One year ago today, I sent the first issue of Today's Tidbits to a subscriber list of one: me. Some stories on Football Archaeology show earlier publishing dates because I imported 100+ articles from my old site, but today is the first anniversary of
The Rutgers-Princeton games were a big deal. They were the first intercollegiate games between American colleges playing a football-like game. (Crew and baseball preceded "football.") Warding, interference, or blocking arrived in 1884. See this post for more: https://www.footballarchaeology.com/p/todays-tidbit-1876-ifa-rule-22-onside
Tidbits are intended to touch on a point without a deeper discussion of where things fit from a broader context. My book, How Football Became Football, pieces together many of those issues.
Love the blog! I feel like Rutgers and Princeton deciding to play the folk games is a big deal too. Also a big deal is when it diverged from rugby - when exactly did blocking and down and distance get instituted?
Today's Tidbit... When Did Football Really Begin?
The Rutgers-Princeton games were a big deal. They were the first intercollegiate games between American colleges playing a football-like game. (Crew and baseball preceded "football.") Warding, interference, or blocking arrived in 1884. See this post for more: https://www.footballarchaeology.com/p/todays-tidbit-1876-ifa-rule-22-onside
The rule of possession arrived in 1880, but teams were not required to gain yardage in a set number of downs until 1884. You can read more about that here: https://www.footballarchaeology.com/p/todays-tidbit-1876-ifa-rule-11-scrimmage
Tidbits are intended to touch on a point without a deeper discussion of where things fit from a broader context. My book, How Football Became Football, pieces together many of those issues.
Let me know if you have other questions.
Danke schoen, baby!
Love the blog! I feel like Rutgers and Princeton deciding to play the folk games is a big deal too. Also a big deal is when it diverged from rugby - when exactly did blocking and down and distance get instituted?
Congrats on the Milestone Anniversary Football Archaeology. And to Many More to Come!!