Game time shortened from 70 to 60 minutes.
Implementation of the “Neutral Zone” to keep teams separated before each play.

20. Knute Rockne American Football’s most renowned coach.
Coached at Notre Dame from ( )
He is considered the father of the forward pass.
He wasn’t the first to use it, but he did help popularize it.

21. The Four Horsemen

22. The following appeared in the New York Herald Tribune, on October 18, 1924:
"Outlined against a blue-gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction, and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are: Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon as 55,000 spectators peered down upon the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below."

25. Red Grange (a.k.a. the Galloping Ghost)
Played at Univ. of Illinois
Played for Chicago Bears from
Named the greatest college football player of all time by ESPN in 2008.
Scored 5 touchdowns against U of M in 1925.
He is credited with bringing professional football into the mainstream of public interest.

26. PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL HALL OF FAME

27. THE HALL OF FAME Located in Canton, Ohio Opened in 1963
Over the years the site has grown to almost 5 times its original size
As of the class of there are 260 members.

28. WHY CANTON?
1. The league that grew to be the NFL (American Professional Football Assoc.) was founded in Canton – Sept. 17, The Canton Bulldogs were an early powerhouse team. They were the first 2-time champ of the NFL. Jim Thorpe played for them. 3. The city of Canton petitioned to earn the site.

29. EARLY EQUIPMENT

30. EARLY EQUIPMENT Oldest football in the HOF’s collection (mid 1880’s)
Helmet from the turn of the century

31. TEAMS AND RECORDS

32. ON THE SAME PAGE

33. THE MODERN ERA GALLERY

34. SUPER BOWL GALLERY Super Bowl Gallery named after Lamar Hunt.
Founder of the league that became the NFL.
Named the Super Bowl
Assigned the Roman Numerals
Suggested the name for the trophy

35. SUPER “BALL”?
Lamar Hunt named the big game after a toy that his kids had.
He thought the toy name sounded like “Super Bowl” and he thought it would be a good name.

36. THE LOMBARDI TROPHY

37. INTERESTING RINGS

38. ALL THE RINGS

39. THE SELECTION PROCESS
A 44-person committee selects the new enshrinees.
Most committee members are on the board until they resign.
The committee meets once a year around the Super Bowl to nominate the new enshrinees.
No set number for number of enshrinees each year.

40. THE SELECTION PROCESS
Each candidate must receive 80% approval from the committee.
17 new candidates each year (2 from the pre-’86 senior nominees)
Any fan can nominate any qualified person connected with pro football.
A nominee must have been retired for at least 5 seasons before they are eligible.

41. TOP OF THEIR CLASS 2011 HOF class includes 7 members.
The first HOF class was inducted in 1963 with 17 members (Largest class)
were the smallest classes (3)
Position – Modern Era Off.Linemen (35)
Team – Chicago Bears (27)
College – USC (11)
Number – (11)
Draft Round – 1st Round (89)
Heisman Winners (8)

42. ENSHRINEMENT