How American Football Grew Out of British Rugby

America has borrowed traditions from the British. The melody to the national anthem is from an old British tune called "To Anacreon In Heaven". Football is the most popular sport in America.

Rugby is older than football and dates back to the Romans. Modern standardization of rugby began to take shape in 1749 in the English town of Warwickshire. Oxford and Cambridge Universities made huge contributions to rugby rulemaking by 1872. The first international game in Edinburgh between Scotland and England was held the previous year. Home Nations Championship began in 1883 and France joined the competition in 1910. Rugby was introduced in 1900 at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris. Today 20 teams compete each year in this international competition.

American football started in the mid-nineteenth century as a running and kicking game without passing. President Roosevelt wanted to introduce passing in football to reduce injuries. In 1905 representatives from 62 schools met to decide on rules to make football safer. The most significant change was following through on Roosevelt’s request for a forward pass. First legal forward passed in a game happened in 1906. NFL emerged in early 1920s and was popularized by radio networks. By the 1970s football had overtaken baseball as America”s favorite sport.

How American Football Grew Out of British Rugby. Differences between the two sports: Rugby has a playing field of 100 metres, NFL has 100 yards. Rugby uses 8 reserve players, while NFL uses 53.

Rugby has a playing field of 100 metres, NFL has 100 yards. Rugby has 8 reserve players, whereas NFL uses 53-man rosters. The game lasts 80 minutes, while in NFL it's 60 minutes.

Rugby and American Football are dangerous contact sports. Both sports attract heavy betting. Online gambling is popular.  There are alternatives to video games like Monopoly Roulette Tycoom and Wonder Woman Gold.

American football owes a lot of its game elements to British rugby.