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The game was invented in 1981 by Jim Foster and the Arena Football League was founded in 1987 as the first major professional league to play the sport. Several other indoor football leagues have since been founded and continue to play today. [225] American football's parent sport of rugby continued to evolve.
The early history of American football can be traced to early versions of rugby football and association football.Both games have their origin in varieties of football played in Britain in the mid–19th century, in which a football is kicked at a goal or run over a line, which in turn were based on the varieties of English public school football games.
A football field as seen from behind one end zone. The tall, yellow goal posts mark where the ball must pass for a successful field goal or extra point. The large, rectangular area marked with the team name is the end zone. Football games are played on a rectangular field that measures 120 yards (110 m) long and 53 + 1 ⁄ 3 yards (48.
The history of sports in the United States reveals that American football, baseball, softball, and indoor soccer evolved from older British sports—rugby football, British baseball, rounders, and association football, respectively. Over time, these sports diverged significantly from their European origins, developing into distinctly American ...
The various codes of football share certain common elements and can be grouped into two main classes of football: carrying codes like American football, Canadian football, Australian football, rugby union and rugby league, where the ball is moved about the field while being held in the hands or thrown, and kicking codes such as association football and Gaelic football, where the ball is moved ...
This category is designed to hold historical material about the sport of American football, which forms part of the wider study of sports history. There is a great deal of historical material in general American football articles which are not included here, such as articles about individual teams and competitions.
The American Professional Football Association is formed on September 17, 1920, at Canton, Ohio, with Jim Thorpe elected president. [1] The fourteen teams were mainly drawn from the Ohio League, Chicago Circuit, New York Pro Football League and other teams from the lower midwest. A $100 membership fee was charged.
The modern history of American football can be considered to have begun after the 1932 NFL Playoff Game, which was the first American football game to feature hash marks, the legalization of the forward pass anywhere behind the line of scrimmage, and the movement of the goal posts back to the goal line; it was also the first indoor game since 1902.