1.
American football
–
The offense must advance at least ten yards in four downs, or plays, or else they turn over the football to the opposing team, if they succeed, they are given a new set of four downs. Points are primarily scored by advancing the ball into the teams end zone for a touchdown or kicking the ball through the opponents goalposts for a field goal. The team with the most points at the end of a game wins, American football evolved in the United States, originating from the sports of association football and rugby football. The first game of American football was played on November 6,1869, during the latter half of the 1870s, colleges playing association football switched to the Rugby Union code, which allowed carrying the ball. American football as a whole is the most popular sport in the United States, Professional football and college football are the most popular forms of the game, with the other major levels being high school and youth football. As of 2012, nearly 1.1 million high school athletes and 70,000 college athletes play the sport in the United States annually, almost all of them men, in the United States, American football is referred to as football. The term football was established in the rulebook for the 1876 college football season. The terms gridiron or American football are favored in English-speaking countries where other codes of football are popular, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, American football evolved from the sports of association football and rugby football. What is considered to be the first American football game was played on November 6,1869 between Rutgers and Princeton, two college teams, the game was played between two teams of 25 players each and used a round ball that could not be picked up or carried. It could, however, be kicked or batted with the feet, hands, head or sides, Rutgers won the game 6 goals to 4. Collegiate play continued for years in which matches were played using the rules of the host school. Representatives of Yale, Columbia, Princeton and Rutgers met on October 19,1873 to create a set of rules for all schools to adhere to. Teams were set at 20 players each, and fields of 400 by 250 feet were specified, Harvard abstained from the conference, as they favored a rugby-style game that allowed running with the ball. An 1875 Harvard-Yale game played under rugby-style rules was observed by two impressed Princeton athletes and these players introduced the sport to Princeton, a feat the Professional Football Researchers Association compared to selling refrigerators to Eskimos. Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Columbia then agreed to play using a form of rugby union rules with a modified scoring system. These schools formed the Intercollegiate Football Association, although Yale did not join until 1879, the introduction of the snap resulted in unexpected consequences. Prior to the snap, the strategy had been to punt if a scrum resulted in bad field position, however, a group of Princeton players realized that, as the snap was uncontested, they now could hold the ball indefinitely to prevent their opponent from scoring. In 1881, both teams in a game between Yale-Princeton used this strategy to maintain their undefeated records, each team held the ball, gaining no ground, for an entire half, resulting in a 0-0 tie
2.
College Football All-Southern Team
–
The College Football All-Southern Team was an all-star team of college football players from the Southern United States. The honor was given annually to the best players at their respective positions and it is analogous to the All-America Team and was most often selected in newspapers. Notable pickers of All-Southern teams include John Heisman, Dan McGugin, Grantland Rice, W. A. Lambeth, Reynolds Tichenor, Nash Buckingham, Innis Brown, virginias 115–0 drubbing by Princeton in 1890 signaled footballs arrival in the south. For example, North Carolina was in both the SIAA and SAIAA at different points in its history, and Virginia Tech had one year in the SIAA. Clemson, today in the ACC, was in the SIAA, the SIAA was the oldest of these, founded in the winter of 1894 by Vanderbilt chemistry professor William Lofland Dudley. This organization really represents the south, as its scope is wider. V. P. I. can scarcely be figured in the calculation as that institution hasnt played any of the S. I. A. A. representatives. South Atlantic writers of course were not fond of this, and would sometimes critique the latest All-Southern selection with titles such as Virginia, in 1922 teams from the SIAA and SAIAA left for the Southern Conference and All-Southern teams become effectively All-Southern Conference teams. By 1933 the contemporary Southeastern Conference was established, Walter Camps annual official All-America first team had been historically loaded with college players from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, and other Northeastern colleges. Many selectors picked only Eastern players, in 1894, Michigan defeated Cornell and lobbied for its center Fatty Smith to be the first Western All-American. Notably the University of Michigan claims for their center Fatty Smith the supremacy in his position, but the western institutions have not yet mastered the eastern knowledge of all the details and fine points of the game. Smith has made a record against the west and even against Cornell. When brought to face a man like the Stillman of today or the Bulliet of last year, Smith would simply be lost, so it would be with all of the claimants for line positions from western teams. And no one claims for a moment that western back field men could play in the class with eastern men. The selectors were typically Eastern writers and former players who attended games in the East. The article noted, Eastern sporting editors must be devoid of all sense of humor, what man in the lot that have picked All-American elevens this fall, saw a single game outside the North Atlantic States. With a conceit all their own they fail to recognize that the United States reaches more than 200 miles in any direction from New York, suppose an Ohio football writer picked All-American teams. Ohio readers would not stand for it, but apparently the eastern readers will swallow anything
3.
College Football Hall of Fame
–
The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and museum devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation launched the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players, from 1995 to 2012, the Hall was located in South Bend, Indiana. It was connected to a center and situated in the citys renovated downtown district,2 miles south of the University of Notre Dame campus. In August 2014, the College Football Hall of Fame and Chick-fil-A Fan Experience opened in downtown Atlanta, rutgers donated land near its football stadium, office space, and administrative support. In response, the Foundation moved its operations to New York City, when the New York Attorney Generals office began its own investigation, the foundation moved to Kings Mills, Ohio, where a building finally was constructed adjacent to Kings Island in 1978. The Hall opened with good attendance figures early on, but visitation dwindled dramatically as time went on, nearby Galbreath Field remained open as the home of Moeller High School football until 2003. A new building was opened in South Bend, Indiana on August 25,1995. Despite estimates that the South Bend location would more than 150,000 visitors a year, the Hall of Fame drew about 115,000 people the first year. In 2009, the National Football Foundation decided to move the College Football Hall of Fame to Atlanta, the possibility of moving the museum has been brought up in other cities, including Dallas, which had the financial backing of billionaire T. Boone Pickens. However, the National Football Foundation ultimately decided on Atlanta for the next site, the new $68.5 million museum opened on August 23,2014. It is located next to Centennial Olympic Park, which is near other attractions such as the Georgia Aquarium, the World of Coca-Cola, CNN Center, and the National Center for Civil and Human Rights. The Hall of Fame is located near the Georgia Institute of Technology of the ACC, the new building broke ground on January 28,2013. Sections of the architecture are reminiscent of a football in shape, the facility is 94,256 square feet and contains approximately 50,000 square feet of exhibit and event space, interactive displays and a 45-yard indoor football field. Atlanta Hall Management operates the College Football Hall of Fame, as of 2017, there are 987 players and 214 coaches enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame, representing 306 schools. The National Football Foundation outlines specific criteria that may be used for evaluating a candidate for induction into the Hall of Fame. A player must have received major first team All-America recognition, a player becomes eligible for consideration 10 years after his last year of intercollegiate football played. Football achievements are considered first, but the record as a citizen is also weighed. Players must have played their last year of football within the last 50 years
4.
Bobby Dodd Stadium
–
Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field is the football stadium located at the corner of North Avenue at Techwood Drive on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta. It has been home to the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team, often referred to as the Ramblin Wreck, in form since 1905. The team participates in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference and it is the oldest stadium in the FBS and has been the site of more home wins than any other FBS stadium. The stadium is located on the east side of the Georgia Tech campus, across from freshman housing facilities and just a walk from the campus library. The facility is located in Midtown Atlanta, just off Interstate 75/85, the stadiums atmosphere is unique in its setting, with a picturesque view of the downtown and Midtown Atlanta skylines looming overhead during games. Grant Field is the oldest continuously used site for college football in the Southern United States. Football has been played at the current site since 1905, in 1913, permanent grandstands were built for the first time, mostly by Tech students. It was originally named for Hugh Inman Grant, son of John W. Grant, from 1913 to 1919, the stadium grew from a capacity of 7,000 to one of 25,000. In 1988, the stadium was renamed in honor of Bobby Dodd, the playing surface is still named Grant Field. The stadium bears little, if any, resemblance to its original form, the original facility, roughly corresponding to the lower level of the current stadiums west grandstands, seated 5,600. The terrain in the area slopes upward from north to south, due to that natural grade, much of the field itself is below street level. The houses observable in the background of photos were replaced by dormitory buildings in the 1930s. By 1925, the east and south stands were completed, making the stadium a 30, the west stands were rebuilt and a large press box was added in 1947, bringing capacity up to 44,000. In 1985 the South stands were razed to make room for the William C, Wardlaw Center, a modern field house and athletic office facility to replace the facilities in the old Heisman Gym, which was located just to the north of the stadium. The current, modern west grandstand covers the old concrete one, the high interstitial space is currently used for storage. The lighting was replaced in 1998, following the 2001 season, a major expansion and renovation project was started, which was done in two phases in order to play the 2002 season in the stadium. For the 2002 season, seating was returned to the South end in front of the Wardlaw Center, after the 2002 season, the expansion was completed by adding a massive free standing upper deck in the north end zone. This addition of an end zone upper deck brought Bobby Dodd Stadium to its current capacity
5.
Knute Rockne
–
Knute Kenneth Rockne was a Norwegian-American football player and coach at the University of Notre Dame. Rockne is regarded as one of the greatest coaches in football history. His biography at the College Football Hall of Fame identifies him as without question, Rockne helped to popularize the forward pass and made the Notre Dame Fighting Irish a major factor in college football. Knute Rockne was born Knut Larsen Rokne in Voss, Norway, to smith and wagonmaker Lars Knutson Rokne and his wife and he emigrated with his parents at five years old to Chicago. He grew up in the Logan Square area of Chicago, on the northwest side of the city, Rockne learned to play football in his neighborhood and later played end in a local group called the Logan Square Tigers. He attended North West Division High School in Chicago, playing football, after Rockne graduated from high school, he took a job as a mail dispatcher with the Post Office in Chicago for four years. When he was 22, he had saved money to continue his education. He headed to Notre Dame in Indiana to finish his schooling, Rockne excelled as a football end there, winning All-American honors in 1913. Rockne helped to transform the game in a single contest. On November 1,1913, the Notre Dame squad stunned the highly regarded Army team 35–13 in a game played at West Point. This game was not the invention of the pass. He was educated as a chemist at Notre Dame, and graduated in 1914 with a degree in pharmacy, in 1914, he was recruited by Peggy Parratt to play for the Akron Indians. There Parratt had Rockne playing both end and halfback and teamed with him on several successful forward pass plays during their title drive, Knute wound up in Massillon, Ohio, in 1915 along with former Notre Dame teammate Dorais to play with the professional Massillon Tigers. Rockne and Dorais brought the pass to professional football from 1915 to 1917 when they led the Tigers to the championship in 1915. Pro Football in the Days of Rockne by Emil Klosinski maintains the worst loss suffered by Rockne was in 1917. He coached the South Bend Jolly Fellows Club when they lost 40–0 to the Toledo Maroons, during 13 years as head coach, Rockne led his Fighting Irish to 105 victories,12 losses, five ties and three national championships, including five undefeated seasons without a tie. Rockne posted the highest all-time winning percentage for a college football coach. His schemes utilized include the eponymous Notre Dame Box offense and the 7–2–2 defense, the backfield lined up in a T-formation, then quickly shifted into a box to the left or right just as the ball was snapped
6.
Curley Byrd
–
Harry Clifton Curley Byrd was an American university administrator, educator, athlete, coach, segregationist, and politician. Byrd began an association with the University of Maryland as an undergraduate in 1905. In the interim, he had served as the universitys athletic director. Byrd amassed a 119–82–15 record in football from 1911 to 1934, Byrd Stadium, the universitys current football field, and its predecessor were both named in his honor. Byrd resigned as university president in order to enter politics in 1954 and he ran an unsuccessful campaign as the Democratic candidate for Maryland Governor against Theodore McKeldin. Byrd later received appointments to state offices with responsibilities in the Potomac River, in the 1960s, he made unsuccessful bids for seats in each chamber of the United States Congress. Byrd was a proponent of a separate but equal status of racial segregation in his roles as both university administrator and political candidate, in 2015, the student government association agreed to a resolution in support of changing the name of Byrd Stadium because of Byrds segregationist history. On September 28,2015, University of Maryland President Wallace Loh appointed task force to develop viewpoints, the University President then made a recommendation to the University System of Maryland Board of Regents—the governing body of Maryland state universities— to change the name to Maryland Stadium. The ultimate decision on any name change rests with the Board of Regents, on December 11,2015, the Board of Regents voted 12-5 to remove the Byrd from the stadiums name, renaming it Maryland Stadium for the time being. Harry Clifton Byrd was born on February 12,1889, in Crisfield and he was one of six children of oysterman and county commissioner William Franklin Byrd and his wife Sallie May Byrd. In his youth, Byrd worked in the Chesapeake Bay fishing industry and he attended Crisfield High School, where he excelled on the baseball diamond, and was also known as his hometowns first recreational jogger. A later source described how he appeared in 1905, He was tall and he had a startlingly handsome face, with big, flashing eyes, a splotch of florid red on each cheek, and a mane of black curly hair. He looked like Rupert of Hentzau, and had all of that worthys cold, in 1905, Byrd graduated from Crisfield High School and enrolled at the Maryland Agricultural College, which is now known as the University of Maryland. Byrd was a college athlete and participated in varsity football, baseball. He served as the team captain in 1907, as the pitcher on the baseball team. Before leaving Crisfield, Byrds father warned him not to try to play that thing called football and he ignored the advice and reported for football practice where head coach Fred K. Nielsen told the undersized Byrd to play with the kids and that footballs a mans game. He was allowed, however, to fill in as an end on the team due to a shortage of players. After sitting out the first three games, Nielsen sent Byrd in as a substitute against Navy, and his play was enough to earn a position on the first team
7.
North Carolina Tar Heels football
–
The North Carolina Tar Heels football team represents the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the sport of American football. The Tar Heels have played in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, being the oldest public university and oldest collegiate team in the Carolinas, the school is nicknamed Carolina in athletics. The programs title in football is Carolina Football, North Carolina has played in 31 bowl games in its history and won three Southern Conference championships and five Atlantic Coast Conference titles. Thirty Tar Heel players have been honored as first-team All-Americas on 38 occasions, Carolina had 32 All-Southern Conference selections when it played in that league until 1952 and since joining the ACC in 1953, has had 174 first-team All-ACC choices. Since joining the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1953, the team has won five conference championships, one very important contribution to the game of football by Carolina is the modern use of the forward pass, they were the first college team to use the play in 1895. It was conceived to break a deadlock and give UNC a 6–0 win. The Tar Heels were in a situation and a Georgia rush seemed destined to block the ball. The punter, with a dash to his right, tossed the ball and it was caught by George Stephens. The University of North Carolina fielded its first football team in 1888, Hector Cowan was Carolinas first head football coach. The Tar Heels played four games with a record of 1–3. The team captains for the 1888 season were Bob Bingham and Steve Bragaw, the game against Wake Forest was the first in the state, and the first against Trinity the first scientific game in the state. Ergo, one or the other is the first intercollegiate game in North Carolina, princeton star Hector Cowan traveled south and trained the team. In 1889, UNC played two games with a record of 1–1. The University would not field another team until 1891. The team captains for the 1889 season were Lacy Little and Steve Bragaw, William A. Reynolds coached the Tar Heels for four seasons. In 1897, Carolina played ten games with a record of 7–3. The team captain for the 1897 season was Arthur Belden, in 1898, the Tar Heels played nine games with a final record of 9–0. The team captain for the 1898 season was Frank O. Rogers, the team claimed a Southern championship
8.
Dennis K. Stanley
–
Dennis Keith Stanley, Sr. nicknamed Dutch Stanley, was an American education professor, university administrator and intercollegiate sports coach. Stanley was a native of England, but graduated high school in Florida. Dennis Stanley was born in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England on Easter Sunday 1906, the Stanley family emigrated to Canada when he was a child, first to Winnipeg, Manitoba, then to Fort William, Ontario. When he was 12 years old, the moved to Umatilla and then Ocala. He attended Hillsborough High School in Tampa, Florida, where he was an all-state end and his mother died when he was 17, but he worked nights at The Tampa Tribune office, and managed to graduate from high school in 1924. Stanley attended the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida from 1924 to 1929 and he was a standout end for the Gators, and played on the opposite side of the line from All-American end Dale Van Sickel. Stanley was also a javelin and discus thrower on the Gators track, after graduating from the university with his bachelors degree in 1929, Stanley earned a masters degree in physical education at Pennsylvania State College in State College, Pennsylvania. Stanley taught and coached in Daytona Beach and Jacksonville, Florida public high schools for two years returning to the University of Florida. In 1931, Van Sickel left for Hollywood and Stanley returned as an instructor, Stanley supplemented his income during the Great Depression by laying bricks. After a downturn in the records of Bachmans teams in 1931 and 1932, Bachman resigned and Stanley became the Gators new head coach at the age of 26. Stanley led an all-Florida-alumni coaching staff from 1933 to 1935, the Gators would not have another winning football season until 1952. As measured by his winning percentage, Stanley remains the winningest tennis coach in Gators history, Stanley was a part of Wades successful Blue Devils football teams in 1940 and 1941, including the squad that played in the 1942 Rose Bowl. Wades coaching staff also included Herschel Caldwell and Ellis Hagler, when World War II broke up Wades tenure, Stanley continued to serve as an assistant under Eddie Cameron. The 1944 team beat Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, in 1946, a member of the Florida Board of Control requested that Stanley prepare a plan for the University of Floridas athletic program and a new college of physical education. During the mid-1950s, Stanley developed a court version of tennis for older players which received national attention. After announcing his resignation as dean in January 1969, he continued to teach in the college until he retired in 1976. The college founded the D. K. Stanley Lecture series in 1986, to recognize Stanleys many contributions to the professions of physical education, Stanley was also a well-known author in his field, his publications included the standard textbook Physical Education Activities Handbook for Men and Women. He was a member of Florida Blue Key and was recognized as a Distinguished Letter Winner in the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame, showing his lifelong love of football, Stanley served as the NCAA representative on the Gator Bowl organizing committee for twenty-eight years
9.
History of the Chicago Cardinals
–
The professional American football team now known as the Arizona Cardinals previously played in Chicago, Illinois. This article chronicles the history during their time as the Chicago Cardinals from 1920 to 1959. In 1898, Chicago painting and building contractor Chris OBrien established an amateur Chicago-based athletic club football team named the Morgan Athletic Club, OBrien later moved them to Chicagos Normal Park and renamed them the Racine Normals, since Normal Park was located on Racine Avenue in Chicago. In 1901, OBrien bought used maroon uniforms from the University of Chicago and it was then that the team changed its name to the Racine Cardinals. The original Racine Cardinals team disbanded in 1906 mostly for lack of local competition, a professional team under the same name formed in 1913, claiming the previous team as part of their history. As was the case for most professional teams in 1918, the team was forced to suspend operations for a second time due to World War I. They resumed operations later in the year, and have operated continuously. At the time of the founding of the modern National Football League, in 1920, the team became a charter member of the American Professional Football Association, for a franchise fee of $100. The person keeping the minutes of the first league meeting, unfamiliar with the nuances of Chicago football, recorded the Cardinals as from Racine, the team was renamed the Chicago Cardinals in 1922 after a team actually from Racine, Wisconsin entered the league. That season the team moved to Comiskey Park, the Staleys and Cardinals played each other twice in 1920 as the Racine Cardinals and the Decatur Staleys, making their rivalry the oldest in the NFL. They split the series, with the team winning in each. In the Cardinals 7-6 victory over the Staleys in their first meeting of the season, each scored a TD on a fumble recovery. The Cardinals defeat of the Staleys proved critical, since George Halass Staleys went on to a 10-1-2 record overall, 5-1-2 in league play. The Akron Pros were the first ever champions, they finished with an 8-0-3 record, 6-0-3 in league play. Since the Pros merely had to tie the game in order to win the title, had the Staleys not lost to the Cardinals, they would have gone into that fateful game with an 11-0-1 record, 6-0-1 in league play. As it was, it all but assured that the Staleys/Bears, in 1922, the Staleys, now renamed the Bears, went 9-3-0, losing to the Cardinals twice. The Bears still edged the Cardinals for 2nd place in the league, in 1923 and 1924, the Bears got the better of the Cardinals all three times the two teams played. But in 1925, the Bears went 0-1-1 against the Cardinals with the tie meaning the Cardinals were only a ½ game in front of the Pottsville Maroons heading into their fateful 1925 showdown
.png)
