The Beginning
The game of American football as played today by high school,
college, and professional teams grew out of rugby-style football which
in the mid-1870s replaced a largely kicking game known as association
football. Although initially played on village greens and on college
fields, the first intercollegiate game took place on 6 November 1869 when Rutgers
defeated Princeton 6-4 in a soccer-style game. Five years later,
Montreal's McGill University playing at Harvard introduced rugby
football, which would be rapidly adopted by eastern teams.
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