The sun., 1894-10-28
HEGROwTH OF FOOTBALL
BOW rHE GAME HLs PRosREssED
SINCE ITs ADOPTION


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College football ~ played nowadays can be re-
Carried ss = national psstime. There are thou
sands Of people all over the country who are In
terested In the game. and thousands Of young
men who playing ~ in our many univers-
ties. colleges, and schools But II IL doubtful IL
many ~ them can tell you the history of the
great spDrt. together with the many noteworthy
incidents Of the past. which will Be handed
down tradition for years to come.
Eighteen years ago this fall the English game
Of Rugby football. with several American i'm
provements. was adopted by the big colleges in
this country. Since then the game has Rradu-
ally increased in popularity. until at the pres
cot time II holds the attention Of the entire
American public during the fall. From what
were originally Affairs between certain universi-
ties. which attracted college men only. these big
football matches have grown TO be events which
are watched for and witnessed by not only the
collegisns and their friends, but by the sporting
public at large. In striking contrast with the
small amount Of money involved by the playing
Of the games in the early days the contests of
to-day mean Thousands Of dollars pront to the
colleges participating in the various important
gridlron battles In fact there Is much
money in football. that other college orFsnizs-
lions. such the track athletic teams and the
varsity crews are practically supported by the
football elevcns.
From the old game Of fifteen" played by the
colleges early as is70 the present game.
which ia Interesting Thousands, has been grad
ually evolved Il. Of course takes Il origin from
the English game played with 50 much success
a. Rugby. but the college legislators have made
% many rules and changes in the method of
play that the present game is distinctly Amer
lean. From 1870 to 1876 the old fifteen"
game was played by Yale. Princeton. and other |
leading colleges, but in 1875 the Rugby game |
was introduced, and the intercollegiate Foot |
ball Association was organized TO govern the |
sport. The association consisted then Of Prince
ton, Harvard, and Columbia, but Yale, though |
IN outsider. defeated all three colleges. Thus |
at the very beginning OF Rugby football In this .
country Yale triumphed, and at the same time |
showed such a thorough knowledge Of the !
hne points Of the English game that |
she has enjoyed a decided advantage |
ever since. The results OF the more i'm
portant contests were Yale one goal, Harvard |
two touch downs: Yale two goals. Princeton
nothing; Princeton six goals, University of
played with fifteen men on q side, and in the
system Of scoring only goals were counted. IL
was also stipulated that unless one side the
other secured n majority Of the goals the game
was a tie. The next step in scoring was 10 de-
eide match by majority OF touch downs.
goal being valued as four touch downs Al the
same tine goal made up OF touch downs took
precedence over goal kicked from the field.
Thus II happened that in 1877, although Yale
scored two touch downs and whitewashed
Princeton. the battle was declared . draw. or
mo game" and the championship was not
awarded. In this year Harvard made . goal
and touch down to Princcton's touch down,
but Harvard and Yale did not meet.
In 1878, Princeton won first honors by defeat
Ing Yale, Harvard and the University Of Penn
sylvania- The next year safety touch downs
were introduced. when this rule passed: II
no other points are scored, a side making four
safety touch downs less than their opponents
shall win the game" During that season no
championship was awarded. as Yale's game with
Princeton under the rules was draw. while the
Harvard-Ysle game resulted the same way. II
was IN 1880 that a rule was framed limiting the
number Of men on each team to eleven. The po-
sitions were much different from now. the " line"
being made up Of six "rushers." while back
of IL were full back. n three-quarter tend. two
half tends. and a quarter back. The quarter
back always took the hall from the snap back
|
who did most of the ground gaining. The quarter
back could also run with the ball hut not forward.
lie was permitted ~ run sideways across the
field and then pass the ball back of him 20 an
other runner, but II he or any player passed the
leather forward, a cry OF foul" always went
up from the opponents, who promptly received
the ball as q penalty. The duties OF the three
quarter tend were practically those OF the
modern full back. He did the kicking and
caught Dunts from the other aide He als nj |
lowed the halves in case one OF them happened
90 drop the ball The full back was the guardian |
of the goal. His proper position was near his
own goal posts. where he could intercept and
throw an opponent who succeeded in getting
through the whole team. Interference was an
unknown quantity. each player digging away for
himself. The six rushers were the alert
20 tackle opposing ground gamers. They were
permitted to hold their six opponents on the
line up. and impromptu wrestling matches were
in order. This created the impression that the
men were "slugging." and indeed many a clean,
swift blow was struck in the scrimmAges.
As in the present game, fair catches OF punts
were In order. but they were made much differ
entity. As soon As the ball was kicked In the air
the man who intended TO catch IL stood perfectly
stiii after Judging about where the ball would I
fall. His opponents kept hands. on and permit
ted him 10 catch the ball unmolested. Then he ,
made deep mark with his heel. and on this
line the opposing eleven lined up. The side pos
sessing the ball retreated about ten yards and
prepared either for a drop or place kick. Under
those circumstances punt was not permitted, !
% that skilful drop and place kiekers usually
sent the ball much further, the kick being, as q
rule, long and low, instead Of hign in the air, .
II was possible to kick goals from the nifty :
yard line on place" Haxall, a Princeton I
player. kicked goal from the middle Of tho
neld in the game with Yale in 1889. {
N.I. 49, L.. 49, l q