The story of NYU’s influence in the sports world begins in 1873, when the Violets became the fifth college football team in the United States. Even in the 19th century, we were trailblazers, bringing a relatively new sport to our campus to compete with Princeton, Rutgers, Columbia and Yale. In 1905, NYU pushed further ahead when then-chancellor Henry MacCracken called together a meeting of university leaders to make protective football gear mandatory after a slew of gruesome injuries and deaths on the field.

Taken from: click here.