There have been two great traditions passed down from generation to generation of men in the United States. The first is a love of cars and the other is passion for American Football. Every September millions of American fathers, sons, and life long friends gather in front of the TV and cheer for their favorite teams. As soon as the season begins fans everywhere have one thing on their minds, playoffs. This is the story of the American - NFL relationship that is as strong as steel.
On November 6 1869 American football was born when two colleges faced off on the field. They were Rutgers University and Princeton University and the football they played was more like the British game Rugby. From 1869 onward the USA was hooked on a little game known as football. But there were no major leagues in America for many years. But still the gridiron continued on withe small scale football clubs such as the Allegheny Athletic Association. In 1892 the Allegheny Athletic Association made history by paying William Heffelfinger $500 to play a game vs the Pittsburgh Athletic Club making him the first pro football player.
In 1920 the American Professional Football Association (APFA) was formed between several smaller football clubs. After two years the APFA changed its name to the National Football League making history as the first major football league. In 1960 a new football league was formed by business men who wanted to bring pro football to thee southern united states called the American Football League. In 1966 the champions of the NFL and AFL began playing each other at the end of the season in a game called the Super Bowl. The first super bowl was between the Green Bay Packers (NFL) and the Kansas City Chiefs (AFL) a truly historic event, the packers won 35 - 10. The modern NFL was established withe the AFL - NFL merger in 1970.
Slowly the league developed into thee high scoring game it is today withe changes of play style. For instance in the late 70's the NFL created rules making defenses less powerful to smash offenses. Slowly with less powerful defenses the offenses evolved into high scoring pass first power houses.
And that completes our journey across the history of American Football and the greatest sport beloved by men from the pacific to the Atlantic. The only question now is, what next?