Thanksgiving Day Football

• "at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Armes, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted…” Edward Winslow, 1621
  
• It is possible that the Pilgrims played an early form of ”football” on the 1st Thanksgiving. But as they were in North America it would be better known as soccer.
  
• The earliest form of American football was started around the 1840’s and was already being played at colleges.
  
• Collage football was mostly outlawed at the start of the 1860’s for fear of violence caused by tensions between the North and South.
  
• In 1876 the Intercollegiate Football Association was formed and all schools involved agreed to play by the rules used at Harvard.
  
• That year it was also decided that there would be a championship game each year on Thanksgiving.
  
• This Thanksgiving Day Championship game grew in popularity and was featured in national magazines.
  
• As it grew in popularity it also grew in violence. In 1896 helmets were introduced, but it was not until 1905 that the rules were changed to reduce violence and increase sportsmanship. This was done after President Theodore Roosevelt meet with schools after a year in which 18 players were killed and many more were badly injured.
  
• In the start of the 20th century colleges throughout the U.S.A. formed regional football conferences, keeping the traditional Thanksgiving Day game.
  
• In 1939 a few New Yorkers were the 1st to see football on TV. By 1950 the tradition of watching the Thanksgiving Day football game on TV was started.
  
• Pro. Football started in 1920 with the 1st pro football game being played on Thanksgiving.
  
• The 1st game of football to be broadcast on radio was a 1934 game on Thanksgiving between the Chicago Bears and the Detroit Lions. (Detroit of course lost, but amazingly only by 3 points.)