The differences between the evolution of football and that of other sports is striking. Basketball, baseball and hockey are pretty much played the same now as they were played from their beginnings. The natural evolution of players have increased the speed and power at which the games are played. Improved equipment have smoothed some of the rough edges. The games are still fundamentally the same. The same can be said for other sports such as volleyball, golf, tennis, soccer, etc. Football, on the other hand, has never stopped changing. Never stopped evolving. Those changes have certainly been less dramatic over the last fifty years than the previous ninety, but the game today is still much different than it was in 1961.
Ever since football took it's first steps away from rugby in the mid 1800s it's been evolving. Due to the constant change there is no one father of football. The one man that did the most to create the game that we know today was Walter Camp. He was a player and coach at Yale and general custodian of the game for all of his adult life. If he didn't directly come up with the change, it went through him. He created such basics as the center snap, the quarterback, and possessions based on downs. Many of the changes were made to make an extremely violent game a little less violent. Mass momentum plays were the rage at the end of the 19th century. Several players moving at once toward the line of scrimmage before the snap of the ball. The impact was brutal. Football was in danger of being banned at many colleges. Too many deaths. Too many injuries. While many changes were made for safety reasons the results did open up the game and increased the appeal.
As much of a catalyst for change in the early days as it is today is the great freedom in the game. There may be distinct positions but the possibilities with each position are nearly endless. There are so many possibilities for each of the eleven players, even the offensive linemen. Some teams may rely heavily on pulling guards while others may keep their guards fairly stationary protecting the middle. From the old single wing to spread formations, offenses have so many possibilities before the ball is even snapped. Two very distinct methods of moving the ball, run and pass, leads to a vast number of options available to the offense after the ball is snapped. Perhaps the one thing that most separates football from other sports is the huddle. The distinct stoppage between plays allows for a meeting to determine what to do next. Other sports call plays on the fly. Football has a conference. A play may even be drawn up in the dirt, made up on the spot. Defenses may have stopping the offense as their main objective, but they too have their own bag of tricks that are constantly evolving. Just look at the Green Bay Packers and the crazy defenses that Dom Capers is tossing on the field. It's never been seen before and forces one to imagine what might be in another twenty years.
The best example of football change is the forward pass. As the 1900s opened the forward pass was illegal. A century later, the forward pass dominates the game. Eventually, defensive evolution might sway the run-pass balance back toward the running game. Who knows, but it's a good bet that the football of even 2025 is going to be much different from that of today.
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