Editing College football (section)

===Violence, formation of NCAA===
College football increased in popularity through the remainder of the 19th and early 20th century. It also became increasingly violent. Between 1890 and 1905, 330 college athletes died as a direct result of injuries sustained on the football field. These deaths could be attributed to the mass formations and gang tackling that characterized the sport in its early years.

{{Quote box|quote=No sport is wholesome in which ungenerous or mean acts which easily escape detection contribute to victory.|source=[[Charles William Eliot]], President of [[Harvard University]] (1869–1909) opposing football in 1905.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Kf9KAAAAYAAJ&q=%22no%20sport%20is%20wholesome%20in%20which%20ungenerous%20or%20mean%20acts%20which%20easily%20escape%20detection%20contribute%20to%20victory%22&pg=PA188 "President Eliot on Football."] ''The School Journal, Volume 70'', United Education Company, New York, Chicago, and Boston, February 18, 1905, p. 188.</ref>|width = 30%}}

The 1894 Harvard–Yale game, known as the "Hampden Park Blood Bath", resulted in crippling injuries for four players; the contest was suspended until 1897. The annual Army–Navy game was suspended from 1894 to 1898 for similar reasons.{{sfn|Vancil|2000|pp=16–18}} One of the major problems was the popularity of mass-formations like the [[flying wedge]], in which a large number of offensive players charged as a unit against a similarly arranged defense. The resultant collisions often led to serious injuries and sometimes even death.{{sfn|Bennett|1976|p=20}} Georgia fullback [[Richard Von Albade Gammon]] notably died on the field from concussions received against Virginia in 1897, causing Georgia, Georgia Tech, and Mercer to suspend their football programs.

The situation came to a head in 1905 when there were 19 fatalities nationwide. President [[Theodore Roosevelt]] reportedly threatened to shut down the game if drastic changes were not made.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Lewis |first=Guy M. |year=1969 |title=Teddy Roosevelt's Role in the 1905 Football Controversy |journal=The Research Quarterly |pmid=4903389 |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=717–724}}</ref> However, the threat by Roosevelt to eliminate football is disputed by sports historians. What is absolutely certain is that on October 9, 1905, Roosevelt held a meeting of football representatives from [[Harvard University|Harvard]], [[Yale]], and [[Princeton University|Princeton]]. Though he lectured on eliminating and reducing injuries, he never threatened to ban football. He also lacked the authority to abolish football and was, in fact, actually a fan of the sport and wanted to preserve it. The President's sons were also playing football at the college and [[high school football|secondary levels]] at the time.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Tiny Maxwell and the Crisis of 1905: The Making of a Gridiron Myth |journal=College Football Historical Society |year=2001 |pages=54–57 |url=http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/NASSH_Proceedings/NP2001/NP2001zn.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808041801/http://www.la84foundation.org/SportsLibrary/NASSH_Proceedings/NP2001/NP2001zn.pdf |archive-date=August 8, 2010 |author=Watterson, John}}</ref>

Meanwhile, [[John H. Outland]] held an [[1905 Fairmount vs. Washburn football game|experimental game]] in [[Wichita, Kansas]] that reduced the number of scrimmage plays to earn a first down from four to three in an attempt to reduce injuries.<ref>{{cite news  |title=TEN-YARD RULE A FAILURE.; Only Seven First Downs Made in Test Game in Kansas. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1905/12/26/archives/tenyard-rule-a-failure-only-seven-first-downs-made-in-test-game-in.html |work=The New York Times |date=1905-12-26 }}</ref> The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' reported an increase in punts and considered the game much safer than regular play but that the new rule was not "conducive to the sport".<ref>[https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/349469012.html?dids=349469012:349469012&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+26%2C+1905&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=NEW+FOOTBALL+RULES+TESTED.&pqatl=google "New Football Rules Tested"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130316074650/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/349469012.html?dids=349469012:349469012&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&type=historic&date=Dec+26%2C+1905&author=&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&desc=NEW+FOOTBALL+RULES+TESTED.&pqatl=google |date=March 16, 2013 }} '' Los Angeles Times'', December 26, 1905</ref> In 1906, President Roosevelt organized a meeting among thirteen school leaders at the [[White House]] to find solutions to make the sport safer for the athletes. Because the college officials could not agree upon a change in rules, it was decided over the course of several subsequent meetings that an external governing body should be responsible. Finally, on December 28, 1905, 62 schools met in New York City to discuss rule changes to make the game safer. As a result of this meeting, the Intercollegiate Athletic Association of the United States was formed in 1906. The IAAUS was the original rule-making body of college football, but would go on to sponsor championships in other sports. The IAAUS would get its current name of [[National Collegiate Athletic Association]] (NCAA) in 1910,<ref name=Smith2000>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Rodney |title=A Brief History of the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Role in Regulating Intercollegiate Athletics |journal=Marquette Sports Law Review |date=2000 |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=9–22 |url=https://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/sportslaw/vol11/iss1/5/ }}</ref> and still sets rules governing the sport.<ref name=Smith2000/><ref name=NCAA>{{cite web | title = The History of the NCAA | work=NCAA.org | publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association | url = https://www.ncaa.org/about/history.html | access-date =May 19, 2007 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070430205324/http://www.ncaa.org/about/history.html <!--Added by H3llBot-->|archive-date=April 30, 2007}}</ref>

The rules committee considered widening the playing field to "open up" the game, but [[Harvard Stadium]] (the first large permanent football stadium) had recently been built at great expense; it would be rendered useless by a wider field. The rules committee legalized the [[forward pass]] instead. Though it was underused for years, this proved to be one of the most important rule changes in the establishment of the modern game.{{sfn|Vancil|2000|p=18}} Another rule change banned "mass momentum" plays (many of which, like the infamous "flying wedge", were sometimes literally deadly).