Ashton Dennett
Changes in the Game of Football
Football has changed in so many ways, From the way they throw the football, to what they wear, how they play or even how they communicate. When the sport first came to life was November 6th 1989. The football was round instead of a sphere shape, and there wasn’t even such a thing as a forward pass; it was more of rugby than actual football. 1906 was a big year for football because the first forward pass was made. It changed the whole game, even though they barely used it. When 1920 rolled around the sport changed forever. The NFL came to life, which is now one of the biggest and most well known industries around the world. Today October 21st, 2022 the NFL is watched by nearly 18 million people each week.
Helmets weren’t used until 1920, which means for the first 30 years of the sport they played without a helmet. Which means there were a whole lot of cases of concussions and CTE that they probably didn’t even know about. In 1906 the first emergency case of a “concussion” came when a football player hit his head so hard he died shortly after. This is when the helmet first came to thought but wasn’t brought for over a decade. When they brought the first helmet it was fully leather and barely had any padding that didn’t really even do anything. When 1930 came around the helmet got a change for the better. The face mask was introduced in 1935 and in 1939 the helmet was made with plastic instead of leather. Fast forward 50 years the helmet was turned into polycarbonate, a much safer version. Still to this day in 2022 they are trying to make the helmet safer. They added more padding and new types of models to ensure concussions go down.
Communication in football has been a key part. Even where I’m from you need to know what’s going on and you have to communicate to the best of your abilities. When I played High School football my coach stressed that we communicate. Whether that was the lineman talking about their assignments, getting a play in the huddle or even talking on defense about anything you have to communicate. I’m not very well educated on how the game was 200 years ago. That makes sense because I’m 18 years old but I know for a fact that over the years they have done the same thing. I’ve read articles that prove it as well. It's beyond needed. You can talk about what formation they’re in or even if you know a play that they have you can say that. Talking is so crucial in success.
Walter Camp created football in 1889 and I assume he had no idea it would become what it became. One of the biggest if not the biggest sporting games there's ever been. When the game was created teams never passed, not till 1906 was the first legal pass made. Then came 1920 where the NFL was made. Yet, there were still barely any passing yards; it wasn't even tracked as a stat yet. 1932 was the first time they started keeping stats, and 1942 was the first time a Receiver had ever recorded over a 1000 yard season. Only 1 person reached 1000 and no one touched again for nearly 5 years. Fast forward to 2022 there are nearly 10-20 and maybe more people who record 1000 yard seasons because of how much the game has changed. It’s not the same anymore; people catch for that many yards on a yearly basis because of how the sports evolved. The games are more pass heavy than ever before, runnings still so common but not how it used to be. Every offense is the same.
Over the years things in football have changed for the better and for the worse. That’s just how things go. Football has been a sport for nearly 135 years. They have updated helmets, gear, and even the way you play. Players are more athletic than ever before, they’re bigger, faster, and stronger than how they used to be in the 1900s. Football will continue to grow and change in the future and people are going to have to live with how it goes. Personally I'm excited to see how the game changes and what happens.