History of American Football

In the modern day United States the sport American football has become not only entertainment but also a tradition whether it’s watching the BCS college championship or watching the super bowl with the family. The sport of American football is unique to the United States and has grown and became iconic over the years and has become a part of many Americans lives. American Football was made in 1869 and was modeled after the sport of rugby. They took the basics of rugby and changed it to make it fit better for them. The game has changed over the years but it also affected many Americans as the tradition of Monday Night football has begun. The game has had problems with the United States government as it was said to be too dangerous to play, this lead to an upgrade in the equipment and they tried very hard to make the equipment well ensuring player safety throughout the sport.
A common question asked is where American Football got its name even though it was played (for the most part) by hand. The answer for this is simple. When the game was first brought to the United States, it was nothing like the football we know and love today. The use of hands was minimal and it was an illegal play to throw the ball in a forward motion. At this time in History the extra point kick was worth six points in the late 1800’s and a touchdown only worth two. So as a result they named the game football because at this point kicking the goal was worth more points and were the main goal of the game. They were tempted to name the game something similar to the game it was made from, rugby, however they decided they would differentiate it by naming it something completely different.
Another basic aspect of the game that not many people knew about wa...

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... in the USA. N.p., 6 Nov. 2004. Web. 13 Apr. 2014. This source was very general and it gave the history of the nfl is sections/ It did not really tell me how it affected america and was kind of short compared to my other sources.
Oriard, Michael. Reading Football: How the Popular Press Created an American Spectacle. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina, 1993. Print. This book described how the press made the game evolve and become more popular which basically was the reason that the game is so popular today and also the reason it became an american tradition
Riesman, David. Football in America: A Study in Culture Diffusion ... Philadelphia: Prentice Hall, 1951. Print. this book mainly focused on how the evolution of football affected the United States of America as a whole and also talked about how the sport came to be as it is today. I found it very helpful