History of Football - BEGINNING OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL

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Welcome to the history of football. Here you will learn more about the history of football. In 1895 the first professional football game in the United States was held in Latrobe, Pennsylvania. That game was against a team that represented Latrobe, Pennsylvania and a team from Jeannette, Pennsylvania.

Over the next 10 years many professional teams were started including The Olympics of McKeesport, Pennsylvania; the Bulldogs of Canton, Ohio; and the Duquesness of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Willie Heston, Jim Thrope, Knute Rockne, and Fritz Pollard where all among noted college players who took up professional football. During the first thirty years the professional game didn't attract many people. There were many military men that wanted to play football, but if they did they were put in jail for not doing their military duties.

The first league of professional football was founded in 1920 and it was called the American Football Association. The admission fee was 100 dollars per team. The teams promised not to use any student player who still had college eligibility left to play football.

In 1922 the American Football Association ended and NFL, the National Football League, was born. Red Grange, a famous halfback from the University of Illinois provided a great stimulus for the league when he joined the Chicago Bears in 1925. His exciting plays drew a large crowd. Professional football attracted many good college football players at that time. The early NFL game was hardly different from college football. College play books and rule books made no attempt to break away from the NCAA, National Collegiate Athletic Association rules. In the league's early years, playing NFL football was a part time job and players held other jobs during the day. Professional football coaches arranged to practice in the evenings, sometimes only three or four times a week.

FootBall Did You Knows .............................

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-Did you know that a football is eleven inches long and the distance around the football is 28 inches.

-The first football ever used was round.

-A football weighs between 14 and 15 ounces.

-Also did you know that a blitz is when the defensive fullbacks, the halfbacks, and the safeties run toward the line of scrimmage trying to knock down the quarterback before he can throw a pass. When the linebackers and the halfbacks run through the line of scrimmage they are blitzing.

-A fly is a play that the wide receiver runs. The fly is when the wide receiver runs down the side line and catches a pass and keeps on running until a man catches him.

-Another play for the wide receiver is the button hook. The button hook is when the wide receiver runs straight and then turns around so he's facing the quarterback. Then he takes a few steps backward and waits for the pass.

-A down and out play is run by the receiver. First the receiver runs straight and then he turns and runs toward the nearest side line.

-An End Sweep is a simple play. A running back takes the ball and either runs either right or left. The last play is call an I formation. It's an offensive formation where three men are lined up one behind the other.

-Did you know that the players are assigned certain numbers to represent their positions.

* 1 to 19 for quarterbacks and kickers

* 20 to 49 for running backs and defensive backs

* 50 to 59 for centers and linebackers

* 60 to 79 for linemen

* 80 to 89 for wide receivers and tight ends

* Centers may also be assigned numbers up to 79 and defensive linemen and linebackers, 90 to 99

Defensive players can have any number.

-Some players that carry or catch the ball wear very tight pants so that when they are running no one can grab their pants to stop them.

-For each play there are 11 players for each team on the field.

-Only 2 players can use their feet to move the ball. (Kickers and Punters)

-2 types of kicks can score points. Field goals for 3 points. Extra points for 1 point.

-P.A.T. stands for Point After Touchdown.

-If offense doesn't make a first down after 3 plays, the team punts the ball to the other team.

-The quarterback starts all the plays.

Oakland Raiders Attempt to Rebuild Franchise in 2009

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What can we say about the Oakland Raiders? After an amazing start to the decade (think back to the dominant days of Gannon, Rice, Brown, Garner, Woodson, and others), the Raiders simply haven't been what they used to be. As a Jets fan myself, I can remember fearing the presence of the almighty Raiders year in and year out. Times have obviously changed.

Even bringing in high caliber players like Randy Moss at wide receiver and LaMont Jordan at running back failed miserably, as the Oakland Raiders have had more consecutive seasons of losing football than I can count at this point. They do have a very talented secondary, but there's not much else to say that's good about the team. Their offense is simply horrible.

The bad finishes to each season have given the Oakland Raiders the benefit of some early draft picks. Take two of their picks in recent years, JaMarcus Russell (quarterback) and Darren McFadden (running back), both very talented football players and arguably tops in the nation at their positions while in college. It looks like both players are finding their ways as they've improved so far this season.

While Russell hasn't been as good as they'd like him to be, he's undoubtedly better this year than last, and he's making less mistakes than he did in 2008.

The Raiders somehow almost beat the Chargers during the first game of the season. In front of the entire nation on Monday night football, they carried a lead into the 4th quarter and would have won if not for the heroics of Philip Rivers on the final drive. In week 2 though, the Oakland Raiders beat the Chiefs.

While a win against the Chiefs is nothing to brag about, I do believe that the Chiefs are better this year than last, thanks to the addition of Matt Cassel at QB. Dwayne Bowe seems to get better by the year too. Despite this, the Raiders came up with a nice win over the Chiefs.

We'll see where things end up at the end of the season, but for now, the Raiders have a sense of hope that they haven't had in years. Raiders nation will gladly take that.

Stop in at the Oakland Raiders forum at RootZoo, where you can answer over 15,000 original NFL trivia questions.

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