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College Football

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College Football

Kyle Sheaffer

Throughout the last century, football has emerged as the most popular sport in the United States. The sport has become the favorite of 38.8% of Americans. The super bowl and the BCS National Championship combined for a total of 66.38 million viewers last year. That’s not to mention the other bowl games, playoffs, and regular season games at each level. The following paragraphs will provide in-depth explanations of college football’s history, awards and achievements, and how the NCAA spends its money with information gathered from a variety of sources. The first intercollegiate football game was played between Princeton and Rutgers on November 6, 1869 on College Field, New Brunswick, New Jersey. The ground on which the game was played is now covered by Rutgers’ current basketball arena the Louis Brown Athletic Center. Rutgers won the game with a final score of 6-4. The second game was played on November 13th, Princeton won the rematch 8-0. This game concluded the first official college football season. After this season however, the game took on more of a rugby like rules system. It stayed that way until 1880, the year that Walter Camp proposed new rules such as the play from scrimmage, the first down, and the 11 man team. Camp has been called the “Father of American Football”. Throughout the remainder of the 19th century, football became increasingly popular yet violent at the same time. Between 1890 and 1905 , 330 college athletes died from injuries caused on the field of play. The deaths have been contributed to the mass formations and gang tackling that was common throughout the early years of the sport. In 1906, 13 school leaders met at the White House upon President Theodore Roosevelt’s request. The meeting was organized in an effort to make the game safer for athletes. Because the college officials could not agree on a rule change, it was decided that an external governing body should be used. This was the birth of the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States (IAAUS). The game changed again on September 5, 1906 when Bradbury Robinson of Saint Louis University threw the first legal forward pass in a game against Carroll College. The legality of a forward pass was made possible the previous spring IAAUS in another attempt to make the game safer. The IAAUS changed its name to the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), which is the name which it still operates under today.
Even after the emergence of the National Football League (NFL) in 1920, College football continued to be extremely popular across the United States. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_football) One thing that College football offers is multiple championships or bowl games. The first bowl game ever played was played between the Michigan Wolverines and the Stanford Cardinals alongside the Tournament of Roses Parade and was called the Rose Bowl. The game was played in Pasadena, CA which is still the venue for the game today. There are now 35 bowl games played annually, these games are played in 15 different states. California, Texas, and Florida are the only states that host four or more bowl games. The newest addition to the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) is the four team playoff system that will be implemented during the 2014-2015 college football season. After all the bowl games are completed, the top four teams in the country will play a semifinal game followed by a championship game that will take place on the following Monday. Cities will auction for the privilege of hosting the game, the 2015 championship will be held at AT&T stadium in Dallas, Texas. This will be the first time that the NCAA D-1A champion will be decided by a playoff system, while the D-1AA champion has been decided tournament style since 1981, their playoffs have since expanded from four teams to 24 teams. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Football_Playoff)
Many trophies and awards are handed out to teams and players every season. The most prestigious being the Heisman Memorial Trophy, this award is given to the most outstanding player in college football. The winner must exhibit the pursuit of excellence with integrity, epitomize great ability combined with diligence, perseverance, and hard work. The award is handed out in December before the bowl games begin. The winner is selected by former Heisman winners, sports journalists, and fans (total fan votes only count as one vote). Archie Griffin is the only player to ever win two heisman trophies, the first in 1974 and then the second in 1975. Charles Woodson is the only defensive player to win the award in 1997. The first sophomore to ever win was Tim Tebow in 2007, five years later Johnny Manziel became the first redshirt freshman to take the trophy home. All but two players that have won the Heisman were drafted into the NFL. In all, 47 different trophies and awards are presented to players across the country. These trophies cover a broad range of topics, from the Heisman Memorial trophy to the Academic All-American of the Year Award. The best player for each position is award a trophy, usually with the name of former college football great that played the same position, at the College Football Awards Show that is held annually at the Boardwalk in Orlando, FL. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESPN_College_Football#Home_Depot_College_Football_Awards)
Another type of award that is distributed every year is game trophies. Many different game trophies are handed out every year. Whether it’s a long time rivalry game or the BCS National Championship, the stakes are always higher when a trophy is on the line. The oldest rivalry game that is still played is between Michigan and Notre Dame, the two teams have played 41 times since 1887, there is no official trophy for this game, but the anticipation for this game runs deep at both universities. Out of the large number of rivalries that have been formed, only 19 have ever been discontinued. Whether it had to do with conference change or money issues, the rivalries involved will never be seen again. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_college_football_rivalry_games) While college players make no money, the NCAA itself collects its fair share of income from football. Through TV, marketing rights, championship revenue, and other services the Indiana-based group made $757 million during the 2013 - 2014 season. The NCAA distributes its entire budget to seven major allocations. $30.6 million go towards administrative expensive and NCAA salaries. Academic enhancement for Division-1 athletes gains $22.4 million every year, $66,000 is sent to each school at the beginning of June. Some conferences however get some extra spending money, the Big East received an extra $1 million and SEC schools received $770,000 for academic support personal and athletic facilities. Teams that make the NCAA basketball tournament receive part of $180.5 million based on their performance in the tournament over a six year period. Conference grants are another area that the NCAA hands out money to. $8 million is distributed through conference grants, which are to be used to enhance officiating programs, compliance and enforcement, diversity, and drug and gambling education. Each conference received a payment of $251,097 last year. Schools receive $111 million for scholarships to offer to student-athletes who are either incoming freshman or to players that are not under scholarship already. Universities are also granted a share of $55 million based on the number of sports teams that they have. The last $40 million is spent on students who have been injured while playing a sport at the college level. (http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6756472/following-ncaa-money) To sum it all up, college football is a very popular sport across America. From its humble beginnings to the games prestigious championships we see today, the game is always changing and always engrossing the minds of millions of fans across the country. There are many honors that can be awarded to coaches, athletes, and teams. There is also millions of dollars in circulation throughout the entire college football world. College football has been around since 1869, and will be around long past our time.

(http://espn.go.com/college-sports/story/_/id/6756472/following-ncaa-money)

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_NCAA_college_football_rivalry_games)

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESPN_College_Football#Home_Depot_College_Football_Awards)

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_Football_Playoff)

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_football)

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