Walter Camp: The Real Founder of American Football

Football season has begun and the sport is in full swing. Many fans love the ruggedness of the game of football. It is not an activity for the weak. Fans follow their favorite teams and root them on in their homes, at games, and businesses. Here is a little history to enhance the appreciation of the cherished American game. Rule alterations in rugby football delivered modern day American Football. Walter Camp instituted changes helped define the modern game. The rule changes instituted in 1879 gave football its new start. College coaches also contributed to changes in game play that helped football become a popular sport in the US. The recognition of college football is what pushed the sports dominance in the Twentieth century.

Walter Camp was born in Connecticut and studied at Yale. Throughout the years of 1888 to 1914, Camp was the main athletic director and top football coach for Yale University. He played football at Yale and instituted some of the most notable and renowned rule alterations in the overall game. Because of these significant rule changes, he is often referred to as the founder or father of American Football. Rules were revised from the popular games of rugby and soccer to produce a new group of standards for football. William Ebb Ellis also influenced these alterations by running the ball in the middle of a rugby game in 1823. This was definitely an immediate breach of the existing rules and paved the way for future changes. A convention that was held in 1876 formed the first rules of American Football. After the rules had been defined, Walter Camp continued to edit and change rulebooks until he passed it on in 1925.

Walter Camp contributed many football adaptations that now help make the game what it is today. He reduced the team size from fifteen to eleven. The line of scrimmage was made. A team was set to get undisputed possession until their very own violations force them to give up the ball. Two new positions were formed: quarterback and center. The forward pass also was invented by Walter Camp. A typical scoring system and numerical scoring were outlined. Other notable changes added in safeties, interferences, and penalties. In 1888, above knee tackling was permitted. Then in 1912, touchdown and field goal points were changed to 6 and three points. Each one is very important changes that molded American Football into its present day creation.

The nation's Football League did not actually form until 1920. During this time, many teams dropped from the league and did not play their set schedules. A total of four teams played the complete season. One year later twenty-one teams became members of the NFL. Membership continued to grow and also the first playoff game was officially held in 1932. The NFL Players association and extra developments in the fifties helped stabilize the leagues presence within the next many years. Without the rule changes of Walter Camp, many of these advancements might have never happened . Thus we pay tribute to his dedication to this exciting game that people have grown accustomed to.

Walter Camp's rugby rule revisions lead him to probably the most famous cause of modern football. You can find much more of Leo Wells striking sport discussions at Leo-wells-on-sports.com.

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