Something significant was born 150 years ago this week—a style of collegiate athletic competition that’s uniquely American.
150 years ago this week—on November 6, 1869, to be specific—Princeton (then the College of New Jersey) faced Rutgers (the State University of New Jersey today) in the first college football game.
At least that’s what the record book says. But calling it ‘football’ by today’s standards is a stretch. It was classified ‘football’ because the rules governing the game that day were drawn from a British source—the same source that governed rugby.
The game looked more like soccer than football. For one thing, players couldn’t pass the ball. That move came nearly a half-century later—in September 1906—when St. Louis University chucked the ball against Carroll College. But, more amazingly, the 1869 game didn’t include carrying the ball, either. Players could kick, bat, and otherwise move the ball forward, but they couldn’t hold the ball and run for the purpose of advancing it.
For the most part, the game back then was played by foot—hence, it was called football.
The “Gridiron” at Syracuse University circa 1910 (source: BigGameUSA)
There are two other quirky things about football from back in the day—quirky things that history also kept in the game’s lexicon.
Why do we call a football field a ‘gridiron’? Well, decades ago—well before the advent of the modern game—football was played on a checkerboard field, turf that resembled what we recognize (today) as a waffle iron … hence, gridiron.
That’s the truth. But calling a football ‘the pigskin’ is not, even though we’ve always referred to the ball that way. It’s difficult to find a legitimate source that authenticates that footballs were ever made from the skin of pigs. In yesteryear, footballs were inflated animal bladders. Today, leather and vulcanized rubber are materials of choice.
And there are a few more disconnects between the games of then and now.
As players traversed the field back in 1869, they didn’t play one game, they played ten. Each score (a goal) represented a game with each goal counting one point. And, therein, resides another interesting use of a word. In those days, ‘the goal line’ was to be taken literally—the line to be crossed to score a goal. Today, the goal line is a scoring objective—with the successful team getting 6 points.
1869 Rutgers team (photo, Pinterest)
Well, on that November day 150 years ago this week, Rutgers beat Princeton, 6-4. The game was played on its campus on the site where the university’s gym now sits. Princeton got revenge not long after, though, winning 8-0 on its home turf.
Today, 11 football players make up each side with 22 players on the field at any one time. But on that November day, 50 players (25 for each team) took the field at once. Two players on each side stood near the opposition’s goal, hoping to get the ball and push it over the goal line for a score. The other 23 were active, offensively and defensively, meaning that 46 players in total moved back and forth on a very crowded field.
To differentiate the teams, the Rutgers players wore scarlet handkerchiefs. Born that day, of course, was both the primary color and nickname of Rutgers University—Scarlet.
Only about 100 spectators watched the game, most of whom sat on fence posts. The most famous among them, as the legend goes, was a Rutgers professor who waved his umbrella at the Princeton players while giving the players a piece of his mind. And after the game, a handful of Rutgers students reportedly chased the losers back to where they belonged — Princeton, NJ.
I’m not convinced the game played that day was really football. But there’s no doubt about this: something significant was born on November 6, 1869–a style of collegiate athletic competition that’s uniquely American.
