Early American Football, Timeline 1880-1920

The combination of rugby and soccer morphed into what we now call football. Just don't tell that to a European! What we call soccer they call (erroneously!?!) football. Starting on college campuses in the US northeast, this sport almost never took off! Had it not been for President Teddy Roosevelt assembling an NCAA rules committee, our brand of football would never be. Why? Long before we knew of CTE, the early game was dangerously brutal: from 1905-1910, 93 players died and another 149 suffered severe injuries. With the committee's new rules in place, on-field carnage began to dissipate. So check out the early rules, uniforms, offensive schemes (Single Wing, T Formation, and Notre Dame Box), the elite coaches of the era, and an incredible athlete/Olympic gold-medalist who became the face and name of the early game. While scanning the Timeline, compare the vast difference how this game was played - to what it is now!