First Intercollegiate Football Game
On November 6, 1869, Rutgers College and the College of New Jersey (later named Princeton) played the first game of intercollegiate football in America.
The two schools were among the first colleges in America, both established in the mid-1700s, and they shared a bond going back decades. Located just 20 miles apart, Rutgers based its curriculum on that of Princeton’s, and the two schools were nearly merged in 1793.
Due to their close proximity and shared history, the two schools formed a spirited rivalry. According to some accounts, Princeton team captain William S. Gummere was the person who first suggested the two teams play. He offered to bring his team to Rutgers for the first game, and then the second would be played at Princeton, and a third at a later time. These proposed three games would mark the first season of college football.
So on the morning of November 6, 1869, the 25-man Princeton team and a group of student spectators boarded a train for an hour-long ride to Rutgers. The Princeton boys arrived at Rutgers, toured the campus, and were treated to lunch by the home team. The Princeton players were larger while the Rutgers were more agile. Among those playing that day were future clergymen, a state senator, a future chief justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court, Confederate and Union Civil War veterans, and a finalist in the first U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. At 3 P.M., both teams took to the field with about 100 spectators on the sidelines.
Both teams agreed that they would play based on the rules used by the home team, Rutgers. These rules were based on the Football Association’s rules. So each team consisted of 25 players whose mission was to kick the ball into the opposing team’s goal. They couldn’t throw or carry the ball. Indeed, it wasn’t a game too similar to modern football, but more closely resembling soccer or rugby.
Though Rutgers won the coin toss, Princeton got the ball and kicked it to the side, where Rutgers players surrounded it. Within five minutes, Rutgers scored the first goal. According to the rules, each goal was considered a game, and they would play a total of 10 games.
A writer for the Rutgers newspaper explained the ensuing game: “To describe the varying fortunes of the match, game by game, would be a waste of labor for every game was like the one before. There was the same headlong running, wild shouting, and frantic kicking. In every game the cool goaltenders saved the Rutgers goal half a dozen times; in every game the heavy charger of the Princeton side overthrew everything he came in contact with.”
After the eighth goal the game was tied, but then Rutgers scored the ninth and tenth, winning the game 6 to 4. Immediately after their victory, the Rutgers men ran the Princeton players out of town.
A week later the two teams met again, this time at Princeton. For this game they followed the rules of the Princeton field. Among the differences was the granting of a “free kick” to any player that caught the ball on the fly. This enabled the Princeton team to win the second game 8 to 0. A third game was scheduled but never held, either because teachers worried it took focus off of studying, or because they couldn’t agree on the rules. Years later, both teams were awarded a shared honor for the tied college football national championship for the 1869 season. In 1969, both teams took the field again for a centennial rematch, won by Rutgers 29 to 0.
Click here to see “The First Game,” a painting by Arnold Friberg depicting this game.
Click here to see what else happened on This Day in History.
From humble beginnings to the national obsession. Gotta go. Fox NFL Kickoff starts at 11:00 AM. 8 hours sleep thanks to time change. Glued to the tube until 11:00 PM. See you Monday for Bills vs. Seahawks.
Interesting info
Very interesting. I’m one of the few who has no particular interest in football – college or otherwise – but you make the game’s beginnings, on college campuses – so interesting. Thank you. You also answer a question that has rolled around in my head like a marble in a pail: why is the game called “FOOTball” when feet play a relatively smaller part than hands in the game?
Me, too. Fun read, Mystic. Thanks.
Great history. Don’t know how this turned into the NFL:(
Evolution, or if you don’t buy into that proven theory, think of it as a seed that sprouted, grew into a shrub and became a mighty oak. No one can dispute the impact that the sport at all levels has had on this country. American football has now expanded into Canada as well as Great Britain, countries which had always called football what we call soccer. To reiterate, from humble origin to national obsession. So glad to be of assistance to you Tom L.
Sorry to leave so abrubtly but the Raiders are driving on the Broncos and I can’t miss what looks to be an upset in the making. Janikowski with a field goal, that’s a foot thing. Don’t miss Monday morning quarterback tomorrow.
Football has been described as 22 men on a field, who don’t need the exercise, being watched by 80,000 who do.
@Stu…. Great line. And just so I can say it, I HATE the cowboys. haha.
BTW, in its simplicity, I think #1382 is a great looking stamp.
Watching Cowboys win and this served as a trivia questions as we watched the Cowboys win
The Painting FIRST GAME says it all without a word being uttered. Great piece of information on the origin of soccer in USA. Thank you Mystic.
Unfortunately, football has turned some of our great universities and colleges into football factories to supply players to the professional leagues. And, I have to admit that I like and follow my local college team!
Hmmm, Bruce Chatwin writes in his book “In Patagonia” (1977), that November 6, 1969 was notable for a massacre staged by one “Jemmy Button” during the Morning Service at the First Anglican Church in Wulaia in which eight parishioners were clubbed and stoned to death. How come no mention of this noteworthy event by MysticStamp?