| American football emerged from the European game | | | | In 1873, the Intercollegiate Football Association was |
| of Rugby in 1879. Walter Camp, a player and coach of | | | | formed by the representatives of Columbia, Rutgers, |
| Yale University, is recognized as "The Father Of | | | | Princeton, and Yale. Till then, the increasingly popular |
| American Football" as the early rules of the game was | | | | game was being played with many different rules. The |
| instituted by him. However, previous to that, the | | | | association brought into effect the first set of rules of |
| students of Princeton were already playing a game | | | | intercollegiate football which allowed fifteen players in |
| called "Ballown". It was about fisting the ball and then | | | | each team. However, it was Walter Camp, a coach at |
| using their feet to advance the ball past their | | | | Yale, who began the final process of evolution from |
| opponents. There were no hard and fast rules that | | | | rugby like game to what we know today as the |
| applied and could be stated as the easiest form of | | | | American Football. The number of players was |
| football at it's early times. However, the physical | | | | reduced to eleven and the standard size of the field |
| aspect of the game was immense and often it turned | | | | was set to hundred and ten yards. A little later downs |
| violent. | | | | were introduced and tackling below the belt was |
| At Harvard too, a football-type game was being | | | | legalized. |
| played on the first Monday of the school year. This | | | | However, the violent physical challenge that the game |
| game was so much physical that the day it was | | | | demanded, caused many serious injuries and deaths in |
| played was often mentioned as "Bloody Monday". The | | | | the next few years. As a result, though still gaining |
| year 1865 was very important for American Football. | | | | popularity, football was banned in many colleges. In |
| The Civil War had ended and football started gaining | | | | 1905, under a directive from President Theodore |
| popularity in the colleges. It was in this year that some | | | | Roosevelt, Yale, Harvard and Princeton setup a couple |
| basic rules for the game were established and the | | | | of meetings between schools and formed a seven |
| game got its patent for the first time. Thus on 6th | | | | member Rules Committee which was later came to |
| November, 1869 the first inter-collegiate football was | | | | be known as National Collegiate Athletic Association, |
| played between Rutgers and Princeton where | | | | or the NCAA. |
| Rutgers won by a score of six goals to four. | | | | |