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hunterjohnson1
hunterjohnson1
Student
High School - 9th Grade

What are some things on the history of football, that would helpful to write a reserch paper?

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Posted by hunterjohnson1 on Wednesday November 4, 2009 at 5:45 AM and tagged with history, history of football..

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  1. pohnpei397 Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    eNotes Editor

    I can't see from your profile where you're from, but I'm assuming you're American and therefore you mean American football.  Some major developments I'd suggest looking at:

    1. First college football game 1869 -- if you find stuff about that you'll probably find stuff about the early rules and how it was a combination of rugby and soccer along with some new ideas.
    2. How violent the game was at first and how Theodore Roosevelt wanted to ban it.
    3. The invention of the forward pass, which went along with the reshaping of the ball to make it less round and easier to throw.
    4. The beginning of the NFL.

    All of this stuff is pretty much in chronological order.

    The answer below is right also...  And some other stuff:

    • Integration of the NFL after WWII
    • Start of TV broadcasts
    • The merger with the AFL and the first Super Bowl
    • Growth of popularity -- look at how poor attendance was at early Super Bowls

    Oh, and of course, the first Heisman Trophy went to a player from my alma mater!  Which is just tremendously important to everyone.

    Good luck!

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    Posted by pohnpei397 on Wednesday November 4, 2009 at 6:42 AM


  2. akannan Teacher
    Middle School

    eNotes Editor

    I think that previous post did a very nice job in addressing it.  In terms of the historical development of American Football, I would suggest examining the difference between the NFL and the old AFL league.  Both leagues featured teams that represented much of the dichotomy of America at the time.  The NFL was the "establishment" league and this could be contrasted with the upstart AFL.  One could argue that this emergent league represented the rising of "the other," as it sought to contrast its views with that of the establishment. The AFL was designed to separate itself from the traditional play of the NFL.  It felt that by representing this other, this counter football culture as it were, there would be a greater diversity of play offered to the fan.  This is highly representative of the 1960s' spirit which could also be seen as attempting to articulate "the other" in terms of social, political, and ethical notions of the good.

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    Posted by akannan on Wednesday November 4, 2009 at 7:14 AM