College football has a longer history than professional football in the United States. This is because the first college football match was in the middle of the 19 century and it was played according to rules very different with respect to those of today.

Football has its origins in the European sport of rugby with some features coming from soccer. Actually soccer is the American name as Europeans call soccer “football” and football “American football”. Therefore it is clear that soccer has also some contact points with football.

Football was developed in the United States through colleges. They played their first match in 1869 between Rutgers University and Princeton University which was called back then New Jersey College. Football became more and more popular in colleges in the 19 century as it was a physical sport liked by many.

It started having non college fans as well. Unfortunately, series of unwanted events provoked banning football in most colleges at the end of the 19 century. This ban was due t the many serious injuries and even some deaths that occurred n football pitches during games. The behavior of many footballers was aggressive as many of the rules back then was permissive.

The rules of football changed throughout time many times. They were constantly changed as the sport became more and more popular. However, the first real American football match was in 1875 as the rules in 1875 were different and closer to those that exist today.

The game was played between Harvard University and Tufts University on June 4. You may see how the origins of American football are very close to college football. Like in other sports students were the ones who first played football.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association was formed in 1905 as a response and under the directives of Theodore Roosevelt. He wanted to ban football from colleges as it was so aggressive. The decision made by NCAA to widen the football field was very important as it reduced the impacts and the number of injuries on the football fields.

However, it was not accepted by many colleges because they invested serious money in their football fields. So, as a response NCAA introduced the forward pass that should have reduced the injuries on the football fields but also keep the dimensions of the pitch.

From back then until now, there were many developments and today we have 120 NCAA teams. College football is more and more popular nowadays. There are many historical facts that say that college football is the father of today’s NFL. However, many prefer college football because of its long history and young players willing to go to the top.