![]() ![]() Routinely, slugging and punching took place on the field and gang tackling was rampant. Players wore very little padding and helmets were nothing more than a leather cap. The photo of him staggering off the field was so graphic that the Old Roughrider must have thought that the game had gotten too rough. Seems that Penn knew that the agile, 250 pound Maxwell was the best player on Swarthmore so the team focused its effort on everyone pounding Maxwell early and often. You see, President Roosevelt had seen a photograph of Swarthmore College lineman Bob Maxwell who had been savagely beaten during a game. The presidents of those institutions as well as others were scratching their heads on this date in 1905 as the previous day they had been taken to the proverbial woodshed by the young President of the United States. That also held true for college football and the three reigning powers of the gridiron were Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Now, you have to remember, at the turn of the century western colleges and universities were in a relatively fledgling state and the dominance of higher education resided in what we now call the Ivy League. Perhaps all those football players joining up with Teddy Roosevelt to fight the Spanish is an indication of the rather wild and woolly landscape surrounding college football at the time. While the beginnings of the NFL did not come about with George Halas until 1920, professional football in America can be traced to as early as 1892 and college football to 1869. American football had been in its development stages during the 19th century and at least 10 of his Roughriders listed their occupations as football players when they signed up in 1898. He liked the way that it taught teamwork and inspired individuals to never give up. It provided physical fitness to build bodies and competition to build character. On This Date in History: President Theodore Roosevelt had an affinity for football. 1st Football Game Between Rutgers and Princeton Nov 6, 1869 ![]()
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