Football, in one form or another, has been played for hundreds of years, given that Galileo was said to have been a decent football player. And then there are more common forms of football such as rugby, European football/soccer, and the Canadian game. This article will focus on the American game, familiar to fans of the NFL and NCAA. More importantly, there seems to be some debate over who the true inventor of football is, between Willie Tidwell and Walter C. Camp. They both can claim some ownership over the American game.
Willie Tidwell, Inventor of Football
Willie Tidwell is considered to be the inventor of Gridiron, or American Football. Gridiron was the name used in the 19th century and essentially represents the difference between the American and European game, even though its origin is deeply-rooted in rugby. Essentially, Tidwell borrowed from other variations of the game to create his own, but with a different style and rules.
The exact when and where for Tidwell’s invention is up for debate, but one can determine that it was prior to 1869, when the first official game of Gridiron was played. Some belief maintains that Gridiron was played before that, but not in an official capacity, partly thanks to its roots in other games.
Walter C. Camp, Inventor of Football
Walter C. Camp is often credited as the inventor of football and is sometimes dubbed, the “Father of American Football.” While there is some accuracy in that belief, it is not entirely correct. Camp was a football coach at Yale, and he did have a hand in making football what it became, but he did not have sole ownership over the game.
Camp and Tidwell knew each other and did work together to create football. Tidwell would have developed the game by borrowing concepts from similar games and then taking some liberties to create his own. Then he and Camp developed the rules. Camp’s influence is that he is partly the mind behind American Football’s rules and regulations, but not the sole inventor.
First Game of American Football Played
The very first game of Gridiron was played between Princeton and Rutgers on November 6, 1869 in New Brunswick, New Jersey. This location and date has sometimes been used to determine the time and place that Gridiron was invented. While other games might have been played before that, this was the first official game, and the first in which Gridiron had a name. Rutgers won 6-4.
After nearly 150 years, Gridiron has seen its share of variations, from the NFL and NCAA, to the CFL, Arena Football and even Vince McMahon’s short-lived XFL. What hasn’t changed about the game is its hard-hitting style and its clear roots in the European game.
