Football season is back in full effect, beckoning Swifties to the sidelines and alumni to the Yale Bowl Stadium. The City of New Haven plays home to the nation’s brightest, cuisine’s most innovative, industries’ future titans, and, if you didn’t know, the sport of American football. The soul of the sport was born in the 19th century in the United Kingdom with a set of simple rules – kick a ball toward a goal over a line. Somewhere there and whereafter, American sports culture and the spirit of New Haven reimagined the verb, and a new sport was born.
The indisputable “Father of American Football,” Walter Camp, attended Yale University (Yale College at the time) from 1875 to 1880. Camp worked at New Haven Clock Company while studying medicine and playing rugby for the university until he changed the game entirely.
Before Camp invented football as a University coach, he invented the line of scrimmage. In creating the line of scrimmage, a core tenant in the modern sport, Camp planted a seed that today blooms in Kelce’s, evolving the sport of rugby into what we recognize today as American football.
142 years ago, the celebrated sport was born. And now, the sport returns to our fields, screens, and fantasy rosters. Soon, the Bulldogs will be back at Yale Bowl. The season kicks off on September 21, and the Yale Bulldogs will take on the Holy Cross Crusaders in Worcester, Massachusetts. Later this season, they’ll face off with the teams from Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, and Brown, and if we’re hedging bets, we’re making room for W’s in the Elm City.
Football is far from the first or only thing invented in New Haven. The sport joins the ranks of the New Haven-born, all of which you can read about here in our blog post, “What’s In a Name? Welcome to New Haven.”
If you’re looking for a place to dine before the game, we have a scene for every foodie. If you’re looking for a place to watch the game, we’ll save you a seat at the bar. If you’re taking the field as a Bulldog, we’re in your corner. Let football season begin!
