College American football

American football first achieved popularity as a college game.

The first intercollegiate football game

The first game played between teams representing different colleges or universities was played on November 6, 1869 between [Rutgers University]? and Princeton University, at College Field, [New Brunswick, New Jersey]?. Rutgers won, by a score of 6 to 4. As the score would indicate, the game bore little resemblance to the game of today.

[An account of that first game]

The game increased in popularity through the remainder of the 19th century. It also became increasingly violent. President Theodore Roosevelt threatened, in 1906, to ban the sport following a series of player deaths from injuries suffered during games. The response to this was the formation of the [National Collegiate Athletic Association]?, which set rules governing the sport.