The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-11-05
HISTORY OF AMERI- CAN FOOTBALL

N
 This week will mark the forty third
 anniversary of the beginning of inter
 collegiate football on this side of the Atlantic. The first gridiron contest
 ever staged in AEner1cay between col 1ege teams was played at New Brurfs- wick, N- -s.J., on the sixth day of No syember 1869 The opposing teams represented Princeton and Rutgers, although the former institution was then known as Nassau Hall, and was far from being the great university it now is. Rutgers College is at New Brunswick only about twenty miles of the two institutions naturally led tos an intense athletic rivalry Rut- gers was the first to take up football, and organized an eleven with sWs.SJ
 were challenged to a. gFidiron battle, and Nassau immediately accepted the defi.< W s. Gummere, who had made reputation on the diamond, was chosen the leader of the team that was to bear the colors of. Old Nassau in a contest at the new. sport with tn e arranged a4meeting to formulate a set of rules to govern the first. inter collegiate gridiron com bats. This pioneeE1 set of reg ZreguIIations I is 2. re- re. no resemblance to the rules govern ing any form of present-day football. Some of the provisions were as fol
 The ball shall be of the regulation Kind now in use at Rutgers and Nas7 auaHa1l.
 The grounds shall bs. ;of 2 length s Do of 36O feet and of width of 225s feet with goals measuring eight paces- ! r The players on each side shall mum Der twenty five.
 Four judges and two referees shall officiate at each game
 There shall bevno throwing or run ming with the ball. either constituting a foul, when the ball must be thrown nc nj f. lending side.
 There shall be no tripping or hold ing. of players. d-holding thes heall
 In case a ball passes out of bounds, it shall be kicked on horizontally by the side which kicked it out. 1869,5 forty-three years ago, a train filled to overflowing with the stu- dents of Old Nassau pulled into New Brunswick. N. sJ.. the home of Rut- ton turned loose a mighty cheer, and it was immediately answered by a de liant shout from the Rutgers men The first sintercollegiate football game in America was about to be staged, but before the historic contest the students of the rival sinstitutions day, no charge of professionalism had ever been lodged against college sports, and there were no gate re- cefpts to squabble over The rivalry was intense, but amicabIe, and the true sporting spirit of t'let the hest team win'' prevailed. There was no gloating over the vanquished Tho wild celebration by the vfctors. Intercol- Iegiate contests were followed by so- ciaI affairs, in which whole-souled h hospitality ruled. That Rutgers Mas sau Hall gridiron competition was not held on a gridiron at all. in the mod ern meaning of the word, but on vacant lot The grand-stand was con spicuous by it's absence Some of the spectators sat on fence surround ing the field. while others stood or squatted on the ground. Each team was composed of twenty-five men, and there were four judges and two ref erees. The uniforms and armor of the tgridiron hero of today were un-9 dreamed of. True, the Rutgers men were distinguished by turbans of a glowing red, adding a dash of color to the scene. Otherwise the players wore their everyday attire, although they shed their coats when the con- test commenced. When time was called, each side divided into three parties. The tffe1derS'' were sent to certain parts of the grounds which tn rules forbade them. leaving. An other party, called ''bulldozers," were to follow the ball, which was much than the pigskin of today, in he field. A, third section. consistins If two men, guarded the goals of the